It’s 4:03 AM and my main PC is copying files from the Windows 7 DVD in preparations for the second installation so far in 2012. I have spent a number of hours tracking down errors and trying to figure out what the heck is going on with my system, although admittedly, this time it was my own fault as I in a glorious moment of ignorance managed to swiftly remove the owner access and permissions to my own hard drives and partitions, rendering my system F.U.B.A.R.

For the past year and a half I have witnessed my PC slowly deteriorating due to lack of proper, professional maintenance. It fought on and worked amazingly well despite all the crap I fed it with on a weekly basis. With that said, I do use some very handy utility tools, with my favorites being Crap Cleaner (CCleaner), Spyware Blaster and Tune Up Utilities (I prefer the 2011 version as the 2012 is reported to be sluggish and performing worse). But alas, there comes a time when even the bravest of computers need a full disk reformat.

Your Computer is your Money Tree, Water it.

When working with most anything IM-related, it is crucial that your computer works when you turn it on. And Windows 7 works surprisingly well for that, even when abusing it with tons of garbage in its registry and old, worn down hardware. We take for granted that our computer just works, because it is Windows 7, not Windows 3.1, Windows 95 or 98, but possibly the best OS Microsoft has made till now. The problem is, we keep throwing crap at it: freeware tools and applications, games, multimedia, you name it. Eventually the number of issues adds up, the snow ball effect causing a significant problem demanding a repair install or a full reformat.

Having to reinstall everything again and again is a real pain. First comes the operating system, followed by a ridiculous number of Windows Updates (I don’t do Slipstream, at least not yet), then all the drivers and software. And hopefully you remembered to make backups of your e-mail, web browser bookmarks, configuration files, etc. Real men don’t cry, unless they forgot the backup. I am still impressed by how much abuse the Windows 7 OS can take, but treating it properly will make it last much longer without significant issues. Time is money and your computer is your money tree, so water it.

2012 is already here, clean slate and everything. I have an article writer currently working on a batch of 1000 words articles for my first, proper Amazon affiliate site, and I plan on launching one more before the end of the month, plus building back links for both. My PC must be in perfect working condition and totally reliable, so I will skip the fun and computer games for a while, keeping only Winamp for my favorite music in the background. This time I will keep the trash out of the kitchen.

Start off 2012 with a new, free writer’s WP theme

As part of my 2012 plans and projects I started a new blog at the end of december. It is a writer’s blog and I needed a decent, clean WordPress theme. What I found truly exceeded my expectations! The Brunelleschi theme is a true beauty, featuring a super-clean look, soft CSS shadows, it works very well on mobile devices and implements HTML5 as well, making it future proof. Creator Kit McAllister kindly offers support in his own forum. I donated a couple dollars in his PayPal account, and I humbly suggest you do the same, if you like it as much as I do. Bruneschelli is free otherwise, and most definitely worth a download.

I see Windows 7 nagging about the first batch of Windows Updates on my main PC screen right now. In a couple of hours I will be done having installed everyting again, including my Wacom tablet and Adobe Lightroom, motherboard drivers, graphics drivers, Keyword Scout, not to mention e-mail, Google Chrome, Mozilla FireFox and Thunderbird,  yawn.