Originally Posted by
nkedel
I've never seen operating-system-level documentation worth a damn from a PC manufacturer since the end of the Windows 3.x days... not that there's any documentation worth a damn that comes with most PCs these days.
Preaching to the choir, dude.
Originally Posted by
nkedel
Take that up with Microsoft, not the PC manufacturers.
I blame everyone.
But if you want me to be more specific, tell me whom to blame for having unlisted and undocumented programs on
my computer without telling me what to do with them. For example, Start>Run>MSCONFIG is for what exactly? When do I use it and why? How about Start>Run>SERVICES? Or better yet, my favorite,
REGEDIT? Laptops are sold as a consumer item but using these things are multiple levels above the average consumer, even me who has two university degrees.
Originally Posted by
nkedel
Indeed, the disk cleanup wizard was offered (starting in XP? a long time ago, at any rate) to clean up stuff like temp files. The system will in some cases ask you if you want to run it.
Yes, but apparently I cannot trust the utilities that come with the computer since I have
Disk Defrag with Win 7 but I read in places like this forum that I shouldn't use it on my SSD.
Oh yes, there's also the mysterious
TRIM. I still have no idea what it is, where it is and what to do with it.
Originally Posted by
nkedel
Moreover, (at least prior to the "Metro" world on Windows 8) Microsoft has absolutely no control over what software you run, and how it uses temp space. It would be nice if all applications used it in ways which cleaned up after themselves (and indeed, even back to DOS, every operating system I'm aware of provides APIs which encourage doing exactly that!) but sometimes applications shut down in unexpected ways and can't, or whole machines crash, or applications are simply badly written. Some others use temp directories in ways which are semi-permanent.
First, as I said, I blame both the computer manufacturer and the operating system manufacturer. Second, if you market a computer for use in business, then it and its operating system should reasonably be able to handle business uses.
Third, addressing directly your point about Microsoft, Microsoft should reasonably anticipate that for a business computer I will be using Office. Unlike Microsoft,
I have no control over how Outlook, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, etc., etc. use and manage temp space. That's really something, telling me that they sold me Windows and Office but how the two interact is
my problem? 
Originally Posted by
nkedel
If you're not prepared to manage a file system manually, use an iOS device which manages it for you, and accept the massive loss of flexibility that such a model entails.
I think you meant OS. If I am right, I must have learned something from you here.
Originally Posted by
nkedel
PC operating systems are not nearly as mature a consumer market as automobiles, and PCs are a much cheaper, and more flexibile/versatile product from . Back when computers cost as much as cars, you had a more reasonable call on documentation (and on an expectation of training.)
Sorry, but I don't agree. There is way too much a "blame the customer" attitude I detect in the computer business. I received more documentation with my $300 clothes washing machine than I did with my $3,000 laptop.
(I hope you do not consider anything I write her antagonistic. I value the help and advice you provide on this forum. ^^)