9 Steps to a Faster and More Organized PC — On a Limited Budget

This article is dedicated to my friend Pam Rock in NC, who each year calls me so I can walk her through a major clean up of her computer.

In the early 2000s, I helped Pam redecorate her office and back up her computer. She had purchased a new computer and had yet to use it. She needed her files backed up (and deleted) ecause she was going to give her old computer to an employee. It turned out that the computer had at least 4 years of files on it – none of which was in any sort of order. And nothing had ever been backed up!

EGADS.

So I went to work cleaning out everything, and below you’ll find the 9 steps I used to do it. (Oh, and Pam’s kept her new computer organized and backed up!)

NOTE: The process of cleaning out your computer takes about 1-1/2 hours, not including backing up files.

1) Clean out any spies with a spyware program.
(I use the first two because the longer you’re on the Internet, the better your chance of getting spies.)
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html
http://www.spywareterminator.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
To read more on spies, click here:
https://www.elevatingyourbusiness.com/documents/spy.doc

2) Check your anti-virus program
No matter which program you use, make sure that it’s all up to date and running properly. Find out the date that your subscription expires and using your favorite calendar program (I use Outlook), send yourself a reminder two weeks before it runs out. The first two links are for “no cost” program.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/ Grisoft
http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan Online scan. Ewido (now also part of the Grisoft Group)
http://www.trendmicro.com Trend Micro ElevatingYourBusiness.com Page 2 of 2
http://www.kaspersky.com Kaspersky Lab
http://bitdefender.com Softwin SRL
http://symantec.com Symantec Norton
http://avast.com Alwil Avast!
http://us.mcafee.com McAfee ViruScan
http://windowsonecare.com MS OneCare
http://pandasoftware.com Panda Sofware

3) Update your browser files.
Depending on what browser you use, go to the applicable website and look for the “update your files” page. This way you have the latest version. Because I want my files updated automatically, I’ve set the program to do that. This way my computer always has the latest features.
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ Microsoft
http://www.opera.com Opera
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ Mozilla Firefox

4) Update Microsoft Office
You must update your Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Publisher, Excel, Access, etc.) separately. Tip: The newer your products are, the more updates there will be, mainly because bugs, security problems, and other things are being fixed.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/FX101321101033.aspx?pid=CL100570421033

5) Clean out your temporary browser files
Here’s how to do this using Internet Explorer (IE):
Open your browser
Click on Tools
Click on Internet Options
Click on Browsing History
Click on Delete Temporary Files
Written in computer-eze, those instructions look like this:
>Tools>Internet Options>Browsing History>Delete Temporary Files

6) Clean out your system
With your PC on:
>Start>Programs>Accessories>System>Disk Cleanup
Then get rid of any files you no longer need, like temporary files, Recycle Bin, and old files you
don’t need to keep.

7) Update Adobe Reader
Since you’ll be downloading PDF files from the web and since PDF files can be read by most computers, it’s also important that you have the most recent version of Adobe Reader. First,open the current version of your Adobe Reader program.
>Start>Programs>Adobe Reader

On the top right hand corner of the page, you’ll see the word “help.” Click on Help and then About. This shows you your version number (and this little help trick works with all programs, so now, you’ll know how to see what version of any program you have.) Next go to www.adobe.com and if they have a more recent version of Adobe Reader, download it and follow the instructions.

Organizing
Everyone organizes differently. The main thing is that you create a system that works for you and that you will continue doing!

I organize by year, then type of folder, then files. So I create a folder called 2007 and in it are subfolders named MS Word, MS Access, MS Excel, PDF, Audio, and lots of other folders, too!

When I backed up Pam’s files, I set up her system like that. So I created folders called “Prior to 1998,” “1999,” “2000,” and so on. Within each of those folders, I then created the subfolders for the different types of documents (Word, PDF, Audio, etc).

Next I backed up all her folders to CD. She brought the CD to her new computer, created a folder called “OLD FILES” and put all her older work in those files. She took the backup CD home with her, just in case something ever happened to the office computer.

Pam slightly modified my system so that it works for her. She created a folder for each year in 2007 and has subfolders based on the types of projects she’s working on. She’s a child nutritionist, so her subfolders look like this:
WIC
Breast Feeding Marsala ElevatingYourBusiness.com
State Association, etc.

9) Backing up
Once a week (or so) I back up any new files to my older backup computer. When you run an Internet business, it’s imperative that you have a backup computer. Mine is an inexpensive desktop PC.

At the end of the year, I completely organize that year’s files and back them up on two CDs. send one CD to Pam in NC so that if anything happens to my computer, I won’t lose everything. Why NC? One thing that I’ve seen happen during hurricanes, nor’easters, windstorms, or earthquakes is that homes get destroyed — but usually only in one part of the country. By having my files on the opposite end of the USA, I have a better chance that my files, which go back to 1981, will survive.

I also put very few files “on” my computer, or at least move the files to an external hard drive I purchased on sale years ago. Now, I can walk out of the house with the hard drive when I go on vacation, leave the house for a few days, or in case of some other weather emergency. OR I can back up the external hard drive on a “flash” drive or CD RW.

©2009 Maria Marsala, Strategic Business Coach, Speaker and former Wall Street Trader at Elevating Your Business. We help remarkable women CEOs get a life and future from their businessby providing accountability, support and a (gentle) kick in the a$$ when needed. Download our Business Tune today by visiting www.CoachMaria.com