Ah the memories, often associated in my mind with dial up internet.
I cannot remember Windows 3.1 but I certainly can remember Windows 95, which had a semi manual system for defragging your computer. I suppose I used to do it every few months, and with another system check, which I no longer remember. What is defragging? The proper word would be defragmentation, so it is correcting when everything is fragmented. It pulls together bits and pieces on your hard drive into a more orderly manner, hopefully to improve your computer's performance.
I think we moved on to Windows 98 but certainly not Windows ME, which was and is known to be less stable than previous versions of Windows. The next was Windows XP and then Windows 10, which is what I am now using and have for a very long time.
I am being nagged by Microsoft to upgrade to Windows 11, and I guess I will have to bite the bullet at some point and change over.
Now defragging happens automatically and you don't know what your computer is doing in the background, as it looks after itself.
Here is a nice clip of what you saw when you were defragging back in the 90s. I used to find it quite mesmerising and strangely relaxing.
.jpg)
Ah yes, I remember the defrag - had to do it often! I started work just prior to Windows 3.1 - so have seen all permutations. Windows 11 isn't that scary.
ReplyDeleteI remember this process! My husband worked in IT for decades and keeps my machine running on Windows 10 while it looks like an earlier version (7?) for my ease of use. Lately he successfully stripped away unwanted elements of 11 and still considers switching to a Linux Mint operating system.
ReplyDeleteThe tech speak goes over my head, of course. Today he rattled off something and I, looking thoughtful, replied, "I know that guy."
lol
Those Cinderella potatoes are yummy and I plan to eat one later this evening. :) Be well!
Our first computer was an Amstrad…. Worst buy ever , A year or so later Apple 1992 ..have been an Appler ever since. Easy peasy
ReplyDeleteHad to use a Microsoft one for work but by then they had sorted themselves out or perhaps made them more understandable .I am grateful that I was early adopter of computers and technology .
Remember the sound of the dial up? It makes me stop to think about what other sounds no longer apply to our world. The sound of a coffee percolator. The television test pattern when the station went off the air.
ReplyDeleteI miss defragging, I enjoyed watching the process. I know, I'm weird.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I remember the term but not actually doing it. Looks like a video game:)
ReplyDeleteI thought that defragging was something that gay men did in public conveniences. Obviously, I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI was never very technically skilled but now much less so. And I certainly do not know what the computer is doing in the foreground, let alone in the background. Perhaps it is an early sign of Modern Dementia.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I don't have to do defragging any more. But then there's cache emptying..
ReplyDeleteI did like window 10.
ReplyDeleteI just turn it on and hope for the best.
ReplyDeleteI was a latecomer to the internet, and when I finally went online it was the library computer, which by that time, (early 21st century) dialup was passe, at least as far as public libraries were concerned. It was years before the pandemic forced me to go buy my own computer.
ReplyDeleteI remember defragging.
ReplyDeleteI remember defragging and watching the screen. I remember windows 98 and XP as being the best. I'm on Windows 10 now and will switch to 11 only when I have to. I remember Hating dial-up, yes with a capital H.
ReplyDeleteI also remember 98 had screen savers and you could select your preferred design and watch it, I liked the one with pipes building and joining themselves and every once in a while a join would be a teapot or a jug or something. I really miss screen savers.
ReplyDeleteI certainly remember defragging, sometimes it took a long time. Interesting to watch everything get put back into place. I had 98, Me, and all of them as time went on and they became available. I now have Windows 11 on my laptop and Windows 10 on my desktop computer which I hardly ever use these days.
ReplyDeleteThe Golfer did all that…..still does. He uses the ‘big computer’ I’m quite happy now with phone and IPad.
ReplyDeleteI did sometimes sit and watch all the blue and white bits get shuffled around and put back where they belonged.
Debby mentioned the dial up sound…..not being able to use the phone was part of those days. And watching the little world spin in the corner of the screen
That hypnotic mosaic of shifting blocks in Windows 95 defragmenter felt oddly reassuring, as though you could actually watch order being restored to the quiet chaos inside your machine.
ReplyDelete