Have you ever wondered why you are here. I have. Recently I have concluded that I am here in order to serve my computers. I have six of them, four gaming computers and two laptops. And they always seem to demand my attention.

The gaming computers are mostly for their processing power, not used that much for games. One I use for “social” activities, browsing, acquiring music downloads, listening to music, etc. Another I use mainly to compose music ( combination of club, swing, and classical ). For my own amusement of course. A third I use to develop various computer simulations. And the fourth is a backup. The two laptops are just there. My main computer room has the four gaming computers feeding 10 x 32″ monitors.

But I have this thing. A need. To customize and standardize, so all six have the same look and feel, and the same settings, etc., if not the same entire suite of software. I also have this need to continually search for better software to replace or augment what I have, even though I am quite happy with what I have.

For browsing I use Vivaldi. For backups I use SyncBackPro and Free File Sync and Google One ( 2 TB ) and Proton Drive ( 500 GB ). For email I use eM Client. For documents I use Libre Office 6.2 ( yes I know, I should try a more recent version ). For playing and organizing music I use Media Monkey 2024 and for editing music I use Sound Forge Pro 18. My security software are Webroot and Malwarebytes. For a Password Manager I use Proton Pass. For encryption I use Crypto Forge. For file and folder operations, Free Commander XE. For remote desktop control, No Machine. For VPN, Proton. For website editing, Adobe Dreamweaver. And for all of those I have alternatives.

Also lots of surveillance camera and video software. Like Any Cam and Blue Iris. For image management, Fast Stone Capture, Fast Stone Image Viewer, Sib Icon Studio, XN View MP. And for fun, Bahn 3.89

I have so many system utilities my head should explode. Here are some favorites. DU Meter. Net Time. Dual Monitor Tools. Duplicate Cleaner Pro. Folder Painter. Glary Utilities. High Logic Main Type. Nir CMD. NTFS Permissions Tool. Registry Workshop. Transparent Screen Lock Pro. Winaero Tweaker.

I value stability. So I don’t allow automatic updates to the operating system ( Windows 10 ) and only allow automatic updates to my security software and a few programs that I trust not to mess me up ( or down, as the case may be ).

So, I spend a lot of time at the primary and secondary computers. Okay, so I am retired, walk two to three miles a day, and listen to a lot of mostly Baroque music ( with some Parov Stelar, New Order, Depeche Mode, Dave Matthews, etc. ). But mostly I spend my time “supporting” my computers. Or so it seems.