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CHKDSK is changing how it works (step 1 of 1) 56 percent completed...
PC users of a certain age will be all too familiar with defragging and disk checking, normally as a last-ditch attempt to reinvigorate a flagging or faulty system. Fast-forward to 2012, and Microsoft is reassessing the role of the whole NTFS health model for the modern world (well, Windows 8 at least). It turns out that these days actual corruptions are rare, but people still like to run chkdsk just in case -- or out of habit. In the old approach, health check was either happy or unhappy, and the machine was taken offline for as long as was needed to fix. Even with optimization and improvements in later versions, the galloping sizes of hard drives has swallowed up much of the benefit. In the redesigned model there are four states: healthy, spot verification needed, scan needed and spot fix needed. In any of these states, the system remains online, with the user deciding when to restart if a fix is needed. The reboot process should also be much quicker, with the spot fix already targeted. Advanced users can go a stage further and invoke the spot fix while still online for sections of the disk not in use. The proof, of course, is in the pudding, but anything that involves less death-staring at a disk check is a good thing in our book. Hit the source for a blow-by-blow breakdown.
Overheard@GDC: Defragging the seats
The pink-shirted volunteers made GDC run smoothly, helping answer questions and usher people to the right sessions. Ten minutes before Peter Molyneaux's scheduled speaking time, attendees filled into the room. Conference-goers often left spaces between cootie-carrying strangers, but this pattern didn't bother a veteran volunteer. He shrugged to another helper, saying, "We really aren't defragging [yet]."
A Carrot-on-a-Stick for your PC
Lev over on WoW Ladies is bummed because her computer plays WoW so slowly. Well, we here at WoW Insider are nothing if not helpful, so here's some help! While WoW is definitely a pretty forgiving PC game (unlike, say, Bioshock or the upcoming Crysis, which will make slightly older computers drop into a fetal position while sobbing), there are still a few simple things, some free, some not, that you can do to speed up your computer a bit. (Note: Most of these tips are for Windows only, although with a little Google searching, some of them can be adapted for Macs as well). Cleanliness is next to ownage: Nobody likes a mess, and your computer doesn't either. If your hard drive is extremely full (as in less than a few hundred megabytes free space), big programs like WoW won't have the space they need to stretch out. So make some space by uninstalling programs you don't use any more, and then run a defrag program to reorganize and refresh your hard drive. Slam that spam: Another thing that makes your computer run slow is viruses and spam programs that run in the background and are a pain to get rid of. If you haven't done so in a while, have your virus checker do a complete system check and delete any nasties that show up, and then download both AdAware and Spybot S&D, and run a full check using both of those. It may take up to an hour or so, but it'll be worth it. Needs more RAM! One of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to make your computer run faster is to put more RAM (Random Access Memory) in it. It'll take a little bit of research on your part (to find out what type of RAM your computer's Motherboard uses), but RAM is cheaper all the time, and installation is a snap-- literally. Videocardorama: But while RAM will lower your loading times, the only way to speed up 3D performance in WoW is to get a better videocard. The good news is that they're just as easy to install, but the bad news is that a nice videocard will be fairly expensive, depending on what you're upgrading from-- if you're playing on an old integrated video card that Dell installed, you could get a nice upgrade for as cheap as $100. One thing I do is keep an eye on sites like Techbargains-- when a good deal on a newer card rolls past, nab it up. Keep your system a lean, mean, clean machine, and upgrade it with the newest, fastest hardware when you can, and you'll be seeing Azeroth at 30 FPS in no time.
Apple's 'Quick Assist' support document edited, drops permissions repair and 'restart just because' tips
Remember that 'Mac Maintenance Quick Assist' Apple Support document we found that seemed to be aimed at those new to Macs and computers in general? You know, the one that recommended fundamentals like dusting your computer and using file names that actually mean something? Well, John Gruber today fortunately pointed out that the document has been slightly edited, as it no longer recommends questionable voodoo repair permissions tactics, nor disk defragmenting (Mac OS X automatically does most of that work itself automatically) or "restarting your Mac every few days just for kicks". Three cheers for sensibility.
Dell pretends to understand gamers
Remember back in December when we wrote about Dell bundling so much useless software with their machines that it could be considered bloatware? According to the same guys who reported the problem, Dell are making efforts to clean up their act. On select XPS machine there is now effectively a "no-bloatware" option with no AOL installation, no “media jukebox” and no free ISP options.We're still not satisfied, for the following reasons: Why "select XPS machines"? Yeah, we know how cut-throat the profit margins are in the PC industry, but isn't Dell's XPS range supposed to be a premium product? As far as I can tell, the option is only available on XPS 400 and 600 systems, not the XPS 200 machines (which are priced identically to the XPS 400 PCs). Bad wording. Dell's wording of the option makes it seem as if consumers will be missing out by taking the option. "Now with limited pre-installed software" doesn't sound too appealing to the average consumer unaware of the fact that pre-installed software means the software equivalent of garbage. More bad wording. When you actually get to configuring your machine, the site offers you "no pre-installed software [included in price]". Gee, thanks Dell for not charging us for non-existent software! Even more bad wording. The banner "You Spoke, We Listened" means nothing to anyone that hasn't read about this issue previously.
Classic Mac Rubik's Cube sculptures
This is just fantastic. French artist Invader creates mosaic sculptures of images from pop culture using the Rubik's Cube as his medium. Called "Rubikscubism," his works include a classic Mac trash can and, my personal favorite, the pre- and post-representation of a defragmented hard drive (pictured at right). Other sculptures include Space Invaders characters, Nintendo's Mario and a very Nintendo-like explosion.Here is a Flickr site of a recent Rubikscubism gallery opening, and here is the artist's Flickr page. If only the Rubik's Cube had been given an aqua colored side...
