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There is a Japanese new year custom – that your home and your work needs to be clean and tidy – it’s O-souji time. So too should we review our comput
[See the full post at: Patch Lady – it’s O-souji time for your computer]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
I must be a Uber geek, because I typically do clean installs with Windows 10. At least I know if I encounter any issues its with the current version and not a residual issue with the upgrade.
A couple years ago, I made a fresh install, added all my applications, and then made a backup image that I saved on an external drive.
Now, when I want a clean start, I wipe my C: drive and reinstall the backup. Then I update everything and overwrite the backup image with a newer, updated version.
Saves hours of installing and updating.
Yeah… Keyboard… Not sure what to do there. I purchased the M$FT “Office” Keyboard many years ago…and haven’t found ANYTHING that comes close. Way more shiny spots than the space bar… Can hardly read the “L” key any more…
I’ve tried a number of Logitech as well as other M$FT keyboards, and nothing comes up to it’s feel, (and dare I say it) quality.
Any ideas?
I strongly agree with the idea that it’s important to take a hard look at the “human interfaces” devices we use. Such issues as your eyesight, carpal tunnel, and arthritis are potentially in play. How many people know, for instance, that the federal government has warned about the excessive blue light emitted by LED displays and the resultant danger of macular degeneration? Or that a keyboard that bottoms out hard can cause or exacerbate repetitive stress injury?
That said, I don’t see much advantage in a new keyboard unless the one I’m using is shot. Familiarity is so important that it tends to outweigh new features, at least if your priority is getting work done. (Gaming may be different.)
As to whether it’s worn out, I won’t tolerate a keyboard that isn’t reliable, and I sideline a keyboard that has gone mushy (rubber domes worn out) or tends to bottom out hard (rubber membrane hardened through long use). Those with mechanical keyboards–I own one of those myself, an old Northgate Omnikey in great condition–will have different criteria.
In actuality, I haven’t had to retire a keyboard because it was worn out, because the model I have used for 25 years, the Gateway AnyKey, was fairly robust. I do occasionally swap out a keyboard for a backup that has been less used, and I have sold off some that I bought that didn’t measure up. (There was definitely some sample variation, especially from 1994 to 1997.) But when I recently bought a used one on Ebay, the seller said that he had been using the same AnyKey keyboard since 1992, and because it hadn’t failed him he was selling of a couple of his spares.
My opinion: When the equipment feels like an extension of your hands–when the tools get out of the way–you’re where you need to be.
I’ll put in my plug for the Unicomp keyboard. This Lexington, KY company bought the molds and patents for the old IBM keyboards — great tactile and auditory feedback (too loud for a few folks, but not for me).
I’ll be imaging all 3 of my home machines this weekend with Ubuntu after wiping Win10.
Steam compatibility is finally ‘there’ enough for me to drop Windows for good.
DXVK is a game-changer, quite literally!
For those who aren’t aware of this gem of a project, it’s a Linux package that translates DX11 calls to Vulkan, so that Windows games running on WINE in Linux can use DX11 at much higher framerates than with WINE’s built-in DX11 to OpenGL translation. It more than doubled the frame rate I get in WoW (compared to running it in WINE only), making running it in Linux (and having a good experience with it) quite possible.
I’m not a hardcore gamer by any means, but that was the only Windows game I had any concern for anymore, and now it not only runs in Linux, but it runs well. I’ve said before that I consider my days of buying Windows software to be over, but WoW was one that I started on in the XP era, when Windows was IMO at its peak, so it’s kind of grandfathered at this point.
That was the final step in my observation that I had gotten to the stage where I consider my PCs to be Linux machines rather than dual-boot Windows/Linux PCs, even though all of them that have enough disk space do have Windows installations still there as dual-boot. I use the Windows boot option so infrequently (Windows in a VM being much more convenient for day to day tasks… essentially, Windows is for running Macrium Reflect without having to chase down a USB stick first) that it’s just a vestigial feature in my mind now.
Because of that (four paragraphs in, I finally get to the actual topic), I’ve done some housekeeping in terms of trimming back Windows.
On my desktop PC, I’ve long had my data (images, audio, video, documents) on an NTFS volume so that I can access them from Windows 8.1 or Linux, and that NTFS volume was the most… err, voluminous volume on the hard drive (which is just for that kind of thing, since the boot devices are SSDs).
