A program for putting things in order on your computer. Reviving an old computer: how to put hardware and software in order. Repeat the trick on the PC desktop

Even a superhero cannot cope with the computer rubble that has accumulated over the years in one sitting. No, here you need to take a completely different approach: small but constant steps that will ultimately lead to victory. And to make them easier, it is better to attach them to some constantly recurring and inevitable events.

1. Set up one service every week

Reports of hacking of popular services appear with alarming regularity. Developers respond by constantly fixing vulnerabilities and adding new security settings. All you have to do is find a little time and turn it on in Google, activate it in Facebook, LastPass, and so on.

Each week, choose a service or app that you use regularly and spend some time setting it up, paying particular attention to privacy options. I'm sure you'll discover some cool new features as a result, and you'll also be able to make your online experience more secure.

2. Remove one item from your desktop every time you turn on your computer.

The desktop is a great place to temporarily store documents, files or program shortcuts. The key word is “temporary”.

If your desktop has turned into a dump in which it is impossible to find anything, this is not the case. In this case, you need to make it a rule to get rid of one element every time you boot your computer. Files go to the clouds, documents go to work folders, watched movies and music go to the trash, and shortcuts go to favorites.

3. Unsubscribe from one newsletter daily

Personally, I have to register on a huge number of sites to test services and programs. And each of them considers it their duty to start bombarding me with letters about their updates, new features, discounts and other events. As a result, my inbox is overflowing with emails, most of which I would rather never see.

All this is possible and necessary. However, immediately taking the time to remove yourself from all mailing lists is quite problematic. So I try to get rid of at least one unwanted sender every day.

4. Organize your photos

After the appearance of more or less decent cameras in smartphones, we began to generate simply a gigantic number of pictures. However, taking beautiful photos is not everything. It is advisable to upload them to one of the cloud storages, provide titles, indicate the people depicted on them and the location of the shooting. Then your photo archive will truly become a repository of memories, and not just a dump of pictures.

Most often, the work of organizing a photo archive involves performing many monotonous actions that do not require much brain strain. Therefore, it is best to do it at the very end of the day, when you are already tired. At the same time, remember the happy moments of your life and relax.

5. Check one link from your favorites every time you open your browser

Many people have the habit of immediately sending the find to their favorites when they discover an interesting site or article on the Internet. Gradually, so many elements accumulate there that it turns out to be absolutely impossible to find “that same article.”

There are two ways out of this situation. Radical - just close your eyes, delete all the content of your favorites, and turn to Google every time to access the necessary sites. And conservative - still try to put order in the bookmarks.

This is not as difficult to do as it seems if you process one link each time you launch the browser. In less than six months, you will only have useful resources that you really need.

6. Read books, not news

On the one hand, we all constantly read something: news, forums, Twitter and Facebook. On the other hand, this reading is not at all beneficial, unlike reading real literature.

Therefore, it is necessary to develop a habit that will help you gradually replace “wrong” reading with “correct” reading. Make an agreement with yourself that before visiting Facebook, Twitter and other hot spots on the Internet, be sure to read a couple of pages of a book. At first it will be unusual, but then you will get used to it. And it turns out that serious literature can be much more exciting than cats on social networks.

7. Use calendars and reminders

Remembering all these tips can be quite difficult for today's busy person. And why do this if there are so many different calendars and task managers? Just enter the tasks you need into your favorite planner, and you won’t forget when and what needs to be done.

Do you have your own signature tricks that help deal with constant computer problems?

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. With proper organization of work on the 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 to write this article several times. 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.

Searching in the Windows operating system to access the necessary data with unclear names, if there is a huge amount of it, 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, the free space on your disk is decreasing, and files and folders are gradually taking up space, you should start cleaning up 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'll quickly find the folder, file, or document you need because you'll know where to look for it.

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

1. Choosing the right structure for storing information
2. Removing duplicate files
3. Distribution of files and folders
4. Renaming files and folders to give them normal names
5. Back up important data

Basic principles of information storage

Before you start putting things in order on your computer, you need to define for yourself the basic principles for organizing 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 shouldn't be chaotic
• it is necessary to maintain order in the selected data storage structure

As a result, unnecessary and redundant files will be deleted from the computer (since files are often duplicated), space will be freed up on the PC, and productivity will increase.

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, the computer's disk space is distributed as follows: the Windows operating system, programs, and other important data necessary for the system are installed on the system local drive "C", 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 the system drive “C” will be lost, everything else will remain intact and safe.

