Computer Spring Cleaning

With so much time and focus placed on the spring cleaning of physical spaces, your electronic device may also be in need of a spring cleaning. Put the sponge and mop away, because this cleaning involves updating useful files and clearing useless files on your computer.

Surface

For physical cleaning, shut down the computer, then unplug the keyboard and mouse from the computer. An isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution 70% or less is safe to use on Microsoft products, but liquids should not be applied directly to the mouse or keyboard. Hold the keyboard or laptop at a 75 degree angle and gently shake to remove loose dirt. A can of compressed air can be used to remove dirt that is harder to shake between and under the keys. Lightly dampen a lint-free cloth with the alcohol or mild soap and water and wipe the outer surface of the mouse and keyboard. Make sure to not drip any liquid onto the products and allow them to dry before using.

Check Your Trash

Just like in life, your computer has a garbage can that gets ”smelly” too. Windows computers have a default recycle bin installed on the desktop. When a file is deleted from anywhere on the computer, it is sent to the recycle bin, and the user has to go into the bin to permanently delete the file. If the file stays in the bin, it only takes up space on your computer and slows down the speed over time. Power up the computer and log in. Locate the recycle bin on your desktop. If you cannot locate the recycle bin, right-click with your mouse on the desktop and select “personalize” or “personalization” depending on your version of windows. In Windows 7, select “change desktop icons” and check the recycle bin, then press okay. You can find the way to get the recycle bin on the desktop for Windows 10 here. Click through files one by one to see the contents and if the file can be permanently deleted. When you have found a file to permanently delete, right click on the file and press delete. If you have multiple files, you can press and hold the control (ctrl) key while clicking items to select multiple items to delete. Be cautious. Once a file is deleted from the recycle bin, it is gone for good. This process frees up space on your computer for the system to focus on other tasks and helps the computer system work faster for longer.

Update

Windows computers have updates for their versions that come out every second Tuesday of the month. The company has a support lifecycle for each version of when they stop sending out updates. The most recent version to stop getting updates is Windows 7 in January 2020. For later versions you can check for the support cutoff date here. If you have a newer version, you will have to keep checking for updates on average of once a month. For Windows 7 and older, checking once will show any updates that have not been previously installed. To check for updates, connect your computer to the internet. Open the start menu and search “windows update” in the search bar. The results will come back with either exact wording as typed or similar, and should send you to the control panel. After checking and installing updates, restart your computer for the updates to take effect.

Shut Down

After all of the hard work of typing, clicking and cleaning is done, the final step is to properly shut down your computer. Each desktop computer or laptop comes with a power button that works like any other key on the keyboard but is solely for turning on and off the computer. It has the same function as using the shut down option in the start menu. The benefit of the power button is if the screen freezes or the start menu/shut down cannot be done, you can still tap the power button to turn on and off the computer. As for holding down the power button, this is considered a hard power off and disrupts the natural shut down process that saves and clears files properly and should only be done at user judgement.

- Jessica, Reference Department