B&B for Personal Computer - Baseline vs. Benchmark - Security and Performance

It comes up naturally that someone asks you how to keep the computer fast and secure, be it as part of conversation or knowing that you are considered a geek to them. In order to answer their question, you may shoot a response something like 'Do you know how many applications and how often do you use them?' As simple as it seems, most of the people I know begin to mumble once I ask this.

When we talk about enterprise security and performance, we all accept the fundamentals of keeping inventory of software and hardware to gauge application response at a given time using various monitoring tools.

But do we really (really) apply this knowledge to our home computers, let alone casual users in question?

The honest answer: No, we don't.

Now, let me share how I've been keeping tracks of these things. Back in the days, we've used mechanical disks as our primary storage and there were plethora of applications we installed on our systems. At the time, I usually rated my computers' performance by how fast I could start using after powered on and I did compensate some time to the factor due to mechanical disks; the average was 90-120 seconds. I had about 40-60 installed applications, 15-20 start-up programs and 25-35 auto-start services. I was literally very patient person back then.

When I jumped on the SSD bandwagon last year, I was still skeptical to whether I should adjust my previous computer benchmark just because of the speedy SSD and 1600MHz DDR3 which I standardized across the board. Finally I decided to set a new benchmark: 40-60 seconds with similar number of applications, start-up programs and services. I became a not-so-patient person after all.

So what am I trying to say here? Only two things: what do you really need to use and how fast do you want them to perform.

Baseline:

• Never install software that you may never use. Even if you pay for the software, install only when you need to use them. Leaving unused software on the computers not only take up storage but also affect system performance. For example, Java. Keeping them could only do you harm with never-ending vulnerabilities and lagging timely fixes. 
• Check your software vendors' EULA how they track software usage for you to have the flexibility of install/uninstall choices.

Benchmark:

• We can easily check any start-up programs and services using Windows tools or other readily available tools like CCleaner, Sysinternals, and remove any unnecessary programs to prevent loading at start up.
• You may have a number in mind, say 30 seconds to start using the computer. Make sure the number is reasonable based on your system components' specification and be mindful of compromises you may have to accept.

By now, you should see where this leads. Having a baseline of application and benchmark can help you achieve higher security and better performance. Think about the time you would save to update those applications in addition to normal Windows updates. With less software installed, you can finish patching faster and maintain a shorter list of auto-start program/service.