10 Tips on Computer Clutter Clean Up

10 Tips on Computer Clutter Clean Up
by Eve Abbott, the Organizer Extraordinaire
Excerpts from her new book,How to Do Space Age Work with a Stone Age BrainTM

The secret to getting and staying organized is the same as the answer to "How do you eat a computer?". The answer is "One byte at a time!". Set a monthly reminder and use these tips to crash clutter instead of your hard drive. Do it for you! Even an occasional clean up will reduce your daily frustration.

BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP
Backing up your work on a regular basis gives you the security of knowing that even if you do toss something before its time -- you can retrieve it. This makes maintenance a worry free activity. You will be amazed at how much you never refer to again. Remember, 80 percent of what we file never gets referred to again. I back up my entire hard drive with Norton Ghost onto an external hard drive every week!

EVERYDAY BASICS:
Regular maintainance eliminates wasting time searching long directory lists every time you open a file.
Put an exclamation point (!) in front of any folder or subdirectory that you use frequently so it appears at the beginning of any directory. (ie, !seminars).
Always review temporary (.tmp) files before deleting.
Back-up large unused files (or when finishing a project) to CD Rom.
Make Archive folders in each major directory/folder for sorting unused files and compress them.

QUICK MAINTAINANCE ON WINDOWS SYSTEMS:
Empty the recycle bin.
Delete all files in the Temp folder in the Windows folder.
Right after powering up, do a FIND ALL *.tmp* & delete:
from Start Menu, select Explore, Tools, Find, Files or Folders.
Run the ScanDisk hard-drive housecleaning program:
from Start Menu, select Programs, Accessories, System Tools, ScanDisk.