I was happy to leave it that way as long as I was still actively dual-booting on a regular basis, since both Windows and Linux can read and write NTFS. Now, though, there’s really no need for Windows to have access to any of that data, so I created a new data partition using EXT4 on the hard drive (repurposing a partition that I used to use for temporary backups before I moved them to the PC acting as the backup server) and set it up with LUKS encryption, and I’ve copied the data from the NTFS volume over to that new volume.
I haven’t yet wiped the NTFS data volume and reclaimed its space for Linux, but that’s coming in the new year. Windows will live exclusively on the SanDisk SSD, and Linux will own the Samsung SSD and the hard drive (3TB Toshiba).
In terms of the SSDs I use to boot that PC, I’ve swapped Windows (which used to be on the faster Samsung 128GB SSD) and Linux (which used to be on the slower SanDisk 120GB SSD), so now Linux gets the better SSD.
On my Core 2 Duo laptop, the F8SN,. before I cruelly took its 1TB SSD to give to the Dell G3, I had repeatedly shrunk the Windows boot partition to make more room for Linux.
On the Swift, Windows 10 came preinstalled on the built-in eMMC drive, and I installed a 1TB Samsung SSD into the previously unused M.2 slot. That’s just for Linux… Windows can keep the 64GB eMMC that’s much slower than the SSD anyway. I’ve got no other use for it!
On the G3, the boot drive is a Samsung 256GB M.2 NVMe x4, and the data drive is the 1TB 2.5″ SATA SSD that came from the F8Sn. I gave the F8SN the 1TB HDD that came out of the G3, set up the same way that the SSD of the same size had been.
For now, Windows is installed on the G3’s NVMe drive, which I really didn’t need to do, since there’s no good reason to set up Windows on the speed-demon drive when Windows hardly gets used. I plan to move it to the 2.5″ SSD and use the M.2 just for Linux eventually, but since I have plenty of space now, I am not in a hurry about it.
Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)
Excellent reminder as there is nothing worse than restoring an image and going back in time; other than not having one.
I would add that the future is to move all data on to a separate drive or partition so a restore involves only a few program updates. Outlook was a bit difficult, but shortcuts on the desktop and default downloads going to another drive has made life cleaner and easier; also makes OS images smaller.
I envy those that can do a clean install as some of my programs need DVDs to reinstall and I have no idea how I would install others. My OS is originated as Win 8 6 years ago and is now 1709, but runs well.
As part of O-souji think about what you would do if a Win update went wrong, the HD died or if your house burnt to the ground. How would you restore your system as now? A tip is to have a portable drive off site that you can rebuild with.
I’ve been seeing some great post-Christmas deals on fast SSDs… like, 30% off on some of the bigger drives.
Moving from an early SSD to a modern SSD is becoming a worthwhile upgrade. In my case, I’ve got an ADATA SP550 250 GB SSD as my boot drive. If I upgraded to a Samsung 970 Pro 512 GB, I’d be looking at 6x the read/write performance…. which is comparable to the jump I saw several years ago when going from a 7200 RPM HDD to an OCZ Vertex.
Maybe I should go treat myself…. hmmm……
I also feel good about recommending an upgrade I did two years ago: buy two identical HDDs and use Storage Spaces + File History to physically mirror all the data, and to provide protection against accidental deletion. I prefer Storage Spaces here because unlike software RAID (through Disk Management), you can easily add more space to the drive by slamming in a couple more disks and adding them to the pool.
I’ve also got Controlled Folder Access set up on Windows 10 so that only applications that I white-list are allowed to change the contents of my data drives.
I’ve used Minitools’ Partition Wizard Free for years for for my Windows partitioning needs. Their free vs paid comparison page lists both of those features as available in the free edition.
Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)
@Ascaris, I have also used the same since Minitools Partition Wizard Free version 7 (now on my hold at V9) and one thing I do like about the partitioning software is, once installed on a PC, is the ability to create a portable flash drive to boot from to partition and nuke HDDs and SSDs. I use it everywhere and it’s painless and very quick at what it does via the simple user interface.
Here is my O-suji. I had given my temporary laptop to a user a few weeks ago as I had bought it just to have one while waiting for one I would really want but we got a new employee that needed one so I gave it to her. I was leaving for a few days and needed a laptop in case there would be problems at work and I would need to log in. I wasn’t ready to buy my next Windows laptop, I was in a bit of hurry and I really didn’t want to spend hours tuning a new laptop. I just stopped at the Apple store and bought a Mac laptop. I thought it would be really simple to have it usable enough to be secure and able to log me on my PC at work.
