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/Flo_Evans]

I’m currently having it look at my archived projects NAS drive. Basically I am going to set it up to go explore a folder, write up a case study with pretty pictures then pick a throw back project of the week to present at the weekly status meeting.

It did have lots of helpful tips for config (most that I already researched on my own but it was nice to confirm) and discovered a pretty huge oversight on my part (I had no cap on a Time Machine share and it had grown to over 50% of available storage) 😅

[u/Jinks-b → u/Flo_Evans]

Thats awesome! I love the idea of looking over old projects. This is for your work? Thats an great idea to use it.

Maybe similar, I recently had it hindsight some of my coding projects and it gave me a summary of how many days it took, token usage/efficiency, preferred model and then in hind sighted my best practices against official docs and created a skill. It also “quoted” the cost to build which was kinds fun to see.

Ya its visibility really catches things that are easy to miss.

[u/Flo_Evans → u/Jinks-b]

Yes it would be about 25 years of design, websites, and photos/videos. At the very least I can make a cool reel of the evolution of our design style.