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

Before distributing data, please note the following: there should always be enough space on the system disk to run the 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 operation of the Windows operating system. Otherwise, once the free disk space is full, 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 partition of the hard drive. 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 volume of cloud storage is large, the optimal solution is to 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 Yandex.Disk to another local drive.

On drive “D” of my computer there is a Yandex.Disk folder with a size of more than 200 GB, and on drive “E” there is a Cloud Mail.Ru folder with a size of 1000 GB. 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 if the hard drive fails, I will not lose important information, because thanks to synchronization it will be saved in the cloud.

At the moment, I have two hard drives installed on my computer: the first hard drive has two Local drives “C” and “D”, and the second hard drive has one Local drive “E”.

Disks are used as follows:

• Local disk “C” (system disk)
• 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, Auslogics Duplicate File Finder.

Cleaning up your desktop

Cleaning the 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 photos, some of them 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 is convenient for users to run everything from the Desktop, however, then they are surprised at the slow operation of their computer. My suggestions for moving files to another drive or uploading data to cloud storage are often met with misunderstanding. Many people are too lazy to make an extra mouse click to access the necessary files.

The desktop is the place of work (this is not a random name). Nothing should distract you from work. Therefore, you should not place unnecessary elements on the Desktop, which may well be located in other places; leave here only a 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 a simple rule: after completing the work, remove all objects and move them to the appropriate places where they should be permanently stored.

Once you've finished working on a 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, 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 the PortableApps.com Platform wrapper. 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 disk for storing files, create folders with clear names, for example, “Music”, “Video”, “Photos”, “Documents”, etc. Within these folders, other folders will be created to sort files based on specific 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 name the file or folder with 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 your computer software, remove all unnecessary programs and games. Check your email inboxes to see if they need cleaning.

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 visual bookmarks window. If you have a lot of bookmarks in your browser, group your bookmarks into separate folders with short, clear names in the bookmarks bar.

Cleaning and defragmenting your computer

After finishing cleaning up, clean your computer of temporary and junk files. When you move large amounts of files, a lot of temporary files appear on your computer. Remove unnecessary files using a Windows tool, or using a specialized program such as CCleaner.

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 backing up your system to another drive (preferably an external hard drive), you will preserve the state of the system at the time of backup.

If your operating system crashes, restore Windows from a backup. 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 tool, or specialized programs: Acronis True Image (there is a free version - Acronis True Image WD), AOMEI Backupper, 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.

Conclusion

Putting things in order on your computer 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.

Greetings to readers of the blog YOUR DECISION!

In this article, I will share an algorithm for how to put things in order in files and folders on your computer, which will help every reader become organized and make your work with information more efficient. And following just seven steps will save many hours of your time.

So, are you ready to organize your files and folders? Great! Then go ahead!

1. Create a clear file structure

The main task at this step is to come up with and create your own file structure. This process is purely individual and does not contain the only correct solution. However, we can highlight the main points that will greatly facilitate the process of creating your own file system.

• The most natural way to organize file storage on a computer is to create folders, each of which must correspond to a specific category. For example, the folder “Video”, “Games”, “Music”, Photos”, “Work”, “Downloads” and so on.

• If there are several computer users, you can use a system based on storing files by computer user (“My Files,” “Spouse Files,” “Son Files,” etc.).

• Create as many levels of folder nesting as needed. Notice and use the opportunity to group a set of related files in a separate folder. For example, combine songs from one artist, photos from one event, documents received from one client into subfolders

• When creating your folder structure, follow simple logic:
  - “parent” folders sort files according to criteria that are more important to you;
  - “children” (nested) – according to less important ones.

• Whatever organization system you create, get into the habit of creating new catalogs all the time.
  

  Every document on your computer must have its own home, just like things in a closet must have their own place.

• We create folders not on the “C” drive, but on the “D” drive, if you have one and there is enough space there.
  And remember that drive C is intended only for system documents and for installing programs! The rest - photos, videos, work and personal documents, maps, books, and so on should be stored either on a removable hard drive or on drive D. This approach significantly speeds up the computer, it slows down and freezes less.

  Drive “C” ONLY for the operating system and programs! Store all your documents, photos, music and movies on drive “D”

2. Audit and sorting of “old” files

Create an “Archive” folder on drive D. Transfer all files that are stored on your computer to the created “Archive” folder
Then go through each of your files by hand and arrange them into your new structure using three rules:

• if you have nowhere to put a new file, create a folder suitable for the topic;

• if a file “asks” for two (three, etc.) folders at once, save the most suitable thematic folder, and delete the rest, having first transferred everything valuable to other folders;

• Don't store unnecessary files.

