Tips to Reduce Excessive Data Usage

Computers have become so much a part of modern life that one feels helpless without them. They are the lifeline for everything, including staying in touch, sharing and finding information, business, education, entertainment, etc. People spend hours on the net daily, browsing through favourite websites, enjoying music and videos or simply hanging out on social networking sites. All this is aside from official uses by businesses and organizations.

An important concern that crops up often with such frequent network users is the internet speed and data usages. This is because people are usually on plans that come with fixed data usage and bandwidth. Searching for ways to minimize data usage is usually a point of interest for such heavy users. Interestingly enough there are a number of ways by which you can control your data usage. This would result in increasing browsing time as well as download speeds. Here are some interesting tips and tricks to minimize your data usage:

Metered Connection

You should set your Windows connection as ‘Metered’ so that Windows is aware that you have limited data. It will stop using excessive data for upgrades and sync in the background. It basically puts a brake on all the background data vampires that hog bandwidth.

Optional Browser

In case you are still using the default Microsoft browser, it’s time to ditch it. Internet Explorer and Microsoft lag far behind browsers like Google Chrome which use compression technology and booster modes which load web pages much faster using lesser data.

Data Saver

Chrome has a data saver feature which you can install as it saves on bandwidth by restricting download of images on web pages and sets plug-ins as ‘click-to-run’ only. This reduces your data usage considerably.

Disable Auto-updates

Software like anti-virus, security, iTunes, etc, keep auto-updating in the background once the PC is in use. You need to disable them to conserve data.

Auto-start

A number of apps and software start loading and hogging data when you boot your PC. You need to select the apps that you don’t want starting automatically and block them.

Adware and malware

Scan your PC for malware and remove it. This reduces internet usage and secures your memory resources.

Disable Cloud

Disable cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox. Cloud storage syncs your data and files in the background, consuming bandwidth. A better option is to save your files offline.

Disable auto-sync and Backups

While people prefer to automatically backup their files, it’s better to do it manually as it consumes fewer data. Reduce the frequency of sync and backup too to save on data.