If you were wondering whether remote work might be right for you, 2020 has provided us with the ultimate work-from-home experience. And boy, that was not an easy shift when it comes to organizing your work processes.
According to tech forums, many people ran into stability and performance issues with their laptops and desktops, which had previously only been used for entertainment. As a freelancer with 5 years of remote work experience, I’d be happy to share with you my tips and tricks on how to prepare your computer for long-hour work.
Key To Optimal Computer Performance
Even the most sophisticated and expensive computers experience reduced performance issues. Over time, computers accumulate browser cache files, temporary files, website cookies, and all that jazz we call junk. Such folders might take up to 3 GB of free space in just a few months, judging from my personal experience. Unused apps, too many services running on startup and in the background can cause performance issues and make your remote work a nightmare.
The good news is that you don’t have to buy a new computer. The key to optimal performance is regular computer maintenance. It might seem like a chore, especially for inexperienced computer users, but here’s more good news for you — there are special apps that can do these tasks. In this article, I’m going to cover one such app that I use personally to ensure smooth performance of my PC — it’s called Outbyte PC Repair.
Step 1 — Prepare Your Pc for Remote Work with Outbyte PC Repair
If your computer is not fresh out of the box, it would be a good idea to clean it up. Removing junk along with unnecessary files and apps will improve your overall performance, making work from home a more enjoyable experience.
Outbyte PC Repair is equipped with a thorough scanner that will check your system and recommend improvements to be made on your device. I use it at least twice a month to make sure my laptop is in tip-top shape. The fixes are applied right away, which is great for impatient chaps like me.
Here are some of the Outbyte PC Repair scan features:
- App crash reports. You can later decide if certain apps need to be updated or reinstalled based on how often they crash.
- Disk space. This is where I get rid of the junk files and free up space.
- Objectionable websites. Outbyte PC Repair checks your browsing history and highlights potentially harmful websites with the help of the Web Of Trust database.
- Privacy protection. Checks for targeted ads, weak and compromised passwords, and annoying website notifications.
- Vulnerabilities. Along with your favorite antivirus, Outbyte will prevent malicious and unwanted apps from exploiting your computer. I personally feel that having an extra layer of security helps me sleep better at night.
The scanner presents all the info in a clear and concise report. In case you are wondering what these categories mean, PC Repair includes a short description and useful hints. I found them especially handy when I used the program for the first time.
After the scan is complete, you can select the categories you’d like to fix or just repair them all together with one click of a button. Pretty convenient and saves a lot of unnecessary hustle.
So, by cleaning and repairing your computer, we have completed the first step of preparing your main tool for work. Now, all that’s left to do is to optimize it!
Step 2 — Improve Your Computer Performance with Outbyte PC Repair
My top 3 priorities when working on my computer is that I can safely browse the web, use online services, and attend meetings with clients without any issues. To ensure that, I did 2 things: firstly, established a good internet connection in my home office. Secondly, I enabled Real Time Boost in Outbyte PC Repair for my browser and MS Office programs.
According to Outbyte engineers, the software tweaks your CPU usage in a way that it prioritizes the program you are currently using over other services. This ensures a lag-free performance. I personally noticed that now my Skype crashes less than it used to.
There are other useful features that don’t impact my work directly; however, they are a good add-on for my daily activities. Since my Outbyte trial, I’ve enabled a safe web search for Outbyte to alert me if I am about to visit a dangerous website, and it has worked quite well ever since. Again, better safe than sorry.
Another useful feature is the laptop battery optimization — it can save and distribute energy to extend the life of your laptop in case you are away from your charger. However, since I started practicing social distancing, I use it less often as my travel destination now is my coach or my office.
Bottom Line
While for most people working from home is a temporary solution, in the long-run, it might change the way most companies operate. Whatever happens, with Outbyte, you can now focus on your tasks rather than fixing issues and cleaning your computer.