Sorting files, due to its routine nature, can be done in parts and divided into 15 minutes. Set aside 15 minutes every day to sort through “old” files and gradually put everything back into place. Then the Archive folder can be deleted.

3.Create an Inbox

Create an Inbox folder on your file system. This folder is for recently created or downloaded files that you have yet to sort or process. You can name this folder differently, for example, “INBOX”, “Downloads” or “Downloads”.

Once you create your inbox, don't use any other folder to store your unsorted and working files. When creating or receiving a new file, immediately place it in your Inbox, then your computer will always be clean and tidy.

There should be one Inbox folder on your computer. Two tips to avoid creating duplicate inboxes:

• set the default Inbox to save files in all programs;

• Set your default download inbox in all browsers.

Don't let your inbox become overcrowded. For this:

• Check your inbox regularly (at least 1-3 times a day)

• Immediately place files that are finished in the designated folder.
  If you notice a file sitting there for a long time in your Inbox, admit that you probably don’t really need it and put it in the Trash.

4. Create correct file names

Create filename templates

When the number of files in one folder exceeds several dozen, difficulties arise in finding the required document. Often the file name does not convey information about what is inside the document. In this regard, I propose a simple way to facilitate the process of creating an “information” file name - to create a file name template for each of your information streams.

When constructing a name template, follow these rules:

• reflect the essence of the document in the file name

• use the date in the file name
  — at the beginning of the file name, if the relevance of the document depends on the time of its creation;
  - at the end of the file name, if the information and contents of the file are more important than the date of its creation.

• Arrange the elements of the file name from the general to the specific (from date, subject, address, etc. - to the contents of the file)

• dates were arranged from largest to smallest (year – month – day)

Be thoughtful about file naming

• Never create files with meaningless names like "Document1.doc". Take the time to come up with a title that accurately describes what's inside the document.
• Avoid long file names
• Using long file names indicates that your file system is not clear and deep enough.

So, set aside some free time over the course of a few days to organize your files. Consistently, step by step, give new names to all old files, renaming them according to patterns.

5. Use shortcuts

The shortcut provides the user with convenient access to frequently used files, placing it in two places. This allows you to always make do with one copy of the file.

6.Clean up your “Desktop”

Never store files and folders on your desktop!
The desktop is located on drive C and when you reinstall the operating system, you may lose all of its contents.
Store all files in the desired folder on drive D, and display only shortcuts on the desktop!

Desktop cleaning algorithm:

• Drag all files from the desktop to the “Archive” folder created earlier (except for the “My Computer” and “Trash” icons)
• Assign specific areas of the “Desktop” to essential objects (programs, folders, files).
  For example:
  — upper left corner — for shortcuts to the most important programs and the “My Computer” icon;
  — upper right corner – shortcuts to actively used folders and the most important documents;
  — lower right corner — “Trash” icon
  You can change the location and purpose of zones depending on your needs.
• Transfer the necessary files from the “Archive” folder to the “My Documents” folder, and delete unnecessary files.

7.Keep your file structure in order

Strictly adhere to the created structure

There is no point in spending long hours putting all your files in order and continuing to save freshly downloaded documents to your Desktop.
Make it a rule that every time I have nothing to do on the computer, do a digital trash cleanup.

Rules for maintaining order in the file storage system:

1. Store only those files that:

• will be useful to you;
• it will not be possible to download again if necessary

2.When creating or downloading a new file, immediately place it in the appropriate folder
3. If the file cannot be immediately saved within your system or you need it for a short time, then save it to the “Inbox” folder.
4. Clean out your inbox once a week or delete all files in it.

So, there you have it, seven difficult steps to sort through the digital rubble that resulted in your personal file storage system. Once you have spent time sorting documents, maintain the order and improve the created file storage system.

And remember that the habit of keeping your digital documents in order is the key to getting much more done!!

I will be glad if my experience becomes YOUR SOLUTION to emerging problems! I'd love to hear about your experiences with digital trash cleanup in the comments!

You can learn about my experience in organizing the storage of paper personal documents!

Ivan Afanasiev

The active life of a computer involves the use of various software. A significant part of the life of programs occurs in the system registry. It remembers the files you open, the correspondence between file types and the applications responsible for them, and personal settings. Not to mention, of course, important system information about drivers, starting services, the need to download a particular program, settings for various menus, and so on. During the installation and removal process, programs leave traces of their existence, which, accumulating, slow down the operating system, forcing it to access files that no longer exist.

