How to unload your desktop from photos. How to clean the desktop in Windows XP

Hi all. Today I’ll dedicate an article to a little optimization of the Windows desktop. The need for this may arise if you have a weak computer, but want to use Windows 7. It is also possible that you have Windows 7 installed for a long time, and over time it has taken longer to load, so one of the optimization stages will be to simplify the loading of the desktop. This same article will help you get rid of the ugly quality of the effect when moving a window, when there is, so to speak, a “trail” behind the window, such as the effect of blinds. You will find out that this can be fixed without reinstalling the entire system. I think each of you has already found a reason to read this article, so let’s get started.

How to speed up the Windows 7 desktop?

The instructions won’t be complicated, so don’t be afraid that you won’t succeed. On the desktop of your computer, there is a “Computer” icon, click right click mouse over it and open the “Properties” item.

A window will open, readers of my blog will be familiar with it for a long time. In the window "View basic information about your computer" there are basic system settings. Some of which we will need today.

In the left column goes to the item « Extra options systems", and click on it. The “System Properties” window will open.

Now on the “Advanced” tab we will need to click the button "Options" in the “Performance” block.

And again a new window awaits us. Now with the title "Performance Options".

By default, you are immediately on the tab « Visual effects» Here we stay. See the whole list of settings below? These are what we need now. We'll experiment with them. On this moment all checkboxes are checked. I can tell you from my own setup experience that out of all this variety we will only need to keep the following:

1) “Using display styles for windows and buttons”;

2) “Display window contents when dragging”;

3) “Smooth out irregularities in screen fonts.”

It will look like this.

We tick the boxes and click “Apply”, the computer will throw out a notification that in order to apply the settings you will need to “End session”, we fulfill the requirement. After which we work and rejoice. I think you will immediately feel the acceleration of your desktop. Thank you for your attention!

Proper organization of storing files and information, putting things in order on the computer, will make the use of the PC more productive and increase the efficiency of working on the computer. At proper organization working on a computer, the user will save a significant amount of time that he spends searching for files, unnecessary data will be deleted from the computer.

Many users often encounter situations where it is impossible to find something on their computer. All the files are piled up in the folders, complete chaos reigns. I think many people are familiar with this. Not only are your files scattered in disarray, but your computer is full of duplicate files that take up significant disk space.

I have already been asked several times to write this article. Visitors watching videos on my YouTube channel, noticed that the desktop of my computer is practically free of foreign elements, and in Explorer, files and folders on disks are distributed in a certain order and have normal names. I am fulfilling my promise, albeit with a delay of a couple of years.

I often had to deal with folders: “New folder1”, “New folder2”, with files like: “111”, “123”, etc., some folders are empty. Similar files and folders have copies and are duplicated.

Search in the Windows operating system to access the necessary data with unclear names, if any great amount, will not help much. Dealing with the mess will take a lot of time.

In this article I will share my experience in organizing file storage on a computer. If you have your own ideas for organizing the storage and use of information on a PC, share it in the comments to this article.

If you are having difficulty finding the files you need, your disk space will be reduced. free place, which is gradually being occupied by files and folders, you should start putting things in order on your computer.

You will have to spend a lot of time on properly organizing file storage (in “difficult” cases, you can do this in several stages), but believe me, the time spent will be worth it.

In the future, when there is no more clutter on the computer, you will only have to distribute new files to the appropriate places (disks, partitions, folders, etc.). You will quickly find the desired folder, file or document, because you will understand where to look for them.

Carry out work on organizing storage and putting things in order home computer in approximately this sequence:

1. Choice correct structure for storing information.
2. Determining the order in which data is stored.
3. Removing duplicate files.
4. Putting order on the desktop.
5. Distribution of files and folders.
6. Renaming files and folders to give them normal names.
7. Putting things in order in programs.
8. Cleaning and defragmenting your computer.
9. Back up important data.
10. Constantly maintaining a certain order.

Basic principles of information storage

Before you start putting things in order on your computer, you need to determine for yourself basic principles to organize data storage.

