Keeping the machines and the software working
A freelance practice needs arrangements for IT support, scheduled maintenance, digital housekeeping and the disruption of changing or upgrading its machines.
IT support
A writer uncomfortable with IT tasks can pay someone else to handle them rather than spend time and energy doing them personally. In an account published in 2014, one writer described losing time when the PC maker blamed software and the software maker blamed hardware; switching to a Mac nearly eliminated her technical problems and gave her access to store support, paid telephone help and a service plan. Another bought a PC from a local shop that serviced it, paying more than at a large retailer but obtaining advice and home visits to connect the printer and Wi-Fi components.
Scheduled maintenance
A 2011 practitioner checklist recommended monthly maintenance:
- Defragment the disk.
- Run Check Disk or the Mac equivalent.
- Clear browser and computer-file caches.
- Reboot periodically.
- Keep equipment clean, particularly desktop fans.
- Keep software and patches current.
- Run automatic updates.
- Keep security software current.
A cache holds temporary files accessed regularly; periodically clearing it can prevent those files from slowing applications, with instructions differing by operating system. In 2016 one freelance regularly ran Malwarebytes alongside the computer's supplied clean-up programs and also used Kaspersky antivirus and internet-security software because regular scanning did not guarantee protection.
Digital housekeeping
Digital clutter can consume storage and physical and psychological resources, while organising files and folders can feel as liberating as clearing a desk. Bookmarks benefit from a folder system that makes saved links easier to find and can reveal useful forgotten pages.
Sorting email by sender helps remove groups of unread newsletters, expired offers and old statement notices; reducing subscriptions and using folders and filters can make the inbox easier to manage. Pruning the mail program's previous-recipient list removes obsolete addresses and reduces the chance of sending to the wrong person.
In 2013 maintenance advice recommended running the operating system's disk utilities, including disk and permissions checks on Macs and considering defragmentation and registry cleaning on Windows, following the operating system's instructions. Automatic reminders at least quarterly can turn a clear-out into regular maintenance.
A change of platform
Changing platforms is an option to consider when renewing computer hardware. In a 2012 regulatory-writing case, a writer investigated moving from PC to Mac for nine months because of phone and desktop calendar incompatibilities, increasing slowness and exposure to viruses. After reading the vendor's guidance, she asked medical-writing colleagues about document sharing with PC-using clients and functional differences between software versions. Respondents, mostly Mac converts, saw no insurmountable barriers and expected clients to see no difference; she did not use unusual medical-communications or translation software, which limited the scope of that experience.
Her old setup was a 14-inch Mesh PC bought in July 2006, running Windows XP and Office 2003 with an HP colour LaserJet 2840 printer. The replacement was a 27-inch iMac bought in March 2012, running OS X Lion and Office for Mac 2011 with an HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Plus printer supporting AirPrint.
She cleared two weeks, cleaned the old PC, booked a business adviser at the store, bought a migration package and obtained three years of telephone and web support. An adviser with ten years of Microsoft experience proved able to solve migration problems where advisers familiar only with Macs had failed. Problems emerged over time, and she considered continuing support from people familiar with both environments particularly important for switchers. She judged the move successful overall but would have reserved three to four work-free weeks and become more cautious about suggested software downloads.
Before migration, cleaning old files, streamlining folders and copying them to an external drive left a separate copy if the transfer corrupted files. Installing Office for Mac let the regulatory writer continue using the industry's familiar Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook environment rather than rely on the bundled applications. Comparing old and new machines side by side exposed folders imported into unexpected locations and allowed their intended positions to be restored. In this case a WebEx software download not optimised for the Mac corrupted printer drivers and disabled hardware and software functions, requiring removal, reinstallation and cleaning; receiving the presentation by email and following it locally was the workaround.
The email transition used two clients in parallel: AppleMail for new messages and Outlook for archived messages and existing threads, copying the writer into replies so the threads could continue in AppleMail. Outlook use could then decline gradually without attempting the problematic transfer of its entire folder structure. Moving appointments into iCal through AppleMail and enabling iCloud synchronisation removed manual phone-to-desktop calendar synchronisation; refreshing the iCloud connection was suggested when synchronisation failed.
The same 2012 migration changed a POP business email account to IMAP so messages and folders could appear across devices and work done on the phone would not have to be repeated at the desk. Archive folders needed to sit within the business email account rather than “On my Mac”, and the server-space requirement could mean buying more capacity and regularly clearing sent and deleted mail. Bookmarks had not been included in the migration, so the writer recreated them with the machines side by side and advised asking about them at the outset.
Repeated upgrades
One firm began in 1979 with paper, pens and manual and electric typewriters, when clients avoided unnecessary changes because a whole page had to be typed again. An electronic typewriter acquired through barter stored up to twenty phrases, but a misspelled disease name saved in its memory then required about 150 corrections across a six-module sales-training programme. A costly dedicated word processor and printer followed, and ten years after starting the firm the partners shared a computer without internet or email in rural Virginia. By 2012, after several generations of computers, printers and software, the firm was still upgrading.