Starting the laptop, I looked for updates and saw how nice it was that it had so much respect for the user allowing fine control over updates. This computer seems so clean and simple compared to the bloated mess and advertising platform that Windows have become. I set it up quickly and then it got out of my way. I only wanted security, Firefox and the remote control software on it. Once I figured out how to drag and drop, it wasn’t long before everything worked great. No specs to think about, just the pleasure of a fast experience for what I wanted to do. I felt my mind was at peace for a change.
Sure, I got the least expensive new Macbook Air. I didn’t want to spend more money and it is already quite expensive for what you get if you consider some specs in isolation (small 128GB SSD, for example). I didn’t feel it was worthy to add expensive additional storage for my need regarding this occasional road tool. Processor is not great, but the laptop felt really fast thanks to the very fast SSD. Apple gets that right: they put the money where it makes a difference to the target user experience. The retina screen is nice. I was surprised by the weight. I am used to the very light old Air 11 that I see regularly (although it is not mine). This one seems about the same weight aa the Macbook Pro 13 without a touch bar, which might be a better choice for some who need more multi thread processor power for not that much more money? However, I don’t look at this machine that way. I want it for some very specific purpose for now and it seems to fit it very nicely. I think it would make a lot of people with basic needs quite happy.
I won’t be able to comment a lot since I won’t have much time to use it and learn the OS better for many weeks. I was a bit annoyed to not find a keyboard shortcut to easily shutdown the Mac next to the menu item, but I am very used to my shortcuts on Windows and fast transfer from thought to execution on the computer. Minor issue, really, but I feel less productive, which is normal on a system you doesn’t know, although finding what I wanted was really easy. I am very happy to see the elegance and beauty of simplicity.
The thing is, I like to know my tools very well and Microsoft has, over the years, made this task harder and harder for me. If I don’t understand what the feature does clearly, I don’t want it. If I need to always look for every possible settings I might not like because it compromises my security or privacy, I am not happy. I settings are scattered everywhere instead of only one place like the Control Panel in XP, I don’t like that. The Mac brings a bit of sanity back.
I think this Macbook Air should be sold for less which might happen in the future as its novelty wears off, but I think it is a great product for the target market, which normally I would not belong to.
Unfortunately, I can’t give a really good assessment until I use the computer much more, which won’t happen soon as it is only an on the road tool for me right now.
I wouldn’t stress too much over the ports. Yes, it can be annoying, but I bought a USB adapter and it is not a big deal to plug it when needed. Unless you use your ports a lot and it bothers you that much, it shouldn’t be the deciding factor. I would maybe be annoyed by the lack of Ethernet, but then again, for my purpose, it is not a big deal. Wifi is ubiquitous and there is always phone tethering. Again, I didn’t buy a do-it-all powerful laptop, that wasn’t my intent. In fact, I performed all my end of year procedures remotely using the laptop with tethering while I was a passenger in the car on the long trip coming back home from holidays. I was just happy to come home with nothing stressful to do.
One thing I find stupid is Apple getting rid of the great Magsafe adapter which can prevent you making the laptop fall when you trip on the power connector. Also, it is such a great design, making plugging the laptop seamless and fast with the magnet. Why would you get rid of this just to pretend you embrace new connectors? But again, minor annoyance, not a deal breaker and it just makes the Apple laptop closer to a PC in that respect, not worse.
Keyboard is weird a bit, lots of people say the previous keyboard was much better but it seems Apple is stubborn with that despite issues with this type of keyboard with crumbles before they added some protection. The trackpad works well. I worked with no mouse in the car and I didn’t miss the mouse too much, although my work was essentially command line.
The old Macbook Air is getting really long in the tooth. It has remained very popular because it is the cheapest way to the Mac laptops and it still works decently (remember when I said earlier Apple are good at getting the right specs for the target market?). I wouldn’t have bought this today, though. I would worry a bit about long time support of OS updates on it since it is so old already. I would wait to see if Apple sees sales drop and lower their price of the new one, which is “early adopter” priced right now. But if you are the type of person who sits at a desk to work, desktop will always give you more for your money. Also, the old Macbook Air has a much worse screen. The resolution is low (which would have not gone well for me with remote access on my 30 inch screen PC), not even full HD and it is not a very nice screen, the bezels are huge… The retina screen gives you so much more real estate and nice colors. Again, for some people, it doesn’t matter and it is fine for their purpose, but I will just repeat that the old Macbook Air is getting too old in my book and I would worry a bit about long term support.
