dennis s. hurddennis s. hurd

Monday, March 09, 2020

Deleting Digital Debris

Day 130 - It is not even spring yet, but I fell into some sort of clearing and cleaning fit. Today, I decided to organize my archived computer files.

I got a Gmail account when it was available by invitation only. That was on May 23, 2004. At the time, I also started using Google drive as a means to back up old files rather than storing on a CDROM. Several years ago, I was shocked to see email going back that far. Many things in life are best left to what a human brain can remember. So, I moved to a more secure, less invasive option for email and got rid of every single Gmail message! Even when emptied of mail, files on my drive total still stood at just shy of 11 GB.

My goal was to say goodbye to files which I'd probably never, ever view again. One of the first folders I removed had over 3 GB of files. There were Word and Excel files but also video clips and sound recordings from my 17 years of teaching at BC Institute of Technology. I surely created a lot of materials! I retired more than five and half years ago, but that all that junk felt as though it was weighing me down. Select. Gulp. Remove.

After I saw how easy it was, I decided I should clear the Google Drive completely. Having 15 GB of free cloud space used to feel remarkable. I am still in possession of computer backup files going back to my very IBM-compatible in 1985. Although many of the file formats are now defunct, I just couldn't bring myself to say adiĆ³s to all of that! However, I couldn't justify keeping it under Google's control. I simply downloaded the mess and at present, it's being copied to a USB flash drive.

Deleting the whole kit and kaboodle from my drive was tedious. A quick way to get rid of all files is not available. Google never really believes that anyone would want to delete personal information! Anyway, it now stands completely empty. I was able to clean up much of what I'd collected and still retain my original Google account.

Of course, while copying and pasting, I discovered many files that were interesting. Here is an original digital photo that was taken from my high school 25th reunion back in 2002. I had a new digital camera at the event but I must explain that I found this in a folder marked as photos take from Bret Wirta. It cleaned up well. Cheers, gals.

8-13-02 Trip back East 163


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