This problem does not depend on the quality of the software products you use. When uninstalling, only what was recorded during installation is deleted. The uninstaller simply does not know about what has already appeared during operation. The situation is even worse with large software packages, drivers, browser add-ons, and games. Much of the above does not imply that the installation process is reversed, or, having installed the libraries in the system registry section, it is not possible to remove them. To rid the operating system of unnecessary actions and links to non-existent programs, the registry must be cleaned.

Historically, from the moment such a need arose to the present day, programs that optimize and clean the registry have evolved towards the most user-friendly interface and almost automatic activity. This approach allows the user not to be afraid of ruining something by pressing an unfamiliar button.

Registry Cleaner

Carambis Registry Cleaner is one of the simplest and most effective tools for maintaining your operating system. All your actions practically come down to pressing two buttons - starting a scan and correcting the errors found. Of course, for more experienced users there are additional features and the ability to get detailed information. Let's look at an example of how this works.

Registry scan

When you first launch the program, it immediately begins scanning the registry for errors. In the future, you can run the scan yourself or set up a schedule for regular scanning.

List of errors

All errors found are conditionally grouped by type of problem or by the name of the application to which the registry branch belongs. For example, file association groups are registry entries that associate document types with the programs that open them. When you uninstall the program, the links remain, but the computer continues to try to show such files an icon icon from a non-existent file. Another common problem is MRU (Most Recently Used) links. When you open a file, most programs store it in a special list to make it easier for you to open it again. If the file is deleted, the link to it will remain and will interfere. Naturally, there are also more serious errors, such as registration entries for no longer existing system classes and libraries that Windows tries to load every time you turn on the computer.

Bug fix report

Patch history

The essence of fixing the registry comes down to simply deleting incorrect lines. Each work session is saved in a log, in which all changes made are remembered, so that if something happens, deleted registry branches can be restored back. Although, as a rule, unforeseen situations do not happen, such programs, if you use a high-quality product, work accurately and take into account all the features of the operating system.

Program settings

Since the program is aimed at an inexperienced user, there are not many settings in it. You can configure the program to load with Windows and schedule the registry check. The ignore list tab contains a list of registry branches that you know you shouldn’t touch. But this is a function for more experienced users.

In addition to cleaning and fixing the registry, Registry Cleaner will help you optimize it at the file level. Technically, the registry is a database stored on disk in several files. Due to the fact that programs actively use it, the registry, like any other file, is gradually defragmented. That is, during the process of deleting and writing data, pieces of the file end up in different places on the disk. The system has to piece it together to read it, and the more the registry is defragmented, the longer it takes, and the slower the computer runs. Unfortunately, in the trial version of Registry Cleaner the optimization function is blocked, and we were unable to get Carambis support to solve this problem, so as an alternative, let’s consider an equally useful and free utility from ChemTable Software - Registry Life.

Registry Life is intended for absolutely similar purposes as Registry Cleaner. Perhaps the interface is just a little less friendly. The program checks and fixes problems in the so-called logical structure - these are, in fact, branches and registry entries that “lead to nowhere.”

Registry scan

Search and correction are carried out practically behind closed doors. First, the program scans something, then displays a message about the number of errors found with one single “Fix” button. Then he corrects it and says that everything is “Ok”. Of course, you can see what she found there, but it is presented in the same form as it is stored in the registry, so even an experienced user cannot understand what this or that entry refers to. Nevertheless, after the correction, I was able to successfully reboot and the system did not “stumble” on anything. A change log is also kept here, and all operations can be rolled back.

Registry defragmentation

Optimizing the physical structure means defragmenting registry files and reducing the space they occupy by optimizing the use of disk space. When you start this mode, the program scares you with scary messages about the need to close all programs and restart the computer. After this, the desktop is blocked and the sacrament begins.

Report after defragmentation

All processes also occur behind the scenes inside the utility; it was probably possible to make a visualization with moving squares, as in a regular defragmenter, but, strictly speaking, there is no benefit from this. A picture with squares is shown at the end of work, before rebooting. It shows how bad the registry structure looked before and how beautiful it became after. Since the program was tested on a fairly fast computer with a recently installed OS, it was difficult to feel a significant difference in performance. It probably loaded faster, considering that I have a lot of programs in startup that usually don’t load very quickly.

Everything is fine now

As a result, we can say that it does not matter which program to use for computer prevention, the main thing is that it is a reliable manufacturer specializing in such utilities. For data security, longer computer life, and personal comfort, it is worth purchasing a good system maintenance kit and using it regularly. Then there will be fewer freezes, your nerves will be in order, and your computer will serve you faithfully for many years.