One thing I always like about the Apple laptops is they very early got this idea of an always with you laptop, unlike in the PC world. They treat laptops like Ipads or Iphones, an always on device that you occasionally charge. As soon as you don’t touch it for a little while, the screen darkens a bit, if you shut down the cover it goes to sleep and it goes out of sleep instantly when you open it again, you don’t have to constantly shut down the computer and seeing this as a big deal that might trigger updates like it was in the PC world for a long time. So with Apple you could really use your laptop as your go to device all day, carrying it around the house, always ready and plugging it when needed. Some people I know don’t need tablets (I personally use an Ipad around the house, but a desktop when I want to be productive) because they use their Apple laptop like a tablet. Although the PC laptops are much better than before, I still don’t feel they got that as right as Apple.
As soon as you don’t touch it for a little while, the screen darkens a bit, if you shut down the cover it goes to sleep and it goes out of sleep instantly when you open it again, you don’t have to constantly shut down the computer
I will admit to never having tried an Apple laptop, but that’s how my laptops have been since I got my first up-to-date model about a year ago. Prior to that, I used my Core 2 Duo laptop, which took a few seconds to return to functionality after resuming from standby, and I don’t believe it came out of standby when the lid was opened.
My Acer Swift, which is my go-anywhere device, is very much like you describe. I disabled the screen darkening on idle, but I have it set to standby on lid close when on battery (when on AC, I have it set to merely turn off the backlight, since battery savings isn’t then an issue). It resumes from standby pretty much instantly when I open the lid (configurable via UEFI option).
I only shut it down or reboot it on rare occasions… there is seldom any need for it. Now, I do use Linux and not Windows, but the conventional wisdom is that Windows is more advanced than Linux in its power-saving abilities, so it certainly should not be any worse than what I have.
As for the triggering updates thing… you’re right, of course, and that’s one of the biggest of several reasons I’m not using Windows much at all anymore. I won’t cede control over the PC to Microsoft, so all MS does by trying to take it anyway is annoy me and waste my time.
Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)
I wish they weren’t quite so expensive and that they had an Ethernet connection, and also that they had more of what I call standard ports instead of just 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports.
My Swift lacks an ethernet port too, but there are USB3 to ethernet adapters that are fairly cheap and effective. I bought this one from Newegg, and it works quite well (currently, my anonymous review is the first one listed for this item).
Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)
Oh, my gosh. You just found out what I have been talking about. I went through that “AhHa” moment in 2011 after being a dyed-in-the-wool Windows user since DOS days. Welcome to serenity!!
I have a MacMini (late 2012 Ivy Bridge 2.6 i7, 16GB RAM, 1+128 GB Fusion drive, Intel HD 4000+ 1536 graphics) with a 27″ Thunderbolt display as my main workhorse. 5 VMs from XP to Insiders.
My latest laptop is a 15″ MacBook Pro Retina, 2013 Haswell i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, lotsa ports in this old one, and 3 VMs (Win7, Win8.1 and Win10 1803).
Love my Macs!!!
Depends on the ports.Thunderbolt display connects to Thunderbolt/mini display port (or course), but there is also HDMI. I use wireless Logitech mouse with USB transmitter. On the laptop, I prefer bluetooth mouse so as not to fill up the ports I use for other things.
Well, it’ll work with *standard* keyboards and mice – you may have problems if you want to use a Sun Type 6 or some of the fancy nonstandard gaming keyboards and mice. And the Mac default layout is a bit different from standard PC layout (depending on locale) so you may want to check what goes where.
It’ll work with standard HDMI displays or HDMI/DVI and HDMI/DP digital adapters, but again if you have a nonstandard display… and I haven’t seen any good converter setups if you really want to use an old analog 5-BNC, EVC or 13W3 connected tube display, but I expect you probably don’t… passable analog conversion is easy to find up to the limits of supported by VGA connectors. (5-BNC, EVC and 13W3 are for when you want to do better in analog than a VGA connector can cope with, for those who aren’t familiar with tube-era high-end graphics.)
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