Five things to do about your computer during winter holidays
One way or another, you’re going to have some free time on your hands around New Year, so why not finally catch up on that backlog of maintenance and nice-to-haves?
If you haven’t actually pushed such to-do items to the end of the list through the year, here are five things that you can do during the said free time to generally improve your setup, both performance and quality-wise.
Clean up your hardware
If you’ve ever opened the side of your minitower or taken the bottom off your laptop, you know how much dust and other unidentifiable solid substances can accumulate therein. As a matter of fact, each extra ounce of such “components” negatively affects the heat dissipation capabilities of your computer. Moreover, dust can settle on circuits and render them malfunctioning, or, worst case scenario, cause a burnout. Yes, chances of that are slim, but why take them at all? Take some time to clean up the internals of your computer during the winter break, or, if you’re unsure you can do it yourself, take it to a service center and have professionals do it for you. The procedure’s unlikely to take more than 24 hours.
Clean up your software
Even if you’re basically using your computer as a typing and web browsing machine, through the year, it’s likely to have at least half a dozen pieces of software that you needed once and never looked for since. Winter holidays are a perfect time to get rid of such stuff. You can go the usual way and use the software section of Windows settings (Windows button – Settings – Apps), or opt to graduate to a more flexible way of managing onboard programs: Software Informer. Free and lightweight, it can help you find and remove no-longer-needed apps quickly and efficiently. Plus, it’s an updater, which means that whatever you decide to stick with will be kept tabs on and updated to the latest version automatically.
Organize
If you’re like most of us, some folders on your computer are a mess. They aren’t totally impossible to navigate, but nesting and grouping in them may leave you puzzled about the reasons why it was all arranged thusly in the first place. Well, this is an issue you can address when there’s time, like winter holidays. Should you need some assistance with finding hidden files, or comparing versions of documents, etc., try file managers from the respective section of the Informer catalog:
Windows – System Tools – File Managers
Look for alternatives
Remember that catchphrase, “there’s an app for that”? Well, nowadays, it can probably be reworded into “there’s a dozen apps for that.” This means that your favorite image viewer, old and trusted, can be replaced with something more sleek and usable. The same goes for any other piece of software that feels great but looks (and loads the system) like it was made in the ‘90s. Software Informer can be of help here, too: it serves alternatives to what you have installed, so you really have a choice.
Consider hardware upgrades
If you’ve been thinking about getting a new display, for example, or adding an SSD to make your setup more efficient, winter break is a perfect time to actually dive into specifics, learn what’s what on the hardware market, and finally make up your mind about what you’re going to buy. Don’t rush with the purchase, though: while many retailers currently operate in the “perpetual sale” mode, spring offers can be even more attractive compared to what’s on the pricetags in winter.
Proper maintenance and timely upgrades guarantee the best performance of a computer, so when you have time to address such matters, don’t waste it!
