I love reading the Oatmeal comics and this comic caught my attention because its about computers and the three stages of owning a computer. Well I am going to show you 2 simple steps to prolong the painful event of computer ownership stage 3.

Clean up

This is the hardest part of the 2 steps because you are not only cleaning up temp files, cookies and other files that are useless but you will also need to uninstall useless programs. This can be hard because most people don’t know what programs to uninstall.

The average computer user just needs a basic web browser, some basic office software (ex. microsoft word) and some basic computer security so I will be basing the examples around that.

Some things that you should be removing include:

• Trial Software – Its been used once and probably wont be again until you pay for it.
• Old Games – You played them, beat them, now they just sit there clogging your hard drive.
• Useless Media Programs – If you just have WMP or iTunes and just use those then you don’t need to worry about any other programs for media… If you need to play media that isnt supported by those then go ahead and look at getting VLC Player, its small and plays about 99% of media files.
• Manufacture Software – These days when you buy a printer or camera they not only come with the drivers but also some very useless software like photo managers… If you can remove the software without removing the drivers then do it.
• Old Programs – If you haven’t used it in the past month then you don’t need it.
• Old Drivers – If you had a printer but it died or just replaced it with a new printer then remove the old printers drivers.
• Toolbar programs – Google Toolbar, Yahoo Toolbar and many others. they are useless and you can live without them.

Some things that you should never remove include:

• Acrobat Reader – You need this to read PDF files and most documentation on the internet uses PDFs now.
• Used Programs – If you use it daily or almost daily then you should not remove it… All tho you could consider replacing the program with one that performs the same function you use but will do it faster.
• Security Software – This is essential for staying safe… If you have paid for it or it is asking you to pay for it then remove it, there is free software that will do the same thing. This will be discussed more in the next section.

After you have removed the useless programs you should perform a disk cleanup. Just start the disk cleanup utility (usualy start, all programs, accessories, system tools, disk cleanup) and follow the steps to remove the junk.

Also considering cleaning up your desktop. Move files to the documents folder, shortcuts to programs can be deleted. Right now I have no icons on my desktop, having a clear desktop with a nice background from interfacelift can also help you stay on track with a clear mind.

Seruity

Security is essential to staying safe on your computer. Having the top of the line security software is not always the best, most of the high end security software requires big subscription fees and slow down your computer. When it comes to security stay simple. Only have one antivirus program installed at any time (most antivirus programs will fight with each other), ease of use is also a big factor because if its to difficult for you to use then you will never use it.

I have tested many antivirus programs over the years and at the moment Microsoft has the be solution for the average user called Microsoft Security Essentials. It is very simple to install and use. It is very basic and will not slow down your computer, not to mention its free.

Antivirus is only one step, installing a safe and easy browser is the next step. I have tested the most common browsers and found that Google Chrome is the easiest and most secure, not to mention the fastest loading.