Tech Blog

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In Edmonton the last week or so has been unseasonably warm. A friend of mine today declared on Twitter that he went to work pants-less (one assumes he wore shorts). I'm starting to waiting for the rest of the snow to leave the back yard, and my dogs are getting restless.

Which means that when spring finally does get here, any time I have for inside technology-related tasks has just, like the snow, evaporated.

On my personal blog I wrote about how now is the perfect time to get your system backups in order, but what about your whole system?

Well, I started with a list of a few cool tips on Spring Cleaning from the fine folk at Clickfree, but enhanced it a bit. Yes, backing up your data is important, but there are also many other things you should/could be doing to keep your system in tip-top shape:

1. Back up your hard drive. We've already mentioned it but it bears mentioning again. It's the most important way to ensure you don't lose irreplaceable data.
2. Consolidate and save old photos, videos, music and your favourite bookmarks. When you've got everything organized, it's much easier (and faster) to find them when you need them.
3. Delete old, unused software and out of date documents (e.g. old online statements, e-receipts and duplicate files). On a PC, go to the control panel and click on "Uninstall a Program." Don't just look at the file size, Windows tells you the date a program was installed....and the last time you used it.
4. Clear your browser cache and temporary file directory. This is a huge tip. Temp files can easily eat a hard drive after a year or so.
5. Give your memory a boost. If you've cleared enough room on your PC, give your memory a boost without ever opening the computer. Right Click on My Computer (or Computer in the Start Menu) and select "Properties." On the left side of the window, click "Advanced System Settings." Hit the "Settings.." button under Performance. In the Advanced tab, change the Virtual Memory. The more space you give it, the faster your PC gets. Just remember that you lose that space for file storage.
6. Defragment your hard drive. After you've done the above, defragging your drive will put all the file blocks, bits and bytes in order, speeding file access on the drive consequently speeding up the load speed on your computer. Click on the start button, find “all programs”, select “accessories”, next “system tools” and finally “disk defragmenter”.  Run the program on your hard drive to give your PC maximum efficiency. 

Well, did I miss anything? What's your favourite computer Spring Cleaning tip? Let me know in the comments!