Azarien wrote on 2024-12-04, 12:03:
I used to require a so-called "big ass Enter" keyboard (which combines the shape of horizontal Enter with vertical Enter to one big reversed L shape), to the point that I started stockpiling my favorite Chicony KB-9810 keyboards (an ordinary membrane keyboard except it has the one and only "perfect" layout).
I went one step further... I eschewed the keyboards with the Windows keys, because they took up valuable room for a large spacebar. I stockpiled PS/2 keyboards which had true mechanical keys and the "perfect" layout of the Big Enter key and without other superfluous, crowding keys.
Still use them today. These old keyboards were built like tanks, weighed a ton, and will outlast me...
Other habits that I no longer do include defragmentation on newer SSDs. But, I'd argue that deleting temporary files has become *more* important today, as there are so many of them being generated -- crap and rubbish fragments left all over your drive as intentional breadcrumbs. So, a habit I started 30+ years ago on all Windows systems is creating a RAMDRIVE at initial Windows load and setting TEMP and TMP there, as well as all temporary browsing files (eg, set the Default directory of Google Chrome's browser cache there), but unfortunately I need to keep cookies on the main SSD / hard drive, which is something 99% of people should do for the "convenience." Now, the 2GB or so RAMDRIVE I create at OS load is peanuts compared to the 32 or 64GB of total system RAM. Back in the day, I stuck with 64 - 128 MB at most.
I also used to turn off Javascript entirely, but of course with the garbage Web 2.0, that's impossible today. Browsing the web even at 56k back in the day with Javascript of was very bearable. Now, it's slower at 50 mbps with the virus of Javascript turned on than it was back in the good old days of no ads, captchas, automatically playing videos, or crappy fluff at 56 kbit / 128 kbit. But ublock Orgin helps keep the crap minimized, thankfully.
I also no longer scan for viruses, with the RAMDRIVE automatically setup and most temp files going to it, and uBlock Orgin running and a good hosts file -- and the "built-in" windows Defender (which can't be disabled easily), there's no need if one browses the web wisely and uses common sense.
I always turn my systems off at night, never leave them continuously running. Waste of power, and even with a "smart" live internet connection, exploits can occur. Why tempt fate, even if your system is battened down well?