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Christmas is a welcome break from the workaday grind; but if you’re anything like me you know there’ll come a point – normally around 3pm on Boxing Day – when you’ve eaten all you can, the TV is a desert of inanity and a long boring afternoon stretches out before you.

Why not take the opportunity to do a little computer housekeeping? There are plenty of small jobs you can do in an hour or two to make your PC faster, safer and just plain nicer to use. Here’s my top ten mini-projects for the holidays.

1. Sort out your security software
Well, of course I would say this. But the fact is that many of us are still using outdated security packages, or none at all. That’s crazy, especially when options like AVG and Avira are available for free. Taking a few minutes to install security software on an unprotected PC is a very worthwhile investment. And if an old, heavyweight suite is bogging your PC down, check the supplier’s website: even if you’re half-way through a subscription, most will let you upgrade your client to a sparkly 2009 edition for a nominal fee or even for free.

2. Tidy up your hard disk
Hard disks have a remarkable ability to fill up with files and folders, and rarely in any organised way. You can free up a lot of space, and rediscover data you thought you’d lost, by sorting through your files, deleting what you don’t need and properly arranging what you want to keep. That applies especially to the Windows desktop. If disk space is a particular concern, a tool like TreeSize Pro can help you track down wasted space. And why not clear out your temporary files? Jump quickly to the Windows temp folder by hitting Windows-R and entering %temp%.

3. Clean out unwanted programs and startup items
Most PCs harbour not only gigabytes of unneeded data, but also plenty of extraneous programs and startup items, such as remnants of expired trials, downloads that didn’t live up to the hype and applications to go with old hardware. Clearing them out will free up more disk space, and can make your PC boot more quickly with more free RAM. At the very least it should make it easier to navigate your Start Menu.

While you’re at it, check for other unwanted startup items too. The first place to look for these is the “Startup” section in your start menu, but you’ll find more items hidden away in the registry under “/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run” in both the “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” and “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” branches. For real techies, the SysInternals Autoruns tool gives you control over absolutely everything that loads at startup — including many base components of Windows, so tinker with care!

4. Sort out your MP3 collection
These days, most of us have MP3 collections that run to thousands of files, so it’s almost inevitable that some songs will have missing or wrong ID3 tags. Fixing these issues can be pretty time-consuming, but you only have to do it once, and next time you’re throwing together a playlist or trying to track down a song you know you own, you’ll be glad you bothered. If your collection’s really messed-up, you may find a tool like Mass MP3 Tagger useful. It’s a good time to check out alternative media managers too, like the open source Songbird.

5. Get your shared drives working
If there’s more than one computer in your household, odds are at some point you’ve wanted an easy way to access the files on one from the other. Setting up sharing in Windows can be a palaver though – you may need to look up network names, mess with firewalls, set permissions and synchronise passwords (Microsoft offers online guides for both XP and Vista). Do it now, while you have the time, rather than waiting till you’re in the middle of something. Mount commonly used remote folders as persistent network drives and you can almost forget about the horrors of networking altogether.

6. Set up remote access
So now you can transmit files effortlessly around your personal LAN; but what about when you’re away from home? Sometimes it’s useful to access your files from work (and vice versa, if your employer permits it), and obviously this is something you have to set up ahead of time. Why not do it now? There are plenty of free options – UltraVNC is one of our favourites, though web-based services like LogMeIn are easier to install. It can be tricky to test your connection without leaving the house, though: you might need to phone a friend.

7. Sort out your backups
With your system freshly organised and nicely networked, now is the ideal time to instigate a backup regime, like you keep meaning to. This doesn’t have to be a big deal: you can do a lot with simple software such as the free version of SyncBack, or even set up your own system using the Windows Task Scheduler and a simple batch file to duplicate files across machines. For more security and flexibility, though, our favourite commercial option is Acronis True Image, closely followed by the remote backup service Carbonite.

8. Catalogue your optical disks
So now you’ve cleaned up your computer, what about its surroundings? Even the most parsimonious PC user is apt to wind up with spindles full of CDs and DVDs, almost none of which are really needed. Sort through your collection and it’s a good bet most will be obsolete. Ditch them: it’ll make it easier to find the ones you do still use. There’s also a good chance you’ll discover delights you’d forgotten you owned, hidden away on unlabelled discs. Just keep a marker handy so they can’t escape again.

9. Clean your keyboard, mouse and monitor
Sad but true: your keyboard and mouse are probably a lot grubbier than you realise. You rarely look at them when you’re using your PC, but they’re in constant contact with your sweaty mitts. Giving them a clean can brighten your whole workspace. Keyboards are an awkward shape, and it can be hard to get at the trough beneath the keys, so I personally find it easiest to dismantle the thing. Monitors tend to attract dust, too: treat yours to a festive wipe.

10. Label your plugs
We all know that sinking feeling when you go to unplug a lamp, or a CD player… and accidentally unplug your PC instead, losing everything you’ve been working on. The answer is simple: label your plugs, or at least the important ones. Self-adhesive labels are the neatest way to do this, but paper and sticky tape will work just as well. Your family may roll their eyes at this flagrant display of geekery, but their scorn will be long outlived by your peace of mind.

Ten IT mini-projects for the Christmas break