1. Organize Media Files with Windows Media Center
The latest version of Windows Media Player is a powerful program that allows you to work with all of your media files in easily-accessible folders. To get started, simply open Windows Media Center and click on the area you want to work in first. For example, you might select Pictures and Videos.
Inside the picture library, you can sort through all of the pictures stored on your computer. You can create new folders, organize the pictures by adding tags and moving pictures around quickly while keeping them visible.
Give the folders you're creating descriptive names and be sure that all of your pictures and videos are stored in the same parent folder, such as My Pictures. This will make it easy to find pictures when you want them and it will also make it easier to back up those pictures on a separate drive.
Your music files can be organized in the same way using folders and tags to clean them up according to genre or even playlists.
2. Clear Your Desktop
A few new folders can go a long way in sorting through your desktop. If you have a cluttered desktop, you're going to have a hard time finding what you need when you need it. If you have a few different categories of things on your desktop, perhaps shortcuts to Office programs, links to your favorite websites or various programs that you use for work on a daily basis, organize these into folder. Simply create a few new folders on your desktop and drag and drop the files into the folders to get them off your desktop.
Delete any shortcuts or files that are just taking up space and not useful, but be sure to backup any files you choose to delete beforehand - just in case. Ten minutes into this particular project, you'll have a clean desktop with only a few carefully labeled folders that allow you to get where you need to be without searching all over your screen for a single program.
3. Organize Your Bookmarks
Organizing bookmarks can be done in a few different ways. If you use a social bookmarking site like Delicious, you'll have not only your bookmarks, but everyone else's, too. You can easily see and organize your own bookmarks through social bookmarking, but you might want something a bit more contained, such as the My Favorites in Internet Explorer.
Every time you choose to bookmark a website, it shows up under My Favorites in the upper right corner of the browser under the star. If you have a special toolbar installed, like the Google Toolbar, you can save bookmarks there as well. Regardless of which menu you're using to capture bookmarks, you can organize them by creating new folders and then labeling the folders carefully. Drag and drop the bookmarks into the folders according to your labels and you'll be able to find everything you need quickly and be able to store new bookmarks in the correct place as you save them.
4. Sort through Your Computer Accessories and Booklets
If you're like most of us, all of the extra books, brochures, software and cables that came with your computer and printer and scanner and headphones and microphone and camera are all tossed into a big drawer somewhere in case you need them someday. In fact, you might have thrown all of your latest computer extras in with the computer extras you've been saving for the last ten years or so. It's hard to know what to do with all of those items, but you can get yourself a bit more organized.
Invest in a flat file box or a magazine holder. Sort through all of the brochures and booklets to find the ones that are still in use today. If you don't have the computer any more that matches a booklet, toss it. If you do, simply stash it in the box along with any required software. Cables can go into a different box along with any peripherals that you might have as well.
A few flat file boxes can hold these items well, have a special spot to label and then fit nicely stacked onto a bookshelf where you can read the labels, grab them with ease and use the booklet when you need it instead of digging around hoping you still have it somewhere.
5. Clean Out Your Email
Email is a way of life, but inboxes tend to stay messy. Spend an afternoon sorting through your inbox and creating folders for important messages so that you can find them quickly. You can use a search feature in your inbox to identify all of the various messages from particular friends or clients. Simply create a folder for each contact, or create a single folder for contacts within a particular category and transfer all of the important emails into that area.
Delete all of the junk messages and old emails that aren't useful. When you're finished with your inbox, move over to your sent folder and delete emails you don't need or archive them into folders as necessary to clear the way for new material. Finally, create email rules to help keep your inbox organized in the future. You can do this by following the instructions for Microsoft Outlook here.
The instructions on the Microsoft Office page will help you set rules and keep your email organized so that you don't have clutter and you can find what you need immediately. It also helps you back up files as necessary.
For more information on Optimizing your PC, visit our extensive information blog at http://www.fixcleaner.com/blog Here, you can find easy access to articles on fixing errors and optimizing all sorts of Windows functions. You can even get tips and tricks on how to navigate your way across the new frontier of Internet Social Media.
A contributing blogger for FixCleaner, Rebecca is an English teacher who specializes in teaching reading to her much beloved "at-risk" high school students. Outside of the classroom, Rebecca is a freelance content and copywriter with just enough time to spare for raising her two boys. Rebecca focuses her writing career on authority-style pieces in any number of niches and industries which makes her essentially, a full-time everything.