All objects must be distributed into categories; in the future, all new objects must be distributed into previously created categories. The data storage structure must meet the following requirements:

• the created structure should be convenient and as understandable as possible;
• changes should not be chaotic;
• it is necessary to maintain order in the selected data storage structure.

As a result, unnecessary and extra files(since files are often duplicated), free up space on your PC and increase productivity.

Determining the order in which data is stored

Proper distribution of information on the hard drive increases the reliability of the computer. In most cases, disk space The computer is distributed as follows: on the system local drive “C” the Windows operating system, programs, and other important data necessary for the operation of the system are installed, and the second local drive is used to store user data.

Why are two sections needed? For greater safety and operational reliability. The system and data must be separated.

In the event of a system crash, you will not lose data located on another local drive (drive “D”). Because after reinstalling the system, only the data on system disk“C”, everything else will remain intact and safe.

Therefore, it is advisable to have two or more local disks(for example, drives “C” and “D”). On drive “D” it makes sense to store your personal information: music, films, photographs, educational materials, software distributions, etc.

Before distributing data, please note the following: there should always be enough space on the system disk to work operating system and programs installed on the computer. Do not forget about the future (suddenly you install applications that take up a lot of disk space), and that there is free space on the system disk (at least 15-20%) necessary for optimal performance operating room Windows systems. Otherwise, after filling free space on the disk, your computer will seriously slow down.

On the system drive “C” there are folders “Documents” (My Documents), “Desktop”, “Downloads”, which sometimes store a large amount of information. These directories can be moved to another hard section disk. Personally, I don't do this, but only control the contents of these folders. I don't store files in the Downloads folder, but rather move downloaded files to permanent storage locations.

After installing a cloud storage application on your computer, the default storage folder is located on the “C” drive. If you use synchronization, all cloud data will be on the system drive.

If the cloud storage volume is large, optimal solution: Move the cloud storage folder to another local drive on your computer. In this case, your data from the cloud will not take up space on the system disk.

On my computer, I move cloud storage folders to other partitions. Read the article on how to transfer to another local drive.

On drive “D” of my computer there is a Yandex.Disk folder with a size of more than 200GB, and on drive “E” there is a Cloud Mail.Ru folder with a size of 1000GB. These folders are synchronized with cloud storage and contain important data for me. The folders are on the computer, so I have constant access to these files, and even in case of failure hard drive, I won't lose important information, because thanks to synchronization it will be saved in the cloud.

Currently, I have two installed on my computer hard drives: on the first hard drive there are two Local disks “C” and “D”, and on the second hard disk there is one Local disk"E".

Disks are used as follows:

• Local drive “C” (system drive).
• Local drive “D” (file storage).
• Local disk “E” (file storage).

Once you decide on your computer's drives, remove duplicate files.

Removing duplicate files

Removing duplicates will help weed out unnecessary copies of files, and unnecessary data will be deleted from the computer. Many computer cleaning programs have modules for finding and removing duplicates. To remove duplicate files, you can use specialized programs, For example, .

Cleaning up your desktop

Cleaning your desktop is the first step in the process of bringing order to your PC. The abundance of unnecessary data on the desktop can slow down your computer.

Some time ago, they brought me a laptop with the Windows 8 operating system. The laptop was terribly slow. There were a bunch of folders, shortcuts and files on the Desktop. There were a lot of photographs, some of the photographs were duplicated in different folders. I decided to see how much data is on the Desktop. It turned out that it was about 250 GB, which even shocked me a little.

It’s convenient for users to run everything from the Desktop, but then they are surprised slow work your computer. My suggestions for moving files to another drive or loading data into cloud storage, are often met with misunderstanding. Many people are too lazy to do extra click mouse to access the required files.

The desktop is a place of work (this is not random name). Nothing should distract you from work. Therefore, you should not place it on the Desktop extra elements, which may well be located in other places, leave here only the minimum of objects that are really necessary. After this, you will notice that your work efficiency has increased.

While working, various temporary data may accumulate on the Desktop: folders, files, documents. Follow simple rule: After completing the work, remove all objects and move them to the appropriate places where they should be permanently stored.

