Recommended Posts

I've been doing some organizing and cleaning out files on my computer and backup drives. I came across a ton of old wallpapers from the Windows XP days and on up. So many fond memories of the great sites I got them from, old forum friends that I got them from, some are official Window OS wallpaper packs, etc. I'm sure many of ya'll can relate. Now I'm happily on MacOS with a widescreen monitor. The resolution is way too big for those old wallpapers of course. I want to delete them because heck I totally forgot about them and I can't even use them . But part of me also wants to keep them for nostalgia reasons. But I also know I'll just forgot them after admiring them for a while. But they also take up a decent chunk of space almost 1TB!

So I'm just curious? 
Do you keep old wallpapers/images/icon sets, etc even if you can't use them? Do you keep them purely for nostalgia reasons? Or do you have a practical reason to keep them? I thought about uploading to the Internet Archive or some place like that. But all the official Windows/RedHat stuff I have is already there or in plenty of other places. And the other stuff, I don't know it's just people's original work or stuff I took a stab at. But they are old, I'm talking like Paint Shop Pro old lol.

I'm at a point in my geek like where I want to start getting rid of unnecessary digital junk. It just takes up space in my head when I'm doing stuff on my computer. And I want to be more purposeful when on my computer rather than just scatter shot downloading and keeping everything like I used to do. Would be interested in what you  older geeks think about this and what you do/did with similar digital files you can't use anymore.

Maybe upload them to the Internet Archive? in some ways all those wallpapers, themes and icons are a bit of internet history that might not exist anywhere else at this point. Websites like ThemeXP are long since gone, as are working links to many themes shared on forums back then.

I uploaded the UXTHEME.DLL patch I used back in the Windows XP day’s, along with my all time favourite theme Luna Element 5.1 Blue / Black. The themes combined have been downloaded over 80,000 times since then... so I guess that answers the question on if it was worthwhile doing that.

I was always pretty selective with what I downloaded, so only have approx 200 4x3 backgrounds in my pictures folder. Those have just been copied to newer PC's I've had since the Windows XP days, along with my other documents. They don't really take up much space so never felt the need to get rid of them. To be honest I still have all the work i did at Uni, maybe one day it will be interesting to look at again? in my mind why delete multiple years of work for the sake of a few gb?

Older data takes up so little room these days when you compare it to the 4K video our phones / cameras now produce.

  • Like 3

@InsaneNutter man I totally remember ThemeXP! That makes me sad thinking about all those sites and forums that are long gone 🙁.

Yeah I guess 1TB isn't really that much space when you think about how much space geeks like us probably have over all. I'll consider uploading to the Internet Archive. Theming XP was such a big deal and so much fun back then. I do agree it's all part of internet history, the online culture of that time. 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • OK, back to normal now! Ozzy Osbourne - Flying High Again (Official Music Video)  
    • The actual download size is ~130–180 MB, not 100 MB.
    • Big change of pace for me! Gunnar & the Grizzly Boys - Standard American (Official)  
    • draw.io Desktop 30.2.4 by Razvan Serea draw.io desktop is a downloadable security-first diagramming application that runs on Windows, MacOS and Linux. Creating diagrams in the desktop app doesn’t need an internet connection. This is useful when you are disconnected or when you must create diagrams in a highly secure environment, where data protection is of the utmost importance. When you use the draw.io desktop app, your diagrams will be stored on your local device. Because this is a stand-alone application, also designed to run offline, there are no interfaces to cloud storage platforms available. Of course, you can still store your diagrams in folders that are synchronised to your cloud storage if you wish. Easy-to-use diagram editor The draw.io apps work just like the office and drawing tools you are used to using. Drag and drop shapes from the shape libraries and drag to draw connectors between them. Drag connectors to add waypoints and set a precise shape and position, or let them reroute automatically. Double click and start typing to add a label to anything. Create tables and swimlane flows with a familiar tool. Style shapes and connectors with customisable palettes, sketch options, fonts and text formatting tools. Search for shapes, including in open-source icon libraries. Use our vast libraries of shapes and templates, organised into logical categories, to create a range of diagrams and infographics. Generate diagrams from text descriptions using our smart templates. Diagram faster with keyboard shortcuts. draw.io Desktop 30.2.4 changelog: Uses electron 42.4.1 Updates to draw.io core 30.2.4. Download: draw.io 64-bit | Standalone ~100.0 MB (Open Source) Download: draw.io 32-bit | ARM64 | ARM64 Standalone Links: draw.io Home Page | Project page @GitHub | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      Skeet Campbell earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Sharbel earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • First Post
      BizSAR earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      590
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      190
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      80
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      77
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      73
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!