Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Cleaning Up Here Boss

                                                                        Catharsis
Rip it all out and start over!
Find missing spoons and candy bars.
I always get a rush when I rip all the wires and cords from my computer, get out the vacuum cleaner, some bleach and wood cleaner, and then put it all back so no wires show and everything works the way I want. I'm on stage three (of four) of that process.

I found two teaspoons, various and sundry doo-dads and whatchamacallits.  After a heavy cleaning I plugged in the router, computer and monitor.  And that's where I'm at.  The floor looks like a minefield—that's done exploded— but I don't care.  I have four whole days to deal with it before MoSup gets back from the Florida nudist camp. 

Everything is so much faster, and the ride smoother, and quieter (no speakers plugged in yet). Just like after a car wash.   And here's why (I think) .  I noticed that, even though I plugged in the same wireless mouse, keyboard and such, there were a lot of  "found installing new hardware" messages.  Then the Microsoft Windows Keyboard and Mouse Center opened (WTF)? 

Here's what I think.  Windows 7 is so intent on things being just soooooo tidy,  that unless you use the same connecty slots that it expects, it creates new device info.   That's the only thing I can think of to explain the new crispness and response.  Never happened on the older Windows. 


10 comments:

leelu said...

Nah. You just got all of the excess bit buildup out of the hardware when you unplugged everything. It's the network equivalent of arterial plaque.

Mostly comes from pictures of crufty old libs, like Pelosi and Reid. They add a coating of slime to just about anything.

Nelson said...

"Never happened on the older Windows." Windows XP did this to me all the time, and I think 2000 did as well. MS actually ties the active driver registry entries to the specific USB ports and hubs the devices are connected to.

To my knowledge, Mac OS X and even Linux do this as well, though because they don't use those dopey driver wizards or popup alert bubbles, you don't actually see it happening; it's all done behind the scenes as it should be.

Anonymous said...

My Win7 has done the same thing. According to Control Panel/Devices, at one time or another I've had as many as 4 printers, 3 routers and 3 networks.
Reality: one of each.
I noticed that some third party software installs its 'own' printer; e.g., a recent Quicken reinstall added a Quicken Printer installed. I just checked my HP as the default, deleted the rest, and all's been well.

Bought a new laptop for my mother superior, and it had Win8. I tried to give it a fair shake, took all the tutorials, but it's a fucking nightmare if you actually want to do productive work. Perhaps if you have a touch screen and just want to play like the young reality impaired Smart phone drones, it will be OK, otherwise, I'll stick with Win7, thank you.
Lt. Col. Gen. Tailgunner dick

K-nine said...

I was about to ask if anyone out there had tried win 8.
Any others? I was debating the switch.

Anonymous said...

TO "K-nine":
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Don't do it.
Just say NO!

K-nine said...

Well. That was definitive.
Side note, you've inspired me. I pulled the king bed out and vacuumed under it and the nightstands then rearranged all the lamp and speaker cords.
Very satisfying.

I need an old fashioned.

K-nine said...

No spoons, but I found a busted iPhone 4 and my best cufflinks.

Ralph Gizzip said...

Screw 7 and 8. As long as my XP recovery disks function I'll continue to use XP. Of course I had to burn Service Packs 2 and 3 to CD's so I could reload them.

pdwalker said...

Yeah, what you are looking at is how USB devices are handled.

Some USB devices are identified by a unique ID. If the device has it, then you can plug it into any usb slot and the computer will recognize it as a device that has already been installed.

Cheaper USB devices don't have this, so the device is tied to the usb slot. Change the slot, get another round of "installing hardware" messages.

It's perfectly normal and harmless.

Chunkdog1 said...

Is that a Rastafarian computer?

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