Completed work on Word document(for example), move the document to storage locations for documents of that type.

There are only three objects on the desktop of my computer in Windows 10: the “This PC” and “Trash” icons, and the “Applications” folder. Using the “This PC” icon, you can quickly get into computer management (read here on the Desktop), and the “Programs” folder contains shortcuts to the programs I use most often, most of which are portable. The portable programs themselves are located on drive “D”.

You can do without such a folder for shortcuts. For portable programs, use a shell program. Portable programs can be located anywhere on the computer, and they will be launched from the shell. The folder with shortcuts for portable programs can be moved to the Start menu in order to launch portable programs from there, along with regular applications.

Distribution of files and folders

Once you have decided on where to store files on your computer, you will need to distribute the files and folders across disks. First, move and sort the data that you understand, and leave what is not yet clear for the final stage of distribution.

On the drive to store files, create folders with clear names, for example, “Music”, “Video”, “Photos”, “Documents”, etc. In these folders, other folders will be created to sort files according to certain criteria.

Create a strict hierarchy of folders in order to clearly understand where everything is.

Let's say you have a lot of photos, videos, and music on your computer. Transfer all multimedia files to the disk that you will use as storage.

The Photos folder will contain individual photos and folders of photos. Group pictures according to certain criteria, for example, the time of shooting, place the photos in folders named according to certain parameters, for example, in the “Sea holiday in such and such year” folder. I recommend always adding dates to folders with photos so that you can easily find the photos you need.

In the “Music” folder, place all the music files that should be divided into categories (folders) by artist name, album title, music genre, etc., depending on your preferences.

Do the same with films, documents, and other files. During the investigation, you will find many unnecessary files that should not be stored on your computer.

An example of folder distribution on my computer. Several folders with clear names have been created on drive “E”. The “Music” folder contains several folders with audio files, including the “80s Disco” and “Foreign Performers” folders. In the “Foreign Performers” folder there are folders named after the names of the performers and the names of the groups.

Program files are organized into folders named according to specific categories.

This logical structure will help you quickly and easily find the file or folder you need.

Clear names of folders and files

It is very important to always adhere to the rule: folders and files must be given clear names. Names should be clear to anyone.

Even if you don't have time to give a meaningful name at the moment, take the time to give the file or folder a meaningful name after you're done. This will save a lot of time, which will have to be spent searching for the desired file or folder.

If there are a lot of files on your PC with unclear names, renaming will take quite a lot of time. Complete this work in several stages.

Putting your programs in order

pay attention to software your computer, delete everything unnecessary programs and games. Look mailboxes email, you may need to clean it up.

Clean up your browsers. Remove unnecessary extensions. Deal with your bookmarks: check your bookmarks (it happens that sites cease to exist), group or conveniently distribute the bookmarks in the window visual bookmarks. If you have a lot of bookmarks in your browser, group your bookmarks into separate folders with short, clear titles on the bookmarks bar.

Cleaning and defragmenting the system

After finishing cleaning up, clean your computer of temporary and junk files. When moving large volumes files on the computer there are many temporary files. Delete not necessary files using , or using a specialized program, for example, .

After this, defragment your computer in order to collect the fragments of files in one place on the disk. With significant data movement, the degree of file fragmentation will seriously increase. Performing defragmentation will streamline the distribution of files on the computer and increase the speed of the system.

Save important data with backup

To securely save information, back up your system or important data. By using Reserve copy system to another drive (preferably on external hard disk), you see the state of the system at the time of archiving.

If the operating system crashes, perform Windows recovery from backup copy. In the event of a hard drive failure, the system or other data from the backup can be restored to a new drive.

For backup, you can use the Windows operating system, or specialized programs: Acronis True Image(There is free version- ), etc.

Constantly maintaining a certain order

After distributing files, maintain order on your computer, place new files in previously created categories, or create new ones. After completing your daily work, distributing files and folders to permanent locations will not take much time.

Conclusions of the article

Putting your computer in order to properly organize data storage on your computer will seriously improve your work efficiency. Files and folders will be distributed across the computer's disks in accordance with a certain structure, the user will quickly find the necessary data.

