Part 1
Email Maintenance Part 2 Protect Part
3 Update Part 4 Clean up Part
5 Backup
If you don’t know much about how to cleanup and backup, you are not alone. Most people don’t. The computer industry would LOVE it if every time a computer started to get full and slow down the owner just bought a new one. We should show better stewardship than that.
One of the reasons this part of computing is not as well known is that it is a little more complicated and takes some time and many decisions. Computer Cleanup has to cover the Desktop, the My Documents folder (and subfolders), your email, your Internet Browser cache and Bookmarks (or Favorites), your hard drive in general (unused programs), and your startup files (very complicated).
Why clean up? Would you pack your suitcase without sorting first? Cleanup is an important first step to Backup. Let’s take a look at the Desktop and the My Documents folder this week. As we start this, a good phrase to keep in mind is: “If my computer died tomorrow, what would I miss?”
The desktop is the name for what fills your computer screen after you turn
it on and before you start any programs. If you are running Windows 95 or
98 or ME, then this might be cluttered with icons. If you’re like the majority
of computer users, some of these icons have been there since your computer was
brand new. The phrase “if you don’t use it, throw it away” comes to mind at
this juncture. It is quite all right to remove those icons you don’t use,
particularly since some are there because companies paid money to your
computer’s manufacturer to be put there. If you have never used an icon that
is on your desktop, move your mouse to the icon, click and hold down your left
mouse button and drag the icon to the recycle bin.
XP users have it a bit easier as all of the above steps are done for you every
60 days. Their new folder XP has named Unused Desktop Shortcuts.
Many documents or files that you’ve created are by default saved in your My Documents folder. Double clicking on the My Documents icon (or either Start – Documents – My Documents for W98 or Start – My Documents in XP) opens the window to show a number of icons representing your files.
One of the first things you might want to do for clean up is to organize
and create sub-folders. Folders labeled Playdates, Devotions,
Personal Support, etc., might make it easier to sort and drop the other files
into the appropriate folders.
You may already have subfolders named My Archives, My eBooks,
My Music, My Pictures that were created by Windows for you to
help you organize.
By just reading the titles of the files, you may be able determine
which to keep and which to throw away. If you can’t - this might encourage
you to be more descriptive next time you save a file.
If you have any files that start with the ~ symbol (like ~$mputer Tips.doc),
that means that this is a temporary file created in the background while
you were working. These can be deleted. The same goes for any document
that ends in .tmp (like ~WRL3496.tmp).
What else to throw away? It is a matter of choice. Perhaps making a “MUST
HAVE” folder for those files you use all the time. One measure would be if
someone gave you a brand new computer tomorrow, what are the first files you
would need? Be sure to drag CP Office into here. (You may want to rename
CP Office to your UNITNAME Office since your copy is now filled with data
about your area.)
How about a folder for “Delete from computer after
backing up.” A folder called “To throw away after I back up” might be very
helpful for the hard choices. When we back up, we can back up each in different places.
Just a refresher for those who are unclear on how to delete, simply click
once on a file then tap the 
key.
For more details (Mac users click here or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Next week - Clean up your Email and Internet Browser in preparation for backing up.