The desktop is the first thing that is displayed to the user on the computer screen after turning it on and loading Windows and what you most often see when working on a PC. It allows you to quickly access the main programs, features, and resources of your computer. That is, your comfort, convenience and functioning of the entire system will depend on how it is configured and organized.

Putting things in order

Cleaning your desktop is the first step towards completely bringing order to your entire computer. Moreover, unnecessary data on it overloads the system and slows it down.

It's not surprising that users love to run everything from the desktop, but don't understand why their PC is running too slow. Many people are simply too lazy to make a couple of extra clicks to gain access to a particular document.

The desktop is a full-fledged place of work, and nothing should distract you from this very activity. That is why it is not recommended that unnecessary elements be placed on it, because they only waste free space and can be located in any other place.

As a rule, on the main “page” of the PC there are shortcuts to different folders that are contained on local drives. The number of labels depends solely on you, your wishes and preferences. Some people like cleanliness and complete order, when at least a sign is located in a visible place.

Others love quick access to the programs they need, which makes their Start screen look like a minefield. When one wrong click of one or another icon will lead to the launch of an unnecessary utility. As practice shows, there is no need for shortcuts to all utilities available on a PC. The minimum set is “My Computer”, “Trash” and “My Documents”. Everything else should be done according to your taste.

Working with icons

To move files, you need to move the pointer to the required shortcut, hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the appropriate location. After this, you need to refresh the initial screen by pressing “F5” or through the context menu.

You can also click “Arrange Icons” and leave the check mark next to “Align to Grid” so that the icons are normally positioned and do not move.

Those programs that you use regularly, or rather their icons, can be added to the quick access panel located to the right of “Start”. To add them, you just need to drag the icon onto this panel and remove the shortcut altogether.

You can set the size of this panel yourself. Right-click and in the menu that appears, deactivate the “Pin the taskbar” function. Next, move the cursor over the edge of the panel so that it changes its shape to a double arrow, hold down the left button and adjust the length. Now we pin the taskbar back, just as we unpinned it.

To change the default icons for the “Computer”, “Trash”, “Network” folders, right-click on the desktop and select the “Personalization” menu item.

Changing the icons of any other folder follows a similar principle: call the properties, move to the “Shortcut” tab and click “Change Icon”, then set the desired icon and click “Apply”.

I would like to pay special attention to the “Personalization” item, because with its help you can change the design of buttons and folders, install new wallpapers, themes and a screensaver. To customize the start screen according to your own desires and preferences, you should navigate through the appropriate tabs and items.

Start Menu

Minor programs that you don't use very often can be moved to the Start menu. To do this, move the cursor to the shortcut, hold down the left mouse button, press the “Win” button and drag the program to the location you need.

Now the utility will be available directly from “Start” and the need to search for a particular icon among all other icons will disappear every time. Just click on “Start” and launch the desired utility.

Hotkey assignments

Another very convenient option that not many people use is to assign hot keys for faster access to the desired program. Click on the desired shortcut and go to its properties. Click on the “Short call” field and press the required combination on the keyboard (it is advisable that it is not used in Windows itself), for example, “CTRL+SHIFT+M”.

Now, after pressing the given combination, the required utility will launch. This method allows you to completely abandon the use of icons on the desktop.

Program for grouping icons - Win7Stack

This program allows you to group all the necessary icons in the desired order. You just need to specify the folder with icons in the settings, after which the utility will automatically generate a special shortcut to launch the menu.

By double-clicking on this shortcut, you will see the set you created.

The utility works on Windows 7.

File storage

Probably, many users, after finishing work, accumulate a lot of files, folders, documents on their desktop, which violate all comfort. In this case, you need to follow a simple rule and move the created files to the appropriate folders after the end of the working day.

For example, you've finished working on an Excel document, move it to a separate folder where the rest of your documents are stored.

Also, you should not save all files on the desktop, since it is located on the local disk with the installed OS, so all content may be lost if the system is reinstalled. Of course, there is no doubt that it is much more convenient to store important files “in plain sight,” but this is dangerous.

For your convenience and safety, all important files should be stored on other drives, for example, D, E, in the appropriate folders: photos in the “Photos” folder, documents in “My Documents” and so on. Only shortcuts should be displayed on the desktop, which are incredibly easy to create. To do this, right-click on the file and select “Send/Create Shortcut”.

Now you know how to get your desktop in order. The information obtained will allow you not only to optimize your work in the operating system, but also thanks to it you will protect yourself from losing important data and information in a critical situation.