February 8 is Clean Out Your Computer Day!

Not recommended for cleaning your PC

While not as exciting as Chistmas, Halloween or even… Fruitcake Toss Day,  Clean Out Your Computer Day is an actual day which you just might want to consider participating in. Little is known of its origin other than it’s been around since 2000, and it was originally sponsored by the Institute of Business Technology as a day to declutter and clean out old and unused files from our computers.   It lands on the second Monday of each February.

(Today we’re looking at a guest post by computer gurus at iolo technoligies, fans of DigitalGrandparent. There are some great tips in this article for cleaning up your computer and getting it back to good computer performance. If you want to try the software mentioned, System Mechanic is currently available at a special sale price. I have no vested interest in the product, but you might find it useful.) –mkpelland

Clean out your computer day

Is your computer running slow, or low on memory?   Does it take forever to boot up?   Are there programs or files on it that you never use and/or don’t even know why are there?    Maybe Clean Out Your Computer Day is going to be your day.

In time for Clean Out Your Computer Day, here are some PC Clutter Facts and PC Cleanout Tips provided by iolo technologies, PC tune-up company and makers of System Mechanic software.

PC Clutter Stats

1. The average American adult has 1,800 digital files, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, making searching them quite a task.
2. Executives waste six weeks each year looking for lost items and information, according to a study published in the Wall Street Journal, adding up for huge corporate operating losses.
3. Americans waste nine million hours per day searching for misplaced items. On average, people spend a year of our lives looking for lost items, according to the National Association of Professional Organizers.
4. In 2007 alone more than 40 million computers were dumped, up from 20 million in 1998. On average, each computer lasted only 30 months (2.5 years), that short life span often attributed to the PC running slow and having low memory/drive space due to unnecessary clutter.

10 Useful PC Clean Out Tips, and how a utility (like System Mechanic) can help

1. Delete unused, old or duplicate files, emails, email addresses, bookmarks and favorites. Tools like SM’s “Remove Junk Files”, “Remove Internet Debris” and “Find Duplicate Files” tools can be used to recover a lot of lost space – and a lot of time wasted while looking for files on a cluttered hard drive.
2. Organize your files. Make sure to use a logical file naming system and put them into folders that make sense and are easy to remember and access.
3. Defragment your hard drive. While that won’t categorize your files (you have to do that manually, see #2 above), defragmentation will speed up your access to them, again saving you valuable time.
4. Back up your files and programs at least every month. Imagine all the time wasted if your files are lost. Back up regularly to a separate device like a portable hard drive or set up an automatic online back-up service.
5. Uninstall programs that you no longer need or use. To make sure they are completely uninstalled and do not leave any residual clutter, use a tool like System Mechanic’s “Remove Installed Programs” to uninstall even the most stubborn components.
6. Once you’ve uninstalled unused program, make sure to clean out your registry as well. Invalid or out-of-date registry settings can slow down your computer’s boot time. Use System Mechanic’s “Repair Registry Problems” and “Defragment and Compact Registry” or choose another good quality registry cleaning program to shave valuable minutes off your boot time.
7. Further improve your computer’s start-up time by removing unnecessary start-up items. Many programs lodge themselves in start-up without your knowledge.
8. Once you’ve organized all your files into folders, make sure all the shortcuts are still accurate. Remove those that aren’t working properly – as you’ve guessed, SM can do that for you.
9. For an ultimate clean out, try a program like DriveScrubber. DriveScrubber can securely wipe out all your hard drive data or you can use a more selective approach, removing only your personal files and leaving the programs intact. Definitely opt for this clean out option if you are planning on donating your computer to make sure your personal information is not recoverable.
10. For a complete PC clean out on Clean Out Your Computer Day, don’t forget your PC’s outside. Clean the screen, dust the keyboard, clean the mouse. After all, your computer deserves some pampering too.

Now mark your calendar – kick-start your spring cleaning on Monday, February 8 – it’s Clean Out Your Computer Day!

(The photo above was borrowed form a very cool blog called My PC Crashed)

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