A new year is afoot with new opportunities, new adventures, and new technology challenges… To make sure that your year starts out great, as far as technology is concerned; and that your technology is working for you, here are a few end of year clean-up tasks.
Change ALL Your Passwords
There have never been more security issues in the world, as there have been in the past year. Chances are that you did not change all your passwords when they should have been done, meaning right after the hack. There were at least 10 times this year when experts recommended changing passwords. This is a great week to do it right. Make your passwords as long as possible, use upper case and lower case, use symbols, and use numbers. Try using a password management program so you don’t have to remember so many passwords.
Purge Files
Empty the deleted items folder, and generally just purge documents you no longer need. Many times, there are revisions and revisions of the same file – no need to keep v1, v2, v3… v12. Simplifying your files and reducing them to only what you need will make it easier to find things. If you are worried about needing those files, archive them to an external disk or ask your system administrator where they could be stored.
Organize Your Desktop and File Structure
Throughout the year many people save files in random places, (I’m guilty) often it is the computer desktop. When files are in the wrong places, it makes it hard to find them. Putting them in the right place and saving them with proper and standard naming conventions will make it easier to find things.
Uninstall Applications
I often download and install an application for testing and then don’t get rid of it after I am done. If you have any programs you are not using, uninstall them.
Update & Upgrade Applications
Aside from Microsoft updates and other common programs, which should always be updated, the beginning of the year is a great time to catch smoking hot deals on upgrades to various programs you use, as well as online services. Take stock of what you use and search out the deals.
Summary
There are a lot more things that could be done to help spruce up your technology and make sure you are starting the year off on the right foot, but those five tasks will provide tremendous benefit, and well worth the time to implement. Contact us if you need any help or have any questions, and we will be happy to assist.
