Making the Most of Your Computers
The Feb. 18, 2009 issue of Church Leaders Intelligence Report provided an excellent article on “Making the Most of Your Computers.” Here is the critical part of the article:
At the recent AICPA Not-For-Profit Financial Executives Forum held in Anaheim, Randy Johnson, executive vice president of Network Management Group, Inc. offered his top-ten tips on extending the life of your desktop tools.
Happily, most of these tips do not require additional out-of-pocket expenditure. Consider asking for the advice or participation of someone well-versed in information systems and technology if you don't feel comfortable implementing these tips.
- Back up files no longer needed and delete them locally.
- Remove programs no longer needed, and make sure to remove program file folders not removed by "uninstall."
- Convert drive to NTFS, if not already; this increases the size of read/write blocks and significantly improves speed.
- Defrag the drive (twice!).
- Install the latest SP release for Windows and Office, if applicable.
- Determine that you are not running multiple spyware/virus software.
- Run MSCONFIG and remove auto start programs you do not need.
- Keep the Tray lean and mean; remove programs you do not run regularly, like Hot Sync for Treo and others.
- For Microsoft Vista, remove gadgets like the weather, stock quotes and CPU activity. This is critical if you are running on a single CPU system/older system upgraded to Vista.
- Upgrading memory to two or three gigabytes is the only additional out-of-pocket item, but it will significantly improve performance.
Nonprofit Times 2/11/09