Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
For most people, it’s NOT a good idea to delete the pagefile. A pagefile (or swapfile) is a temporary scratchpad area on the hard drive that an operating system (e.g. Windows) uses to store code and data when the operating system is juggling more stuff than will fit into RAM. A pagefile lets Windows act as…
What a strange question! If you mean today, then Win10, hands down. Win95 was built for a different era, with different — simpler and much, much slower — standards. For example, PCs in 1995 typically came with 4-8 MB (not GB!) of RAM, a single-core 66MHz (not GHz) CPU, dial-up Internet connections, CD-ROM programming, and…
The column reprinted below was originally published in the August 15, 2013, Windows Secrets newsletter. Today, it supplements a new, free column, “Why am I not able to reset my PC or reinstall Windows?” (all versions), posted here: https://langa.com/?p=2602. I’m reprinting selected Windows Secrets columns here to help ensure readers can find and access information…
The column reprinted below was originally published in the July 14, 2011, Windows Secrets newsletter. I’m reprinting selected Windows Secrets columns here to help ensure readers can find and access information I’m referencing in new columns; until older Windows Secrets/LangaList columns are moved to their new home at AskWoody.com. Specifically, this column supplements “Why am I…
The folks over at Arstechnica found a very short (just 61 sec!), never-before-seen-by-the-public, video of SpaceX’s most visually-spectacular moments from 2018. This is different from SpaceX’s live and streaming videos. They’re awfully good, but are usually shown at reduced resolution; and often show some artifacting. But this video is apparently direct from higher-resolution source files,…
The column reprinted below was originally published in the August 6, 2015, Windows Secrets newsletter. Today, it supplements a new column, posted today, here: https://langa.com/?p=2460 (I’m reprinting selected Windows Secrets columns here to help ensure readers can find and access information I’m referencing in new columns; until older Windows Secrets/LangaList columns are moved to their…
You usually can delete them, carefully. Sometimes, leftover files are just sloppy programming — the app’s uninstall routine doesn’t target and remove everything that the app added to the system. D’oh! Sometimes, the files are left in anticipation of future need. For example, if an app requires a somewhat uncommon Windows component, that component may…
This week’s new AskWoody Plus newsletter is out; and for a while, you can read it for free, here. Here’s what’s inside issue 16.11.0 / 2019-03-25: LANGALIST: Win8/10’s secure-boot process still causing trouble: Here’s what to do when Windows’ complex boot-time security enhancements prevent you from using legitimate repair, recovery, and backup tools. Plus: No joke — check your…
Reader Raleigh K. is wondering about the longevity of solid state hard drives (SSDs). Early SSDs did have some problems, not least because the operating systems of the day treated SSDs as if they were standard spinning-platter hard drives. SSDs are fundamentally different, so trouble cropped up: Mismanaged by the OSes, SSD performance would seriously…
Reader Jenni Wieter asks; “What is your favorite laptop that you have ever had or used and why?” Hmmm. Two top contenders come to mind: Model 100: This was my first portable computer: a TRS-100. Back in the day when PC’s were usually bulky, desktop units with several separate components, this lightweight, all-in-one portable design…