Question about wear and tear

msmith1969

New Member
Messages
7
Hi. I picked up a Dell Inspiron 3847 Desktop with Windows 8.1 pre-installed. Initially, looking at the layout I was like, "huh?." Though after installing the Classic shell I was feeling a bit more comfortable with the new set-up.

Though I was a bit freaked when I opened the Task Manager and noticed there are 76 processes/programs running after start-up. My old XP machine had 25 process/programs running after start-up, making me wary of what is necessary and what is Dell bloat. I'm still working on that.

Anyways, I prefer using high contrast themes. I was wondering if constant switching between hi-contrast themes (alt + shift + print screen) and regular Windows themes causes any extra wear on the system?

Are there any actions that cause extra wear and tear on a Desktop?

Another question. I use winrar frequently. In Windows 8.1 I cannot point the mouse on single file and drag the mouse to select multiple files from the winrar queue, an action that worked well in XP. Is this something new in Windows 8.1 or can I make a configuration adjustment to allow this action?

An observation. After I start Windows I open the Task Manager and observe the Disk process bouncing up and down between 1% and 100%. After a minute or so the Disk process simmers down and rests at about 0-1%. I dumped the Mcafee free AV that came pre-installed because it appeared to be the main hog. Now I see a Windows process spikes the Disk (redline @ 100%) momentarily before returning to 0%. Is this normal?

Thanks. I'd appreciate any helpful comments. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. Inspiron 3847
    CPU
    3.10 gigahertz Intel Pentium G3240
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics
    Internet Speed
    100 Mps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Avast
Nothing you do or can do "electronically" causes wear and tear. Electronics don't wear out as such.

The practical aspects are how much reading and writing to the hard disc is occurring, meaning that if the disk is being thrashed then the wear is higher... in theory... in practice I suspect its a bit of a non issue though.

Processes... I just looked on this installation (its W8.1 Enterprise running on an 8yr old laptop) and I have 27 (it varies, just looked again and its 30) as showing in task manager along with two apps.

My main PC is a Dell (and I clean installed W8.1 on that) but can say that bloatware is an issue with standard PCs as supplied from the manufacturers. My Dell had W7 preinstalled along with all the other unwanted stuff. First thing I did was clean install W7 from the Dell supplied discs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Uninstall any programs you are not using then download and run Ccleaner to clear out the garbage. When you uninstalled McAfee did you use their removal tool?
Do not be concerned about wear and tear of a computer. Electronics are such that when it is their time to fail, they will.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
Mooly wrote, "My main PC is a Dell (and I clean installed Windows 8.1 on that) but can say that bloatware is an issue with standard PCs as supplied from the manufacturers."

A clean install makes perfect sense. Once the Dell warranty expires I'll be doing the same.

Processes... I just looked on this installation (its Windows 8.1 Enterprise running on an 8yr old laptop) and I have 27 (it varies, just looked again and its 30) as showing in task manager along with two apps.

I've reduced the start-up processes (after a restart) to 60. Slowly but surely I'm ridding the machine of unnecessary stuff.

Thanks for your input, Mooly.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. Inspiron 3847
    CPU
    3.10 gigahertz Intel Pentium G3240
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics
    Internet Speed
    100 Mps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Avast
Nuccii wrote, "Uninstall any programs you are not using then download and run Ccleaner to clear out the garbage."

My problem with uninstalling programs/processes i don't need, is determining which programs/processes are not needed. :)

When you uninstalled McAfee did you use their removal tool?

Yes, I did. It appears to have done a good job.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. Inspiron 3847
    CPU
    3.10 gigahertz Intel Pentium G3240
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics
    Internet Speed
    100 Mps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Avast
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