It’s time for another round of tech buying tips! Here are last year’s:
#1 Buy Refurb
#2 Adopt An Early Adopter
#3 Review The Accessories Before You Buy
#4 What To Do About Extended Warranties
#5 Buy Stock Before Buying The Gadget
And to start this round, #6: Start Over
It is easy to think of your current computer as an evolutionary successor to your last one, perhaps reaching back to some original primeval machine lost in the dawn of time, especially if you’ve carried forward all of your data and applications from machine to machine. Many people, myself included, find that their machines seem to slow as they age. Is it some digital rot, or is it the accumulation of slightly compatible programs and loads of modifications and extensions that bring our machines to their knees?
This can apply to phones and other tech gear, too. It’s a lot of inertia to carry everything forward.
So don’t.
Patrick Rhone at Minimal Mac suggests using your new machine (yes, a Mac in this case), as close to its brand new state, just as it was when it came out of the box. It’s a great idea for Mac users. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to PCs. The first step for a PC user is to “decrapify” the machine and remove as much of the bloat, advertising, and unneeded stuff before getting it to run properly.
A true fresh start may give you a much better experience. Keep your data. It’s mostly harmless and just takes up space. But exercise caution with anything you install that modifies the system. That’s where the memory hogs hide. They’re what slow down your startup, your operation of the machine, and even your shutdown. Eye each application with suspicion before you add it to your new and smoothly running machine.
Here’s the one thing that most repair people tell you: it worked when it came out of the box. Keep it close to that state and you will most likely have a better experience with your new gadget.
Tags: gadgets, spend nothing game, tech buying tips, technology
I would suggest using portable apps (www.portableapps.com or others). Nearly everything I use day-to-day I can use a portable version of. It doesn’t have to be loaded on a USB drive (I keep mine on Dropbox and sync to different machines). Even just a folder on your c:\ drive that is what you “install”. But those apps don’t modify the machine, don’t change the registry, whatever. I find very little that I have to actually “load” on a new machine.
Bruce
I respectfully disagree. Personally can’t think of any example on a Mac that will make it slower, apart from using it for the things I need to do.
You must run your Mac very lean.
Load it up with menu extension and open a dozen or 2 applications and tell me that it’s not running slower!
I should point out that Microsoft themselves do not put bloatware on their systems, that is up to the OEMs. If you install a clean copy of Windows on a custom built machine, there will be none.
[…] A true fresh start may give you a much better experience. Keep your data. It’s mostly harmless and just takes up space. But exercise caution with anything you install that modifies the system. That’s where the memory hogs hide. They’re what slow down your startup, your operation of the machine, and even your shutdown. Eye each application with suspicion before you add it to your new and smoothly running machine. -Randy Murray […]