Your question:

How to get rid of many unnecessary shortcuts and folders on your desktop?

Master's answer:

From time to time it is necessary to restore order not only in the room, but also on personal computer. Used files and unused shortcuts don't look very attractive on the desktop, they make it difficult to navigate, and sometimes they're just annoying. Unnecessary files You can clean it in different ways.

If the user does not use the folders " network" and "My Documents", you need to remove them from the desktop. To do this, you need to right-click the manipulator in any unoccupied space on the desktop, and then use the “Properties” line in the menu that appears. A similar method: call the “Control Panel” using the main menu of the “Start” system, there click on the “Screen” shortcut.

In the dialog box that appears called “Properties: Screen”, you need to go to the “Desktop” tab. There you need to click on the “Desktop Settings” option, in the “Desktop Elements” window that appears on the “General” page, you need to uncheck the boxes in the fields next to the “Network Neighborhood” and “My Documents” signs. The My Computer folder is usually needed, so you should leave it on your desktop. Then click the “OK” button to apply the selected settings and close the properties window by clicking on the same button.

On this “Desktop” tab, you must select the “Clean up desktop” button, then the “Desktop cleanup wizard” will be launched. This utility will help you determine which desktop shortcuts have not been used for a long time, and decide whether to leave them on the desktop or move them to the “Unused Shortcuts” directory. You must follow the installer's instructions to complete the cleaning procedure to the very end.

If there is a presence on the user's desktop large number shortcuts to frequently used applications, you need to move some of them to the Quick Launch panel. Why do you need to place the cursor on a shortcut? specific application, pinch left button manipulator and drag it to the quick task launcher (the panel located at the bottom of the screen). If the user does not see the icon that was just moved, you need to right-click on the taskbar, in context menu select the “Toolbars” item, and then in the submenu set the flag in the “Quick Launch” line. Delete what was just copied to quick start desktop shortcut.

Every time the operating system starts, the user usually opens the same applications; it is worth adding them to the Startup menu. To do this, you need to open the “Startup” directory, which is located in the folder C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Main Menu\Programs\Startup. You need to copy there the shortcuts of all files that are often used immediately after starting the operating system. And the shortcuts themselves must be removed from the desktop.

Most people work while sitting at a desk. But if your workplace is cluttered and full of distractions, it can be quite difficult to concentrate on your work. Once you have cleared your desk, try to keep it clean and tidy for as long as possible. So, first you need to sort out your workplace and find a way to organize everything in the right order.

Steps

Part 1

First, clear everything from the table. You need to remove absolutely all things and put them in a big pile. Now is the time to put everything in the correct order, so you have to pull things out of this pile one at a time. But don't try to tidy up in one minute! First you need to create free space.

• It is important to remove absolutely all things from the table, even if you are sure that this thing will still be on the table. The general pile should also include: photographs, plants, a computer.

1. Throw away the trash. As soon as we no longer need something, we immediately need to throw it away. You may want to keep some things, but you need to be sure that they will be useful to you. If you don't know whether you will need them, put these things in a special box.

   • Any confidential documents should be torn or shredded before discarding.
   • Throw away paper, plastic and anything else that can be recycled.
   • People who are used to keeping their workspaces clean have coined the saying: “When in doubt, throw it out.”

2. Wipe the entire surface of the table. Even if it seems to you that the things on the table are completely clean, cleaning again will not hurt. Wipe down your computer screen, dust your desk, unpack and wipe down your drawers.

   • You can use compressed air to clean your keyboard or any other items or hard-to-reach places.
   • To wet clean tables and surfaces, you can dilute a solution of water and white vinegar (or buy detergent).
   • The surfaces you need to wipe down include your desk, drawers, shelves, and any screens (computer, TV).

Part 3

1. Start sorting the things you have piled up. Now you have a clean table and a big pile of things that have been cleared away from the table. Start putting these things in their place. Don't miss a single thing. Gradually, putting everything in its place, throw away the trash. Separately place important items that you plan to put on shelves or in drawers.

