Alacrity PC

[MrRiplEy[H]]

BaldEagl that is just what I was thinking! Come here Ripley and pucker up for me! 

Smooch XX

[Bizman]

...if you see all the trouble of setting up a high end system (not least referring to the every last cpu cycle rant of yours) you shouldn't be running totally useless gadgets on the system in the first place. It's so simple to strip the system and you never need to run crity or craty again.

IMHO you're partially right. Especially with a new PC of any brand it's essential to find and get rid of the massive amount of wtfware the manufacturer has preinstalled into it. Of course some of the programs can be useful, like AdobeReader and such, but at least any demo versions should be uninstalled immediately and the settings of the rest should be set up not to run any background checkings for updates or, even worse, "news". Then do some tinkering with services and you should be fine.

Done all that I still use Alacrity. Why? Well, for instance I like to use Skype and Messenger, while not playing AH. There's a lot of other services, too, that are not needed in the game, but are essential in everyday computing, such as Spooler service for printing, Explorer.exe for functionality, Automatic updates (wuauserv) for getting Windows updates even manually,  restore service for rollback etc.

As you can see, some crity or craty can help to get an easy-to-use family computer, a reasonably fast and safe working horse and a dedicated gaming rig in one package. At least works here. 

[Skuzzy]

Adobe Acrobat Reader is a bloated pig.  Use Foxit instead.  Faster, smaller, less intrusive as well.

[Bizman]

Adobe Acrobat Reader is a bloated pig.  Use Foxit instead.  Faster, smaller, less intrusive as well.

Ahhh! BLOATware was the word I was trying to remember! Thx, Skyzzy!

And speaking about pdf-readers, Sumatra is today even more simplificated as Foxit, whose free version is bloated with limited demos of the paid version.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

IMHO you're partially right. Especially with a new PC of any brand it's essential to find and get rid of the massive amount of wtfware the manufacturer has preinstalled into it. Of course some of the programs can be useful, like AdobeReader and such, but at least any demo versions should be uninstalled immediately and the settings of the rest should be set up not to run any background checkings for updates or, even worse, "news". Then do some tinkering with services and you should be fine.

Done all that I still use Alacrity. Why? Well, for instance I like to use Skype and Messenger, while not playing AH. There's a lot of other services, too, that are not needed in the game, but are essential in everyday computing, such as Spooler service for printing, Explorer.exe for functionality, Automatic updates (wuauserv) for getting Windows updates even manually,  restore service for rollback etc.

As you can see, some crity or craty can help to get an easy-to-use family computer, a reasonably fast and safe working horse and a dedicated gaming rig in one package. At least works here. 

I give my computers usage profiles. One is for portable use (work). Two for gaming. Gaming boxes are stripped to the bone but with best hardware in the house. One portable gaming (because _she_ wants to play while watching tv on her recliner downstairs) luckily she plays only flash games.. And one lower spec box is for virtual machines, printing, office etc. less demanding use.

[Bizman]

Giving usage profiles is a fine solution indeed. There's only one "if" and that is you have to own several computers. And of course have enough room for them. 'Crities are the solution for us poor ones having to share only one computer for the whole family. So, when_she_wants to play her flash games, I'll have to find something else to do. Luckily, it's quite often dinner, so I can ensure to get one decent warm meal a day. Later in the evening she's watching TV, the kids have limited internet time and after 9 the thing is all mine!

[FLOTSOM]

the theory of multiple hardware profiles was already discussed above. it has its benefits, but each time a new profile is wanted a reboot is required.

with crity you need not worry about a reboot, once you shut off the monitored program (user defined in the profile) it will automatically return your computer back to its full running state by restarting all services and programs listed for restart.

then you can select another crity profile and run it merely by double clicking the shortcut for that profile.

the new program will then shut off and start up the user defined services and programs listed therein.

once you are done with that profile it takes a simple shut down of the monitored program and again it will return your computer to its original state ready to use yet another profile for a different application or to do whatever it is you wish to do.

no reboots needed. i can set up as many crity profiles as i choose. and i can run any amount of programs in each unique profile as i want to start.

my aces high profile shuts off every possible service and program, then it starts up my CCleaner program that i run cleaning out all temp files and folders, then once that is shut off it starts Aces High. crity sits dormant in the background until i shut off AH then it automatically restarts all of my services and programs that run at start up, restoring my computer to a freshly restarted state.

in my opinion, automatic is easier than a reboot for each time i want to do something different. but if you want to restart the computer when your done using any particular program crity can also be set to do that or shut down completely after the monitored program is exited.

crity if you read the instructions, will allow you to set each profile to do whatever you want. it takes a little trial an error to get each profile the way you want it, but it is no different than setting up individual hardware profiles.

no actually that would be wrong, with each profile i do not have to start over. i can copy a profile that is close to what i want already, rename the new profile, make the minor changes and set the programs i want to run and monitor save it and I'm done. new profile in 2 or 3 minutes max.

i enjoy using crity, works well and its user friendly

FLOTSOM

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Ok maybe you have a point. It's been almost a decade since our household had only a single computer so maybe I'm biased.

[Chalenge]

Ok maybe you have a point. It's been almost a decade since our household had only a single computer so maybe I'm biased.

WORD! 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

WORD! 

Meaning only a single computer (we have 5 now + two Iphones if that counts..)

Just not to give a wrong impression.

Btw I also take back anything I said about the Iphone. The 3G version is great.