Cleaning Up the Computer Clutter

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

22 Apr 2009 04:23 PM

Is your computer filled with clutter? Clutter in your computer can make you lose time, lose patience and even lose money. I have something to say about cutting the computer clutter.

Our desktop machine has gotten so slow lately, you can literally take a quick shower and get dressed while a certain program is still launching. Some programs won't even load all of the way, and the ones that do often have problems running. Because of this, the best thing to do is to re-image the machine, which basically means wiping everything off of it and starting from scratch. Other people might just figure that it is time to buy a new computer, but the fact is that most of the time, it is all of the clutter on a machine that steals its resources.

Today I stole a little time to start looking through all of the files, documents and applications on our desktop machine in order to move important stuff over to a secondary hard drive in preparation for the re-imaging. What I found just amazed me. There are hundred of files that we just don't need. From recipes that were downloaded and never tried, to duplicate copies of photos, to cryptic notes, to mysterious stuff than no one will admit to ever actually putting on the machine, such as a little fortune telling program. Many games that we run from CD-ROM or DVD-ROM often come with extras that get loaded when the original program gets loaded. Did we really need to back up all of this stuff and reload it all?

I think that computers are particular victims of clutter because the clutter is virtual. When we turn the computer off, we don't see all of the useless stuff piled high in the hard drive. it is easy to keep everything in case we need it, but that trash can on the desktop is there for a reason.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.

Related Articles:

How to Organize Home E-Mail

Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger