Ideas for Better and More Efficient Work on the Computer

Introduction

There are basic computing ideas and techniques that can improve and make more efficient your work on the computer. Some of these ideas are basic, but often overlooked. When you remember to employ them, they can do a lot in improving your computer work. Here are a few ideas to apply for your computer to make your work more efficient:

• creating shortcuts of folders/files to the computer's desktop area
• bookmarking frequently visited sites and organizing them into folders
• creating a number of needed browser tabs and saving them for the next computer session
• regularly defragging your computer system and other mobile storage devices
• checking your computer system for best performance
• make regular back ups of all your computer files
• using the security software of McAfee for safer searching on the Web

Desktop shortcuts

We usually have folders and files in our hard disk drive or removable disks (like flash drives or memory cards) that we return to often for editing and updating. Instead of going through the procedures of - opening a disk, searching among its folders, and then zeroing in on the file that we need - we can instead create a shortcut to a specific file in the desktop area of our computer. The process to complete this in Windows OS is as follows:

• open the hard disk or removable disk from the computer section of your start menu
• search for the folder that contains the file needed
• open the folder
• search for the specific file
• once found, click on the file once
• then while the cursor is on the file, right-click your mouse
• move cursor to "send to desktop (create shortcut)"
• click and see if the shortcut to the file appears on the desktop area of your computer

Saving and organizing bookmarks

When working online on the computer, we usually have sites we revisit often. To save on time, instead of typing the URL of the web site in the address bar of the browser, you can just bookmark the site. Browsers usually have an "add bookmark" or "add to favorites" feature that will save the page of the site for us. Once you have collected a number of saved bookmarks, you can then organize them into folders through the "organize bookmarks" feature of your browser. There is a "create folder" feature which you can use to categorize your bookmark folders. In Internet Explorer 8, you need to use the "move to folder" feature to move a saved bookmark into its respective folder category.

Web site development work is always in process. So when new sites are discovered that can progress our work, we need to add them to our favorite bookmarks. Browsers usually have a system by which you can organize well so that a new bookmark is added to the category folders you have created. If you want to save all these bookmarks into one HTML file, just use the "export bookmark" feature. This saves your organized system of bookmarks as an .htm or .html file (bookmark.htm or bookmark.html). This can come in very handy when you want to use another browser. You can "import" this bookmark file in another browser so that you can work in the same organized system as you did with your original browser.

Creating browser tabs and saving them

Another basic tip to use for ease of work in the computer, is to create browser tabs that you need for every computer session. When you finish a computer session, some browsers ask you if you want to save the tabs for that session. Always click "yes", as this can save you time in creating new browser tabs again for the next computer session. In Internet Explorer 8, to create a New Tab, all you need to do is to click on that empty tab space next to the default browser tab. After you have created all the browser tabs you need, IE 8 asks you if you want to close all the tabs. Click "yes" because the tabs are automatically saved for the next computer session. When you open IE 8 again and the default page appears, click on a "New Tab", and then move your cursor to "Reopen Last Browsing Session". Clicking on this link will add again all the browser tabs you have used in your last computer session.

Regular defragging of your computer system

You need to regularly defrag your computer system so that it will perform efficiently. The more regularly you defrag your harddrive and mobile storage devices, the lesser time is needed to complete this process. To defrag your computer, go to Control Panel; click on System and Maintenance; under Administrative Tools, click on Defragment your hard drive. After you click this link, you will be asked whether you want to also defrag your mobile storage devices. The amount of time needed to defrag both hard drive and mobile storage depends on how much has been stored in both of these storage systems. Defragging makes your computer more efficient.

Monitoring your computer system for best performance

You can also check your computer system so that it will be at its best in performing all operations necessary for your work. Go to Control Panel; click on System and Maintenance; go to Performance Information and Tools and click the link; then click on Advanced tools; finally, click on Generate a System Health Report. This advanced tool will see how each component of your computer is performing. If you notice that it reports a warning sign in your computer memory, it is best to delete all software or files that are not anymore necessary or essential to your computer work. Usually, when you delete all these non-essentials, you will get a better computer health report.

Stick to a systematized method of back-ups

Always back-up after every session in your computer work. You do not know when your hard disk or your mobile storage device will fail you. If you can, make "back-ups of back-ups". This ensures that all your important files are secured and not lost in any disk failure.

Using McAfee software for safer searching

www.mcafee.com has a software which you can download freely to your computer system. Once downloaded and installed, the software integrates automatically with an Internet Explorer browser. The purpose of this software is to inform you which results in your search queries on the search engines are secure. They give a green "sign" for search results that they have examined and tested for any security risk. And for sites that have not been tested for safe browsing, the McAfee software gives a "?" sign. This is important as some sites really pose a danger in terms of security risks.

Summary and conclusions

The ideas given above are valuable in web site development work, but we sometimes overlook its usefulness because they appear standard and basic to anyone using the computer. However, if we do not overlook their usefulness, make it a point to use them regularly, you can make your computer work more efficient. This saves you on time. It can also slow down the physical degeneration and depreciation of your computer system - making it work longer and saving you the money well-spent and invested for it.

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