In our last article, we gave some great tips on how to free up space and let your computer run faster. Here, we will continue those tips and help you do the organizing needed for a thorough deep clean of your computer. Here we go!

Deleting Apps

If you are a Mac user, drag your unwanted programs and apps to the Trash. This usually
will get rid of the files associated with that app, as well. It will keep support files and preference files. While preference files don’t take up much room, support files can – especially for large media programs like Garage Band. Go to Finder, click on Macintosh HD (or Home) > Library > Application Support. Your files are listed by the app they are associated with. Drag and drop them in the trash. Be cautious to delete only the files associated with the apps you have definitely deleted! There are some good apps that will allow you to delete several apps at once and you can find these in the app store.

For Windows users, simply go to your Control Panel and click on Controls and Features. Choose the program you want to delete and click Uninstall. That easy!

Getting Rid of Trackers and Spyware

Over the course of casually browsing the net, you can easily pick up minor viruses and trackers unless you’ve been using a great security software or automatic protection by Tech Sentries. Malware is always evolving so you should have your computer regularly scanned for these trackers and Trojans, etc. Tech Sentries will do all this for you automatically!

Finishing the Job….

It helps to minimize the applications you see in your Control Panel or Dock. If you don’t need them every day, get rid of the apps that show up all the time. You can let your computer run faster by doing this. It won’t delete the app, just the icon in your task bar or dock.

Sort things by file type now that you’ve cleaned things out. Merge your duplicate folders. Name the folder you really want to keep and manually merge any duplicates into that folder and delete the old one.

Give Your Photos a Proper Home

First, figure out where your pictures are. They may have auto-synced if you download a lot from a smartphone or email. They may end up in your downloads folder but be available to view through iPhoto if you’re a Mac user. If you are a Windows user with an iPhone, you will want to have iCloud installed and then Apple’s My Photo Stream will download all your newest pictures to your computer. Turn on Photo Stream in settings > iCloud > Photos.

If you have an Android phone, your pics will likely sync to your Google + account. You can also import them to your computer via USB. It’s also good to use a service like Dropbox to store on the cloud. It’s a great way to keep space free on your hard drive.

Another good way of organizing all your photos is with an external hard drive designed especially for photo storage.

Finally, move all your documents to the Documents Folder, move all your songs and mp3s to the Music Folder, and All Movies and Videos to the Video Folder. This may seem simple, but it makes a huge difference to your ease of use! It can be time consuming to sort files but it’s worth it in the end. You will not have to search for thing you’re looking for and your computer will be free of duplicates, which bog it down and cause it to run much slower.

Call us at Tech Sentries today to find out how we can keep your computer running at peak performance and keep you protected!