Is the PC an Off-The-Shelf Commodity?
The first computers were large, complex and expensive.
As the size and cost of the computer shrank and demand increased, the PC computer has replaced the minicomputer in the workplace.
And in some instances, PCs have even replaced the Mainframe.
With the high volume production and low cost of the PC, there is a marketing thrust by the manufacturers to present the PC as a straightforward technology.
The computer is sold as an off-the-shelf "Black Box" without regard to its internal workings.
Just plug it in, install Microsoft Office software and an anti-virus checker - and away you go.
But the reality is far different from the marketing concept that a PC is just another commodity.
Problems soon become apparent The performance of even the fastest of PCs will degrade over time.
The wonderful response times that you had from your bright, new and shiny PC will wane, even after only a few months and definitely after a few years.
And you soon realise that the PC "commodity" is not like a Television set or a wristwatch or a toothbrush - the PC needs constant attention to maintain performance.
It is inevitable and predictable that, after a while, problems on a busy PC will become more and more apparent.
Start up times will get slower and unexplained freezes will occur at ever decreasing intervals.
Programs will become unresponsive and user frustration will increase.
Automated Maintenance Some progress is being made by Microsoft.
There are routines that can be scheduled that will purge a PC of temporary and unwanted files.
Just visiting the Internet can generate more than 20 megabytes of junk files - so such a daily cleanup is very necessary.
Then there is a defragmentation routine that must be regularly scheduled to ensure optimal disk access efficiency.
These tasks are very necessary, but they are not enough to ensure optimal efficiency of a PC - they can only go so far.
Disk File Maintenance The fundamental weak link in any computer system is the Disk drive.
The build up of irrelevant files on a PC over time is slow but insidious.
And the size of files stored is ever increasing, with cameras and images, music and video being widely used.
Then there are all the software and Web applications that are added.
And of course, the more that is installed on the PC, the worse the performance will be.
The PC is used by most users as a file garbage dump with no regard for the performance consequences.
Without a regular culling, the number of irrelevant files will just keep increasing.
Although disk device sizes these days are large, the space available on a disk drive is still a finite resource.
One culprit often overlooked is Outlook and Email messages.
The messages and their attachments need to regularly culled - pretty pictures, music and videos can be very large in size.
And after culling, the Outlook database file needs to be condensed.
Unused Programs One can use the "Programs and Features" routine to see what programs have been installed on your system.
It is usual to see many irrelevant programs that not needed.
These can be easily uninstalled - but it is not all that easy.
Files relating to the uninstalled program frequently remain after uninstalling.
You will see many files and folders remaining.
Then uninstalled programs often leave behind registry entries.
They also frequently leave system Services running that can have a negative effect on performance.
Cleaning up the remnants of an uninstalled program is not for the fainthearted.
Beware of Registry cleanup software - they can cause major problems.
Logged Files and Events The Event log file records can number in the hundreds of thousands.
Each new log entry, when appended, will fragment the disk drive.
Then there are the numerous log files, installation files, temporary files and...
In Summary After a while, when PC performance degrades, the need for tuning will become obvious.
For reasonable performance it is essential to know what is happening within the PC.
There are so many things that can cause performance problems.
Badly performing programs, unbalanced disk drives, memory or Network problems need to be identified.
The system Services need to be checked for spurious and unwanted processes.
And then there is the malware that insidiously seems to arrive even from seemingly respectable sources.
When you have identified all the sources of the performance problem, you will have a chance of rectifying the problem.
But this requires skill and training and years of experience.
So much for regarding the PC as a simple commodity.
The PC may be sold as such, but despite efforts by Microsoft to simplify the user experience as much as possible, the technology remains complex.
Stay in Tune!
As the size and cost of the computer shrank and demand increased, the PC computer has replaced the minicomputer in the workplace.
And in some instances, PCs have even replaced the Mainframe.
With the high volume production and low cost of the PC, there is a marketing thrust by the manufacturers to present the PC as a straightforward technology.
The computer is sold as an off-the-shelf "Black Box" without regard to its internal workings.
Just plug it in, install Microsoft Office software and an anti-virus checker - and away you go.
But the reality is far different from the marketing concept that a PC is just another commodity.
Problems soon become apparent The performance of even the fastest of PCs will degrade over time.
The wonderful response times that you had from your bright, new and shiny PC will wane, even after only a few months and definitely after a few years.
And you soon realise that the PC "commodity" is not like a Television set or a wristwatch or a toothbrush - the PC needs constant attention to maintain performance.
It is inevitable and predictable that, after a while, problems on a busy PC will become more and more apparent.
Start up times will get slower and unexplained freezes will occur at ever decreasing intervals.
Programs will become unresponsive and user frustration will increase.
Automated Maintenance Some progress is being made by Microsoft.
There are routines that can be scheduled that will purge a PC of temporary and unwanted files.
Just visiting the Internet can generate more than 20 megabytes of junk files - so such a daily cleanup is very necessary.
Then there is a defragmentation routine that must be regularly scheduled to ensure optimal disk access efficiency.
These tasks are very necessary, but they are not enough to ensure optimal efficiency of a PC - they can only go so far.
Disk File Maintenance The fundamental weak link in any computer system is the Disk drive.
The build up of irrelevant files on a PC over time is slow but insidious.
And the size of files stored is ever increasing, with cameras and images, music and video being widely used.
Then there are all the software and Web applications that are added.
And of course, the more that is installed on the PC, the worse the performance will be.
The PC is used by most users as a file garbage dump with no regard for the performance consequences.
Without a regular culling, the number of irrelevant files will just keep increasing.
Although disk device sizes these days are large, the space available on a disk drive is still a finite resource.
One culprit often overlooked is Outlook and Email messages.
The messages and their attachments need to regularly culled - pretty pictures, music and videos can be very large in size.
And after culling, the Outlook database file needs to be condensed.
Unused Programs One can use the "Programs and Features" routine to see what programs have been installed on your system.
It is usual to see many irrelevant programs that not needed.
These can be easily uninstalled - but it is not all that easy.
Files relating to the uninstalled program frequently remain after uninstalling.
You will see many files and folders remaining.
Then uninstalled programs often leave behind registry entries.
They also frequently leave system Services running that can have a negative effect on performance.
Cleaning up the remnants of an uninstalled program is not for the fainthearted.
Beware of Registry cleanup software - they can cause major problems.
Logged Files and Events The Event log file records can number in the hundreds of thousands.
Each new log entry, when appended, will fragment the disk drive.
Then there are the numerous log files, installation files, temporary files and...
In Summary After a while, when PC performance degrades, the need for tuning will become obvious.
For reasonable performance it is essential to know what is happening within the PC.
There are so many things that can cause performance problems.
Badly performing programs, unbalanced disk drives, memory or Network problems need to be identified.
The system Services need to be checked for spurious and unwanted processes.
And then there is the malware that insidiously seems to arrive even from seemingly respectable sources.
When you have identified all the sources of the performance problem, you will have a chance of rectifying the problem.
But this requires skill and training and years of experience.
So much for regarding the PC as a simple commodity.
The PC may be sold as such, but despite efforts by Microsoft to simplify the user experience as much as possible, the technology remains complex.
Stay in Tune!
Source...