{"id":80571,"date":"2022-02-14T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=80571"},"modified":"2022-02-17T20:26:59","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T02:26:59","slug":"national-clean-out-your-computer-day-is-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/80571-national-clean-out-your-computer-day-is-here\/","title":{"rendered":"National Clean Out Your Computer Day Is Here!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

February 14 is a day to celebrate one of the most important relationships in your life. But it\u2019s also a day not to get too sentimental about what to hang onto and what to let go of. Of course, I’m referring to a special day that comes but once a year: National Clean Out Your Computer Day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initiated in 2000 by the Institute for Business Technology, National Clean Out Your Computer Day falls on the second Monday in February each year. It\u2019s a day for putting your house in order. Whether you\u2019re working from home or in an office, odds are you\u2019ve got a desktop or laptop that you\u2019ve been working way too hard. And you’ve been paying way too little attention to its health and well-being. You\u2019ve likely overloaded your hard drive with downloads, temp files, duplicate files, and EXEs and DMGs. It’s probably teeming with thousands of old emails, and unnecessary apps you don\u2019t use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to clean your machine!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

National Clean Out Your Computer Day is a great day to look at all the things you can do to optimize your system\u2019s performance. Now it’s time to restore it to the sleek and smooth-running machine it was when you first started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a video editor, your internal hard drive might be chock full of bulky media files you can\u2019t live without. But you\u2019ve waited far too long to back them up, or even relocate them to a more opportune external location. Well, today\u2019s the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 steps to a clean machine<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many steps you can take today in observance of National Clean Out Your Computer Day to tidy up your system. You’ll get it organized, delete the files you don’t need, and make sure the files you do need will be easier to find when you need them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you do join in the fun, don\u2019t forget to post about your cleaning routine! Use the hashtag #CleanOutYourComputerDay and share your own tips and tricks for cleaning your machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are 5 key cleaning steps we recommend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Organize your files<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Begin by categorizing those files that have been floating on the desktop for years and move them into folders with like-minded items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Forget about your old EXEs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Next, track down EXEs, DMGs, temp files, and all those other single-use items that tend to pile up on your system without you realizing it. Run the disk utility tool on your Mac, or the disk cleanup tool on your PC. You’ll free up valuable space on your hard drive that\u2019s being clogged up with temp files, old downloads, and unused apps. These are files you probably didn\u2019t know were there and will never miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Update or delete<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Track down and dispose of duplicate files. Look for redundant or unused apps. Update them now or delete them if you think their time has passed.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Step up your security<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is a perfect day to shore up your system against the malware that targets all of us on a daily basis. Run full scans. Weed out suspicious emails. Set up new filters. Your computer needs all the protection you can give it to protect it from hackers who prey on systems without adequate security measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Back up your data<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This step is the one that might well benefit you the most in the long term. Run Time Machine<\/a>, Acronis<\/a>, SuperDuper!<\/a>, Carbon Copy Cloner<\/a>, Smart Backup<\/a>, or whatever happens to be your backup utility of choice. Move or back up critical files to external storage (more on that below), When it comes to backups, safe and sorry are your only options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do your computer a solid<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Disk cleanup and malware protection are self-contained projects that happen within your system. Backing up your data and systematizing your storage requires more out-of-the-box thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backing up your data is not the only reason to think about external storage. And Clean Out Your Computer Day isn\u2019t just about running cleaner. It\u2019s about running leaner, running faster, and making better choices about how you allocate your system resources and storage capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re consistently adding new media projects to your portfolio, it\u2019s likely that your system isn\u2019t just cluttered. It\u2019s also storing more files than you ever thought you\u2019d need. These files could be more easily and efficiently accessed if you relocated them elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might be a good day to think about treating your computer to a faster internal drive. This will ensure better performance for the applications you run every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consensus choice for faster and more reliable drive performance and better internal storage is solid-state drives (SSDs). OWC offers SSDs<\/a> with a wide range of capacity choices and makes it easy to choose a drive that\u2019s tailor-made for your Mac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Envoy
OWC’s Envoy Pro FX SSD<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to backups, external storage is essential, and adding redundancy is a wise step into greater security for the critical data you can\u2019t afford to lose. External SSDs<\/a> offer the same advantages as their internal counterparts: super-fast performance and unmatched reliability, with a much lower failure rate than spinning hard drives. OWC offers a number of sturdy enclosures that will help you assemble a rock-solid solid-state external storage strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The optimal solution for storing all your important files is to look into a RAID system like the Thunderbolt 3-ready Thunderbay 4<\/a>. And backing up or migrating your data to a redundant disk array might be the sweetest valentine you can give your computer this February 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ThunderBay
OWC’s ThunderBay 4 RAID<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mark your calendar!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After a successful National Clean Out Your Computer Day, all that smooth and streamlined performance might well get you in the mood to celebrate other obscure holidays that populate our calendars. And you never know how your outlook might change! In case you missed it, National Do a Grouch a Favor Day (February 16)<\/a> is right around the corner. Get your computer running smoothly enough, and you might just feel like joining in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n