   • Don’t put it off for later and try to deal with every thing right away. For example, if you need to rip or shred a document, do it right away. If you need to throw away some trinket, feel free to throw it in the trash. Don't put it off until later.
   • If it will take you more than two minutes to deal with a particular item (for example, if the paper shredder is in another building, or you need to buy a rag), you need to set it aside and write a reminder on your to-do list.
   • The items that you are going to put on the table should be in one pile. Items to be thrown in the trash must be in the trash can. Items that you haven't yet decided what to do with should go in the third pile.

2. Put together all the things you don't know what to do with yet. These items include items that won't sit on your desk but that you don't want to throw in the trash. Place these items in one box and place this box in a closet or closet.

   • In a month or six months you need to disassemble this box again. If you have not used the items in this box during this time, throw them in the trash. Because the likelihood that you will need them again is very small.

3. Now you need to arrange all these items on the desktop. You need to take one thing at a time from the first pile and put it on your desk, shelf or drawer. Use written notes or another organizational system to guide you. So, take one item at a time and place it in your workplace.

   Try to clean your desk regularly. The more often you clean, the easier it will be to keep things clean and organized. At the end of the day, be sure to pay attention to your workplace and put it in order. Throw out the trash and remove any unnecessary papers or documents from your desk.

   • If you tidy up your desk at the end of each day, you'll come back to a clean workspace the next day.
   • Give yourself one day a week or month to declutter your desk (depending on how quickly it gets cluttered). unnecessary things and garbage).

Part 4

1. Arrange your things the way that is most convenient for you. Each person has his own way of organizing his workplace and all the necessary items. It all depends on what kind of work you do at your desk. But no matter what you do, it's important to get rid of distractions.

Vladimir Pavlovich is the owner of a modest business producing earplugs, but looking at the desktop of his laptop, you could mistake him for some kind of secret agent. The entire screen is literally covered with a multitude of files and shortcuts - a real control center for undercover operatives. Behind the huge accumulation of icons, it’s not easy to guess the outlines of a blue BMW, but finding something you need among this pile of information is real torture. Just looking at a screen is enough to raise your blood pressure. But Vladimir Pavlovich is not an agent at all. It's just that his computer is a real funnel of entropy.

Is there a connection between professional activity Vladimir Pavlovich and the disorder on his computer desktop, it’s impossible to say for sure, because from time to time each of us accumulates a lot of junk or simply materials that are not properly sorted on the screen. Meanwhile, such an environment does not bode well for you: you may not notice it, but, according to research, computer clutter has Negative influence on your productivity, interfering with the normal distribution of time for completing certain tasks and reducing your concentration.

One day, Vladimir Pavlovich decided that enough was enough, and if he wanted his business to prosper, he would have to clean up the mess in his computer and develop principles that would not allow this madness to happen again.

Read today's article about the dangers of desk clutter and how you can deal with it.

The price of disorder

Having a computer cluttered with information is an expensive pleasure. Of course, we're talking about about mental costs. Researchers from Princeton University have empirically proven that people whose desks are cluttered perform much worse on cognitive tasks than those who have everything necessary files arranged systematically, in a certain order.

The finding that our brains take longer to find the files we need when they're scattered isn't really surprising at all.

Moreover, the additional distractions that probably abound on your desktop act as triggers that force us to solve unimportant tasks - which leads to poor concentration and unnecessary loss of time.

Every icon, browser tab left open, and program minimized to the toolbar is like an annoying reminder of unfinished business and unresolved tasks. As a result, this merciless onslaught of triggers easily leads to the fact that instead of solving the current problem, you are moving in a completely “different direction”.

This kind of jumping from problem area to another, according to Sophie Leroy, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, causes irreparable harm to our productivity, since any problem grabs a piece of our attention, making it difficult to return to the point where , in fact, a distraction occurred.

Removing unnecessary triggers frees up our minds and allows us to focus all of our power on the tasks at hand. Whereas loss of concentration and chaotic surroundings put heavy psychological pressure on us and prevent us from solving problems in the best possible way.

