Tag: file backups

  • Out of file space? 8 space saving tips for your PC or laptop

    Out of file space? 8 space saving tips for your PC or laptop

    Nothing is worse than going to download a file and realizing you don’t have the space on your computer, prompting the need to go through and delete files you don’t need any more or uninstalling programs you don’t use any more.  It can be a big hassle.

    That’s why today we have 8 space saving tips that will help you clean up some additional extra space on your computer so you can proceed with saving files unimpeded:

    1. Uninstall Unused Programs
      As we mentioned above, step one is to go through installed apps and remove software you no longer use—especially large programs or trial software that came pre-installed.
    2. Empty the Recycle Bin
      Files in the Recycle Bin still occupy storage. Make sure to permanently delete them by right clicking on your recycle bin to “empty” it.
    3. Clear Temporary Files and Cache
      Use built-in tools like Disk Cleanup (Windows) or Storage Management (macOS) to remove temp files, browser cache, and system logs.
    4. Delete Duplicate Files
      Use duplicate file finder software to scan and remove unnecessary duplicates—photos, documents, and downloads often pile up.
    5. Move Files to External or Cloud Storage
      Offload large files like videos, photos, and archives to an external hard drive or cloud storage like OneDrive or Google Drive.
    6. Clean Up Downloads and Desktop Folders
      These folders often become cluttered with large or forgotten files. Organize or delete items you no longer need.
    7. Compress Large Files
      For files you need to keep but don’t use often, compress them into ZIP or RAR formats to save space.
    8. Disable Hibernation (Windows only)
      Hibernation can take up gigabytes of space. If you don’t use it, disable it via Command Prompt to reclaim disk space. To disable hibernation in Windows 11, open Command Prompt as an administrator and type powercfg.exe /hibernate off. Press Enter, and hibernation will be disabled. This will also delete the hiberfil.sys file.

    Followed these tips but computer space is still an issue? It might be time to upgrade your devices’ storage, or if you have an older device replace it entirely. Many older laptops/desktops have hard drives that were typical for the time but much smaller than the capacity of newer devices. We recommend (at minimum) 1 Terabyte of storage space for modern devices in 2025.

    Valley Techlogic offers procurement assistance to our clients, we can address your file storage needs (including backups which are included in all of our service plans). Learn more about how Valley Techlogic can assist your business with your technology needs today.

    Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.

    This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, leading provider of trouble free IT services for businesses in California including Merced, Fresno, Stockton & More. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on X at https://x.com/valleytechlogic and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/valley-techlogic-inc/.

  • Missing file? Don’t panic, 5 recovery tips for Windows devices

    Missing file? Don’t panic, 5 recovery tips for Windows devices

    I know this has happened to me before, I have a new Word document I’ve created sitting open (maybe I’m actively working on it) I mean to save it somewhere and I just don’t.

    Another scenario, someone requests an Excel spreadsheet I’d done some editing on and when I go to look for it, it’s nowhere to be found.

    Panic ensues, but then I remember Windows 10 (and 11) devices have a number of different ways of finding and retrieving lost documents – especially those that were created in the Office suite of software. Before trying any of these steps we suggest checking your recycle bin first just in case it was accidentally deleted.

    The easiest way (and possibly most obvious) is to just click the little magnifying glass on your taskbar and just search for what you can remember about the file name or the file contents. Windows search system is pretty powerful, and your search may end here. An extra tip for narrowing your options, up at the top of the search window you can narrow the options by type, such as Applications or Documents.

    If you tried searching for the document and came up empty, the next place you should look is the most recent files section in the document application you’re working with. In both Excel and Word you can find this section by going to the upper left hand section of the navigation panel and hitting the “File” button. From there you go to “Open”. In this section you’ll see all your most recent files.

    The recover unsaved documents button is here to save the day.

    If you strike out there don’t exit out yet, this is where tip number three comes in. At the bottom of this section, you may see a “Recover Unsaved Documents” button. Clicking that will bring up any documents that were closed without being saved and hopefully your missing document is found in this section because it starts to get a little trickier by step four and requires a bit of luck.

    If you have backups enabled on your computer you can follow these steps by first clicking the “Start” button followed by “Control Panel,” “System Maintenance” and then “Backup and Restore.” Once the backup has been restored, you can search it for your missing file.

    The final place to look is your temporary files folder, usually something like C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles but individual file paths may vary.

    If you’re a Microsoft 365 OneDrive user you have a bonus recovery step available, you can try creating a file with the same name and file type as the missing document. After you’ve created the new file, select Properties, select the Previous Versions tab, and then hopefully a version appears there that you can restore.

    After trying all these steps if your wayward document is still missing, it may be time to call in the experts. Data recovery is a big part of what we do at Valley Techlogic, and to make sure our clients never have to go through the headache and stress of losing their very important documents and data backups are a core feature of all of our plans.

    Here’s an our backup program in a nutshell which we consider the gold standard for businesses:

    Click to learn more about TechVault.

    Want to learn more? Visit our calendar page to book a consultation.

    Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.

    This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, an IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.