3 ms·

How about stuff like defragmentation, Windows registry issues, malware, adware and all the other stuff I vaguely remember? 10 years ago, I used to be a power us

How about stuff like defragmentation, Windows registry issues, malware, adware and all the other stuff I vaguely remember? 10 years ago, I used to be a power user at Windows before that (as a gamer/kid) but really though I forgot what time I needed to put into the laptop just to keep it up to performance.

ivan_gammel 8y ago
Defragmentation is something from prehistoric ages of Windows (if I remember correctly, they made it automatic in Vista). Malware, adware etc are the same class of problems as unprotected sex: if you are careful, you are safe and will never see it. It's not a Windows "feature".
- moate 8y ago
  I've always felt this was just the law of large numbers: The world has more PC users running Windows, so people who are writing malware would be casting the widest net by attacking PCs running Windows and since the bad guy is also likely using/familiar with a PC running Windows. The second the paradigm changes, the value equation changes for everyone involved.
ufmace 8y ago
Have you not used a Windows computer in 10+ years? > defragmentation No longer an issue. I'm honestly not up to date on why not, but nobody ever mentions it anymore. > Windows registry issues What issues? I haven't gone into the registry for anything in a long time. > malware, adware Not an issue as long as you run a modern browser and avoid going to sketchy websites and installing random things from them. If you haven't used Windows since early XP, it's really worth another try. It's a whole lot better now.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y ago
  A point to add about malware. Make sure your user account your use is a standard one and not an Administrator account. That goes a long way towards cutting down on potential malware.
- jdmichal 8y ago
  Windows Vista started running defragmentation as a background process nightly. Then SSDs happened.
- deergomoo 8y ago
  > No longer an issue. I'm honestly not up to date on why not, but nobody ever mentions it anymore. SSDs, primarily. Depending on who you ask, defragging an SSD ranges between only slightly beneficial, totally pointless, and actively harmful.
  - wtallis 8y ago
    > Depending on who you ask, defragging an SSD ranges between only slightly beneficial, totally pointless, and actively harmful. Fragmentation will slow down your SSD. For non-server workloads, the SSD is very likely still plenty fast. Running a hard drive defragging program on your SSD will only address one of the two forms of fragmentation that SSDs are subject to, and thus will not help performance much. It will also unnecessarily burn through some of the SSD's limited write endurance, but that is almost never worth worrying about.

ivan_gammel 8y ago

Defragmentation is something from prehistoric ages of Windows (if I remember correctly, they made it automatic in Vista). Malware, adware etc are the same class of problems as unprotected sex: if you are careful, you are safe and will never see it. It's not a Windows "feature".

moate 8y ago
I've always felt this was just the law of large numbers: The world has more PC users running Windows, so people who are writing malware would be casting the widest net by attacking PCs running Windows and since the bad guy is also likely using/familiar with a PC running Windows. The second the paradigm changes, the value equation changes for everyone involved.

ufmace 8y ago

Have you not used a Windows computer in 10+ years? > defragmentation No longer an issue. I'm honestly not up to date on why not, but nobody ever mentions it anymore. > Windows registry issues What issues? I haven't gone into the registry for anything in a long time. > malware, adware Not an issue as long as you run a modern browser and avoid going to sketchy websites and installing random things from them. If you haven't used Windows since early XP, it's really worth another try. It's a whole lot better now.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y ago
A point to add about malware. Make sure your user account your use is a standard one and not an Administrator account. That goes a long way towards cutting down on potential malware.
jdmichal 8y ago
Windows Vista started running defragmentation as a background process nightly. Then SSDs happened.
deergomoo 8y ago
> No longer an issue. I'm honestly not up to date on why not, but nobody ever mentions it anymore. SSDs, primarily. Depending on who you ask, defragging an SSD ranges between only slightly beneficial, totally pointless, and actively harmful.
- wtallis 8y ago
  > Depending on who you ask, defragging an SSD ranges between only slightly beneficial, totally pointless, and actively harmful. Fragmentation will slow down your SSD. For non-server workloads, the SSD is very likely still plenty fast. Running a hard drive defragging program on your SSD will only address one of the two forms of fragmentation that SSDs are subject to, and thus will not help performance much. It will also unnecessarily burn through some of the SSD's limited write endurance, but that is almost never worth worrying about.