Thursday, October 22, 2015

Fall Clean Up for Your PC

The colors are changing outside, and I'm thinking now would be a good time to do some basic maintenance on your PC in order to improve performance.  As always, if you need assistance with any of these tasks, feel free to contact me.


Here are some suggestions, including links to some free tools:


  1. Do you have old photos or other files that you no longer need on your hard drive, but can't totally delete?  Purchase an external hard drive and move them off your hard drive and onto the external drive as an archive.  
  2. Backup your essential files, if you're not doing it already.  You can use a tool like Microsoft's Synctoy to easily run a comparison of selected folders and back up any files that have changed since your last run.  To download and install Synctoy, which is easy enough for a novice to use it, click here, it's free.  If you have a backup tool such as Ghost, set it to run automatic backups for you on a regular basis (again could use your external drive).  This is good practice for your own protection.
  3. Run a tool like CCleaner to get rid of old browsing history and other junk files that can clutter your PC and degrade performance.  Download CCleaner here.  There are several versions, including a free one.
  4. Start using a password manager, such as RoboForm, rather than using the same password for everything (or writing them down).  Download RoboForm here.  There are free and paid versions, but I recommend the "Anywhere" version so that you can use it on all of your devices and any changes you make are synced.
  5. Set up a DropBox account, if you don't have one already.  Take advantage of their feature which automatically uploads a copy of the photos from your phone, so that you have a backup (and easier access to them).  It's also great for sharing files with friends, family and business associates.  Download DropBox here.
  6. If you have an anti-virus package, and you're not running scans automatically, you should run a scan right away.  Also, turn on the automatic scans so that you don't need to remember to do it regularly, it is dangerous not to do it often.  Hackers and scammers don't take vacations...
  7. Apply any windows updates that are pending for your system.  If you don't have them set to update automatically, you should consider it, especially if you don't do regular maintenance yourself.



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