[Virtualacorn-list] Self-build PC

[John McCartney]

In article <a253a32254.Alan.Adams at iyonix.adamshome.org.uk>,
   Alan Adams <alan at adamshome.org.uk> wrote:
> In message <54226cafd4j.mccartney at blueyonder.co.uk> John
>           McCartney <j.mccartney at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

> > In article <54211c4ce6j.mccartney at blueyonder.co.uk>,
> >    John McCartney <j.mccartney at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

> >> If I can stand recalling it all, I'll post a link to
> >> it.

> > https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4528321/TheSaga.pdf

> > You have been warned!

> Interesting reading, though not much of a surprise.

> Vista and Win7 both need at least 2Gb of RAM. If you have
> the RAM, Win7 is then faster than XP, and massively
> faster than Vista.

Yes, this is my experience too.

> Be aware that multiple CPU cores consume additional
> memory.

> You could have saved qquite a bit of download time on the
> patches by manually downloading and installing the
> service packs. They replace a lot of the patches, so
> doing patches followed by service packs repeats a lot of
> downloading.

I had anticipated/hoped the service patch would be the
first download.

> Once the have installed the latest service pack, enable
> automatic downloads.

I have never enabled automatic downloads, I prefer just to
be notified. That way, the three machines in our household
don't run the risk of being stiffed by the same dodgy
update. I always do them in sequence after the first has
proved successful.

> You have probably also discovered that .NET updates
> insist on being done on their own, so a single monthly
> update can require at least two download/install/reboot
> sessions. (.NET 1, 2, 3, and 4 are separate, not
> replacements for lower numbered versions, and you can get
> updates for all of them.)

It's a pain, isn't it?

> Good strategy for the swapfile, although when I can, I
> create a separate partition for it. Allow at least 20%
> free space or Windows will keep prompting you that a
> disk is almost full. I would hesitate to put it on an
> SSD, because of the intensive activity in that file. I
> don't know that it would shorten the SSD life, I just
> don't feel comfortable about it.

I have an SSD in my laptop which is now some 4 years old
and the drive hasn't shown any signs of distress. I believe
that they have a fair supply of unused cells to compensate
for any that become dud. However, what happens when that
supply is used up, I don't know.

John

-- 
John McCartney
j.mccartney at blueyonder.co.uk