I confess. I am a secret
long-term Data Hoarder! You wouldn’t
believe how much Stuff I have in my computer data banks (so many documents,
photos, music, and videos).
Until receiving back all my ‘lost’ files from the old
laptop, I never realised just how much data/information I was hanging on to –
and still hang on to, on my present computer.
I was shocked!
 |
| In my garden in 2015 |
It appears that every time I research anything or find
something I like, I download it to my computer and then KEEP IT THERE!
Long after they have served their purpose, multiple files
sit around cluttering up the information that I am currently using.
My haphazard means of backing things up means I have often
ended up with several duplicates of files, and they certainly aren’t needed
either.
 |
| Anchorage Bay, in Abel Tasman National Park |
I might be facing an incurable problem, but I am determined
to do my best to combat this type of hoarding in the future.
To begin with, my plan is to move all except obvious Keeps
on to a new external hard drive (which I will call Library), then organise the
Keeps on my laptop so they are in some sensible order before backing them up on
another hard drive (which I will call Back Up).
 |
| A Banded Dotterel |
The Library will only need to be accessed if I am looking for something specific. There is no way I intend to spend hours and hours sifting through it all to remove duplicates or old files.
What a waste of time that
would be!
 |
| Overlooking Akaroa Harbour in Canterbury |
I am wanting 2023 to be a year to Simplify my life and get
things more in line with how I am living my life now. It looks like my first decluttering project
is this computer I am currently typing on.
Wish me luck!
Margaret 😊
(The above photos were among those retrieved from my old
computer)
Don´t you worry, I think this happens to many (me, at least as well)...
ReplyDeleteGood luck, LOL, I want to simplify my life, too - got an online-guide 5 years ago for that (insert laugh!). xx
This sounds like a rather lengthy chore. I hope it goes well! Be sure to arm yourself with lots of coffee (or tea) and some chocolate ( to keep up your energy).
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. Such a big job to declutter the computer! Mine needs doing too. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOh Margaret - I think I may have some of that addiction too - I may have to follow your example :)
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Maxine
Good luck!🤞 We used to be the same way but I feel we are in a much better place now. My biggest files are our pictures which I sort by month and year. I try to back them up every few months only adding the most recent to the back up files.
ReplyDeleteYou and Mr B both. He has multiple external hard drives and generally has no idea what he has on any of them. Some are now inaccessible on modern tech and he still won't rationalize them.
ReplyDeleteThere are things - they look like "dongles" that get advertised on FaceBook that SAY they organise your photos and delete the duplicates. I've been too scared to get one, although my "computer guru" says they're perfectly safe (and he would know!). I'll bet there are similar things for sorting out files. I could do with following your example too! Let us know how you proceed and we might all hold hands and be brave together!
ReplyDeleteGood luck as you enter that minefield!
ReplyDeleteIt's like the longer you leave things, the harder they are to get through. I do have a back up but it's mostly of important movies and photos, the rest get deleted regularly.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a job to me. :) I was bad about keeping emails, especially those with pictures. Then I accidentally deleted them all so that took care of that. I'm dangerous with a computer. :) Your pictures are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI understand! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI hope you manage to keep up with your blogging while you undertake that task, Margaret. I know from experience what a massive job it is. That is mainly why I didn't completely finish it. Pauline
ReplyDeleteI do wish you luck...what I have a lot of is photos..and I really need to back them up. Since Roger's stroke I don't take even 1/4th of the pics I used to take, but I will want to keep what I have.
ReplyDelete