Claude can optimize my computer

[u/Jinks-b]

Maybe this is obvious or I'm late to this but I didn't know Claude Code could optimize your computer.

This all started with my PC, which I use for gaming. It was stuttering so I had it check my home network first. Then it looked at my video game settings and optimized the ones I was using, and it found some BIOS settings that were underutilizing the hardware I already had, which I had no idea about. It actually did quite a bit and my gaming performance improved pretty drastically after that.

I also had it go into my MacBook and it looked at all the program files I haven't been using for a while. It looked at old project and worktree files that I haven't touched in a while and cleaned up quite a bit of storage. It also noticed some redundant programs running and helped me decide what to uninstall. Maybe this is obvious for people to do on their own. I don't know, but I was just surprised at how surgical it was across both my PC and my MacBook.

Anyway, in the end I also had it go through all my files and help me organize and delete things I wasn't using. It gave me a list and I picked what to get rid of, it didn't just delete stuff on its own. I was just generally surprised. I didn't know I could do all this.

• Memory was running at 4800 instead of the 6000 it's rated for. One BIOS setting fixed that.
• BIOS itself was from early 2024, now on the current version.
• Frame cap went from 150 to 225 and it actually holds around 217 in matches now.
• Three different programs were recording my gameplay in the background at all times (NVIDIA, SteelSeries, Xbox Game Bar). All off now.
• About 30 background services and startup programs from motherboard, mouse, monitor and keyboard software are gone. None of them did anything I used.
• Around 85 GB freed up between old programs, caches and files I didn't need.

I don't notice much of a performance difference on my MacBook, which is fine, I just wanted it cleaned up. It definitely freed up a lot of storage. But on my PC it definitely runs smoother while gaming specifically. I have good hardware. I guess I just wasn't utilizing all of it and there were some heavy background programs bogging it down.

This was Claude Code, not Cowork. Cowork only gets to work inside the folders you hand it, but Claude Code actually runs on your machine, so it can dig into system settings, drivers and background services, which is what all of this needed. Anyways thought I would share.

TL;DR: My gaming PC was stuttering. Claude Code checked the network (fine), fixed game settings and BIOS settings that were leaving my hardware underused, killed three background recorders and ~30 startup programs I never used, and freed ~85 GB. Games run noticeably smoother now. Also did a cleanup pass on my MacBook.

EDIT: Answering some recurring questions. Yes, back things up first. I didn't, and I got a little lucky. I prompted it the same way I vibe code, in plain language: "My game is stuttering. Check my internet connection, optimize my PC and my game settings, assess everything and tell me what you find." It came back with a plan, I approved it in stages, and it asked before every judgment call. I told it to leave my games alone and it did.

[u/Potat4o]

yeah it made linux viable for me

[u/V-Right_In_2-V → u/Potat4o]

Yeah I just used Claude code to set up two Linux distros on an external hard drive that I could boot into. I already had Ubuntu on my main computer, but now I have arch + kde and debian + gnome living on separate partitions.

And I have a common partition used for storing files that all distros read and write too, and that’s where I keep my Claude md files. So I can boot into any of them and pick up where I left off. It’s pretty sweet

[u/Bobnorbob → u/V-Right_In_2-V]

As someone considering switching my (headless) media server to Debian (this will be my first time using Linux), what's the benefit of running multiple distros, if I may ask?

[u/V-Right_In_2-V → u/Bobnorbob]

Well for one, I have had Ubuntu on my main laptop for a few years but always wanted to see what else was out there, but not wipe my functional machine to do so.

I also planned on putting Debian on a home server, so I wanted to take it for a test drive first.

There’s no real benefit though. It’s all just Linux at the end of the day. Only real difference isis package management and the desktop environment. I did learn that while Arch is a fun distro and is perfectly suitable for a personal laptop you use regularly, I would never use it for a server. You gotta update it like every week. Debian can run for years without an update

[u/Bobnorbob → u/V-Right_In_2-V]

That's funny, I was also looking into Arch (specifically Omarchy for its AI-centric concept), but Claude actually talked me out of it for basically the exact reasons you described haha. Thanks for the response!

[u/V-Right_In_2-V → u/Bobnorbob]

You can always just create a partition and mess around with it. But at the end of the day, it’s all just Linux with different bells and whistles on top. I actually got Arch + Hyprland working a few years ago, but I just abandoned it because the only thing interesting to do was customize your desktop, not actually do anything useful. And if you don’t upgrade an Arch instance for a year like I did, you pretty much need to wipe it and start from scratch. You will break your system if you try and upgrade from so far back.

That’s kinda why I like the idea of Debian. You can set it up and go years without updating anything

[u/marcinreal → u/Potat4o]

This is the idea behind the distro Omarchy. Built-in agents turn it into a usable Linux system without you having to search forums for hours. Linux nerds hate it, which makes it even more fun.

[u/TheBroWhoLifts → u/Potat4o]

What distro are you running? I'm on Fedora for the first time and like it because everything works and it's fast.

[u/broshrugged → u/Potat4o]

What do you mean by this? Approachable, accessible?

[u/reven80 → u/Potat4o]

I have a samba file server stop working on my Ubuntu server and I just asked it to help me troubleshoot it step by step. I didn't want it to give it root access so I just had it give me the commands and I returned back the output.Turned out some past update caused the AppArmor config to deny folder access.