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National Clean Up Your Computer Month | Pad Patter 1/5

I don't do a whole lot to be honest as I often forget or find it too tedious...I'd rather be scrapping!

I delete extra files I don't need then make sure my files are where they will live permanently otherwise if they are left in a mess it becomes way too overwhelming to deal with and just ends up a way bigger job than it needed to be.
 
It's relatively new, so not had time to make it messy yet. I do regularly clear the cache, and empty the recycling bin.
 
I only do major clean up on my computer when it starts misbehaving and then I usually just wipe everything and reload the operating system and all programs from scratch because it's faster than figuring out where hidden files are hiding. Lol. I store all of my actual files on my external hard drive, so there's usually not much on my computer that I need to keep.
 
Once a month, I move all scrappy things to my EHD and back up all my photos. I also clean up temp files, look for things to uninstall, and empty the recycle bin. I really need to do a deep clean and wipe everything, but I just keep putting it off.
 
I save my scrap layouts to my desktop folder when I'm lazy so I need to clean up my desktop view...
 
kendrawalter said:
January seems like a terrible time to clean up my computer while doing MOC lol I'll revisit "Clean Up Your Computer" month at a later date! lol
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That's what I thought when I saw it too...it's a job for either before MOC or between MOC and Love Our Designers, not a job for MOC time at all....I'm lucky to maintain the mess this month!
 
I try to regularly empty my recycle bin and move my digi stuff to my external hard drive...but that's all the maintenance I do. When it starts having problems I let my hubby take a look and he usually cleans it up.

I will go through and organize/delete files I don't need.
 
Well, I have 2 parts to this question:
Externally:
Every 4 months or so, I shut my computer down, pull the screens off and blow out all the dust. I wipe it down, make sure all the cord connections are tight. And I blow out the fans. I blow out my keyboard, and wipe it down as well as my mouse. I clean off my mousepad. And I wipe off my screens and check their cord connections. I also take a moment to make sure all my cords are plugged in to their outlets well.

Internally:
Yearly: I go through my "Follow Up" folder and delete anything no longer needed. I check out the "File Cabinet" folder and see if anything can be deleted. I move all my scrapbook pages to my external hard drive for filing.
6 months or so: Run the Disk clean up. Usually I run a malaware checker just in case.
Monthly: I move all my digi kits over to the external hard drive. Some may get deleted, just because they were super specific or I used the kit a bunch and I'm good letting it go. I do try to move things more often, but monthly is my minimum. Check my scanned documents for things to delete. Check my online backup and server backup and that it's working correctly.
Weekly: I go through my download folder and see what should be filed or deleted. I try to keep that up daily, but weekly is my minimum. I clean up my desktop. All those extra icons and such that I don't need. Empty my recycle bin. Delete zipped folders.
 
Yes, not a task for during MOC, but I do like to frequently clean things up. The past several months have been difficult, so it's been hard to find the time do the work things I need to do, much less clean out files. I do frequently clean out my recycle bin.
 
Whoever invented this one probably thought it was a good way to start a new year and is oblivious to our fabulous January tradition here at TLP. They don't know what they're missing! :D

I used to be able to maintain my computer more often when I didn't work full time. Now things linger longer. Eventually, I move/delete files from my Downloads folder and my desktop (used to be ongoing or at least weekly; now months can pass before I get around to it). Occasionally (like the last time was in 2020) I will go deeper into my files and purge things. I don't do much organizing anymore because the structure I established over a decade ago still works, but I do have to create new folders every January because I organize photos and scrapbook pages and digital memorabilia/notes by year.
 
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