Saturday, January 01, 2011

Happy New Year!

Another year, another cycle. It's time for much needed maintenance and upgrade planning. It's always a good idea to start the new year off with a nicely maintained system so that's the first thing I intend to do with my PC (aside from writing this post, of course).

Aside from ESD and any electrically conductive liquid (usually water), another enemy of the computer would be dust. Dust clogging up the air flow throughout your computer can seriously impair performance. It also tends to shorten lifespans of parts (especially mechanical ones) so it's a good idea to start the new year with a thoroughly cleaned system. There's also the added benefit that smooth air flow makes for a quieter running environment.


I made the mistake of getting a 5.1 speaker system years ago. It's not a particularly good set of speakers but it's fine for me. The problem is I lack space to fully experience the benefits and it's taking up precious space on my workspace. So the plan this year is to get a more conservative set of speakers. Just this alone will make tonnes of space on my (physical) desktop.

On the software side, unused software just takes up unnecessary space on your hard disk. The price of storage may be low (and going down further) but there's another reason you don't want to have unneeded software installed on your computer: efficiency. Some software add startup services to your system and that can have a significant impact on your computer's startup performance. Even when there's no services installed there's still the matter of more shortcuts to navigate through to reach the software you do use each and everytime you use your computer. That's precious time taken away from you doing what you want on your computer. Remove those unused software and suddenly your computer is much more efficient.

Well, that's about it. I'm off to find my first new year cleaning victim...

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