If you need additional arguments in favor of order, keep in mind that in addition to additional cognitive waste and unnecessary waste of time, you also lose in computer performance. Each open tab is an additional load on the processor and RAM. Of course, now there are technologies that allow automatic mode stop the consumption of resources to maintain unused programs and processes, but these, speaking in metaphors, are those drugs that eliminate the symptoms, but not the disease itself.

Removing triggers

So, the first thing you can do to somehow unload your workspace is to create a folder and move into it all the files that are in currently are on the desktop. Of course, this will not solve the whole problem, because you will simply move the mess from one place to another, but it will still stop being an eyesore.

“Search” (or Spotlight - the built-in search function in Mac OS) will help you quickly find this or that file, so it makes sense to use it, and files that you access every day (for example, a shortcut Word editor), can be easily found in the tab " Recent Documents" (or place it on the taskbar).

You can listen to Vladimir Pavlovich’s advice and change background image desktop with some plain wallpaper. If you own an Apple product, you can also use Bartender 2 to post all your running applications at the top of the screen. After all the procedures done, you will start every day with a “clean slate”.

To keep your attention on current tasks and not get distracted, you can turn off all notifications (alerts) from programs:

Caption: “Turn off notifications”

Use the Do Not Disturb feature. Set the time interval from 7.00 to 6.59 am (day):

Once you've turned off all those annoying notifications and tidied up your desktop, you'll need to deal with the biggest enemy of your productivity: your browser.

The first problem is what to do with all the open tabs? First, they need to be divided into several categories. For example, it might look like this:

• tabs related to what you are currently doing;
• articles you plan to read later;
• sites you may need in the future;
• communication tools (social networks, etc.).

Sorting tabs will help you quickly bring order to your browser. For example, the URLs of sites that you use daily can be entered into a special sheet, a kind of database. If necessary, you open this sheet (for example, a document on Google Drive) and select the resource you need.

Next, what to do with the articles? The truth is that articles you put aside for later are usually never read. But now we are not talking about this, but trying to figure out where to save all these materials. To protect yourself from clutter, you can use the services

Pocket was created in 2007 by Nate Weiner to help people save interesting articles, videos and more from the web and enjoy them later. After registration, your browser will appear active button, when clicked current page will be saved in your account:

This is how this button will be displayed in the Yandex browser

Evernote's web clipper also offers more advanced functionality. By clicking on the icon in the top sidebar of your browser, you can choose in what format you will save the page: completely, as a snapshot, as an article, etc.:

If it seems to you that all these tools are nothing more than a way to transfer information noise from one place to another, but not solve the very cause of this noise, know that the abundance of information today is not a problem at all. The challenge is to organize the incoming material so that it does not affect your productivity and clarity of thought, and at the same time is easily accessible when needed.

Another source of chaos in your head and computer is Email And social media. These comrades are constantly trying to grab a piece of your time and attention, so the most The best way To cope with them, turn off all notifications and do not keep pages with these services open while you are doing something that requires strong concentration. Social media like jelly - try it once and get stuck in it for a long time, reading an endless series of posts from news feed. You will think that you are busy, although in reality it is just an illusion of activity.

You can also use tools like StayFocusd or Freedom to block yourself from visiting certain resources while you're busy.

Once you've put everything in order on all possible fronts, it's time to set aside time in your schedule to "take out the trash" from your computer and browser and not let the abundance of information overwhelm you. Just 15 minutes a week will be enough. If you do it right, you will experience an increase in efficiency and mental clarity.

Conclusion

You may not think much of it, but chaos in your environment means chaos in your head. Clean up your surroundings and you will feel energized and increase your productivity. The main conclusions of the article are below:

• clean your desktop by dumping all files into one folder (or better yet, sort the ones you need and delete unused shortcuts);
• turn off all notifications from applications installed on your computer and social networking services;
• leaving too much open tabs in a web browser, you slow down the speed of your computer and create many additional incentives for yourself to be distracted;
• use these useful utilities like Evernote's web clipper, Pocket service or similar applications;
• Every week, dedicate at least 15 minutes to clearing away all the garbage that has accumulated over the past 7 days.