"Features and services may be introduced and withdrawn without notice. Good luck relying on any of them at home or work."

Let's just stop installing these updates, they're clearly created by Microsoft with the express intent of committing acts of malice, not to improve their software.

Without even knowing what CBS is, that's quite a far-fetched conclusion. It's the Component-Based Storage sub-system, responsible for maintaining "packages", updates and verifying system source files, optional Windows components et cetera. Quite a wide-ranging sub-system and with so many responsibilities it is fair that it can generate large log files. I have used these logs with positive results on several customers in diagnosing Windows faults.

What the OP doesn't realise is how much background maintenance modern Windows performs. Just because a user has performed (redundant) manual defragmentation and (effectively unnecessary) disk clean-up doesn't mean that Windows will cease performing this automatic maintenance. A Windows system left idle after installation or updates (particularly the large updates Win 8 gets) will be quite busy for some time doing housekeeping.

I can't see anything wrong with any of the figures shown in that picture. Would you care to elucidate who's software you mean, in what way it's poorly written, and the symptoms that drew you to such a conclusion?

You made me feel like we're in the desert and I just went off on a slightly drunken rant. Did you see that oasis over there?

No, it's "Restrictions". I don't need obstacles that prevent me from consuming my legitimately-purchased media in the ways they were intended. These things don't manage my rights, they manage my restrictions.

My rights are that I get to play the game, listen to the music or use the program however the hell I want to. Whenever I want to, whether I'm online or not, and I get to do so without any corporate oversight.

Because I'm made to feel I shouldn't burden a project with bug reports when I don't write code to fix them. No, I'm not the whiney, petty bug reporter that this post makes me out to be! You did ask!

BitTorrent operate global discovery servers and the synced directories can also use DHT if enabled, both of which mean that static IPs are not required. Syncs can also be operated without either of these - they can use LAN discovery and a list of static hosts.

I think the length of time it took to be officially recognised by Microsoft puts weight behind your question. I'd noticed it was slow for ages - even for freshly-installed machines. I didn't think too much of it, as it was always on old hardware.

And you're right, you weren't arguing. I apologise for flying off the handle at you when I should have been aiming elsewhere, your comment did not deserve that.

I got a leaflet through the door this week from our local neighbourhood watch. It said that the police's attention was on sorting out the dog poo and rowdy behaviour from people leaving one of the pubs. I live in such a lame area and I'm genuinely grateful for it.

In the unlikely event that anyone is this deep, looking for meaningful advice, I offer it here. I could address parent's other foaming-at-the-mouth rants, but I'd just be repeating other explosive and rude comments I've already made on this article.

"4) Dump the System Restore from time to time. This is just junk removal. It has its place and can be of great help. But if you have not installed any new in say the last month, disable it, to clear out the trash, and reable it."

No. Do not "dump" it ever. Follow the Control Panel into "System and Security" and then "System". Click on the "System Protection" link from the left-hand pane. You will notice a setting for each fixed disk for System Restore. On the disk that's so hurting for free (i.e. wasted) space, click it then click "Configure".

Here you can choose how much disk space it consumes and you can then completely forget about System Restore until it saves your bacon. You will be glad that you let Windows decide when to delete Restore Points because I can assure you: it knows better than you do.

But PC Tools' software is convincing and alarmist, surely it wouldn't lie to me!

There is no garbage in WinSxS. Windows keeps old or unused files for a reason. You shouldn't be deleting these - manually via a Microsoft tool or otherwise - unless you are low on disk space. Windows does its own automatic passes of storage directories and removes things it doesn't need itself. As the OP said, the size reported by Explorer of WinSxS is the only "garbage" because of the way the contents are handled and linked.

Things aren't as simple as the XP days, for better or for worse. However, in my experience reading the technical details of Vista+'s new features, they are usually for the better. They also make sense once you read up on them at a site that is authoritative and experienced.

I heard you have to reverse the direction of the SATA cable to clean that crap out. Same goes for slow broadband - either reverse the Ethernet cable or turn the WiFi router upside down.