In the last issue we covered “End of Year Tune-ups”. So now that you’ve done that eight step process, I figure you’re ready for New Year’s Resolutions for your PC. You noticed the words “New Year’s Resolutions”, Right? Well these are ones you’ll want to keep. Why? Because they’ll save you money and time! So here goes:
Note: The following PC resolutions apply to both Windows and Macs (except for the bit on hard drive defragmentation), so I’ve tried to include Mac and Windows solutions. Most of the required software is freeware, so all you need to follow any of these tips is a little bit of time and some perseverance.
1. Regularly back up your hard drive: If there’s one thing that PC users HATE, it’s backing up their computers! We’ve all been there: as long as your hard drive keeps on spinning, it’s easy to ignore the whole back up thing - until the Grim Reaper comes knocking at your door Rather than living in fear, just find yourself a cheap external hard drive (or install one yourself) and set up a simple, automated back up for your hard drive using SyncBack Freeware. For Mac users, check out SilverKeeper for simple, scheduled back ups.
2. Next, set up a self-repairing hard drive: Windows only: Most Windows users have heard that they should defrag ment their hard drives on a semi-regular basis, but I’d guess that of the users who actually know what that means, even fewer actually do it. Why? Because, like any other preventative measure, it can seem like a pain in the butt; nobody wants to sit around watching and waiting for their hard disk to defrag. So, to make things easier on your self, set up your computer to automatically check itself for and repair errors, then defragment all of your drives with a simple batch script. Then just set the batch script to run using Windows Scheduled Tasks and your computer will, for the most part, take care of itself.
3. Then, clean out your hard drive: It’s easy, with the huge hard drives of today, to let your hard drive get filled up with files you neither need nor use, but it can be hard to roll up your sleeves and actually clean everything up. The messier that hard drive gets, though, the tougher it can be to find those things you actually want. You could sit down and go through your folders one by one (and, to be honest, this isn’t a bad way to go if you’ve got the right time), but if you don’t have a few hours to spend pruning your drive, here are a few methods to visualize your hard drive usage on both Windows and Mac PCs: http://lifehacker.com/software/disk-space/geek-to-live--visualize-your-hard-drive-usage-219058.php. Once you’ve got a good visual representation of what’s what on your hard drive, it becomes much easier to get rid of files you didn’t even know existed.
4. While you’re cleaning out files, you might want to set up your antivirus and spyware cleaners for scheduled sweeps if you haven’t already (hopefully you have). You can also clean up a little space with the aptly named Crap Cleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) . Now might also be a good time to go through your installed programs and get rid of anything you don’t use.
5. Organize your virtual file cabinet: Having cleaned out all the unneeded waste, it’s time to organize what’s left. While there are a lot of options for organizing your files, the best is to ALWAYS use the My Documents folder to hold ALL the files you have created. This way you only need to back that one folder up!
6. Encrypt your private data: Whether you’re keeping your secret video stash hidden from the kids or you actually have sensitive data you want to hide from the prying eyes of the world at large, now’s as good of a time as any to encrypt your Windows data with TrueCrypt (http://www.ccleaner.com/) . For a freeware Mac solution, try Quick Encrypt (http://www.dejal.com/classic/quickencrypt/) .
7. Securely track your passwords: While we’re on the subject of privacy, there’s always the matter of those pesky passwords - you know, the ones written on Post-It notes, hanging from your monitor? First, you may need to start choosing better passwords. Already got strong passwords? Good. Windows users can securely track those pass words with (http://keepass.info/) KeePass. In general, though, the Mac’s built-in Keychain app handles a lot of the duties of KeePass.
Ah, a fresh start
