Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? in Microsoft Help http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22633208 en Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:29:38 EDT Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:29:38 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22664027 exocet_cm : I used to do re-installs about every year or year 1/2 which always came with a new hard drive.

Ever since I put a 500gb HDD in my laptop I haven't reinstalled Windows XP Pro/Vista (its a dual boot) in a little over a year and have no plans on reinstalling the OS' unless I put a bigger HDD in my lappy. Even when I get Windows 7 I plan on tri-booting everything on this one drive without reinstalling the other OS'.
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Ma blog: »www.johndball.com]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22664027 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:08:13 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22653423 Dryden : Used to be yearly with Win98 and previous - then less frequently with XP. Since moving to Vista on realease day one I've reinstalled one time and that was because I hosed the machine. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22653423 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:10:32 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22641553 Exidor : Original install 1/09/03...no noticeable smells. ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22641553 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:03:01 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22640534 dave :
said by r81984 See Profile :

said by dave See Profile :

said by r81984 See Profile :

Why would you waste your time doing all that??
So that the registry will be 'fresh' of course.

There's nothing so off-putting as a registry that has a, um, stale odor that even its best friends won't tell it about.
Are you serious???
Let's see: vague allusions to personal hygiene products in the context of a tree-structured disk database. What are the chances I'm being serious?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22640534 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:48:23 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639552 Rxdoxx : Installed 3/21/05 XP Pro

I've tweaked things so heavy that I dread ever having to go through, screenshot is just an example of a small area worked on.

I delete, I use registry cleaners, anything I can to keep the system running smoothly. Never reinstalled short of a total meltdown.
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]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639552 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:45:38 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639521 jabarnut : Heh...only if you are. ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639521 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:39:41 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639489 r81984 :
said by jabarnut See Profile :

said by r81984 See Profile :

Are you serious???
lol....are you serious about dave being serious???
Are YOU serious???
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said by r81984 See Profile :

Are you serious???
lol....are you serious about dave being serious???
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said by dave See Profile :

said by r81984 See Profile :

Why would you waste your time doing all that??
So that the registry will be 'fresh' of course.

There's nothing so off-putting as a registry that has a, um, stale odor that even its best friends won't tell it about.
Nothing like running a reg cleaner either. :huh:
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]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639402 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:17:07 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639309 r81984 :
said by dave See Profile :

said by r81984 See Profile :

Why would you waste your time doing all that??
So that the registry will be 'fresh' of course.

There's nothing so off-putting as a registry that has a, um, stale odor that even its best friends won't tell it about.
Are you serious???
Why are people are so paranoid about what they do not understand?
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For those of you playing a drinking game.... MY FRIENDS!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639309 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:58:44 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639211 dave :
said by r81984 See Profile :

Why would you waste your time doing all that??
So that the registry will be 'fresh' of course.

There's nothing so off-putting as a registry that has a, um, stale odor that even its best friends won't tell it about.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22639211 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:40:17 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638996 r81984 :
said by KB24 :

Usually I do it yearly.

It would take about 5 hours to do everything. Backing up your hard drive to external drive will take an hour...thats about 50G or so worth of files. Actual installation is 30 to 45 minutes...driver installation is another 20 minutes. Applications about half an hour...or install by demand. Then putting back your 50G is another 1 hour...then customizing it like it use to be another 15 minutes.

It's okay because I usually leave the OS installation and the backing up of files and putting it back. So I'm only in front of the computer for a total of 1.5 hours.

This will clean all those dll's you don't need and registry will be fresh. Also you don't need to look for those applications you don't need anymore or plain useless and uninstall it one by one.
Why would you waste your time doing all that???
--
For those of you playing a drinking game.... MY FRIENDS!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638996 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:49:16 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638954 burner50 : every 12-18mo no matter what, every 60 days on my wifes computer... If my wife didnt use my computers i would probably not have to do it at all.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638954 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:39:23 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638684 dave : I meant that the overall Windows NT 5.0 project was apparently a disaster area, not that the software that was eventually released was a disaster area (apart from the conversion to a stupid marketing-driven naming convention, namely "Windows 2000").

By 'disaster', I'm talking about promised features being dropped, the whole thing about this being the version planned for integration with the consumer OS (which is why they renamed it, bah!) and then it wasn't. Not to mention the schedule slips. I think there was even a development reset in Windows 2000, the same way there was reported to be one in Vista.

Alas, it was a long time ago in software-years, and I have forgotten the events that were at the time burned into my brain (as a developer eagerly awaiting the death of Windows 9x, a clear case where one should be careful what one wishes for in case it comes true).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638684 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:37:47 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638616 mikefxu : For both work workstation and home laptop, every 6-9 months. I use to run from OS upgrades now I try them out when they are beta. My XPS M140/Inspiron 630M came with XP, then ran Vista, and now running Windows 7. Supposedly it is impossible to run Windows 7 on the Intel 915 chipset but after a 1 or 2 hours of monkeying around I got it working. I like tinkering and when I really screw things up its easier to do a reinstall most the time, since I have few necessary programs.
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5 Wireless Workstations: WildBlue Beam: 32 on 1.0Mbps/200Kbps plan at Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638616 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:15:02 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638366 anon : I use acronis imaging for 17 partitions on 8 computers-could not live without it!
I generally create a small partition (50gig) on which the main programs and OS resides, any data goes on other partitions. This way, should I want to do a "clean install" the size is small and to restore an image only takes a few minutes.
I usually have one image of just the initial install, another image of the usual main programs and another image of the whole OS partition which is updated every week or so. Anything really important like my ms money back-up I keep on an ext. harddrive.
The whole idea of imaging is no matter what happens to your OS partition-virus, registry problem, new prog or update problem, harddrive fail-you are in a position to quickly restore without actually going through the actual install/activation of each and every program and setting.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638366 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:50:07 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638396 louist : I image all XP machines and find that I need to refresh systems about ever 18 months on average.

HOWEVER: I have 3 Vista machines that have never needed such treatment. Working fine even after as much as 18 months.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638396 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:41:34 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638347 Tyreman : XP actually is still pretty popular around.
Lot of businesss use it and home consumers.
Its been a real hanger on.
--
Southern Ontario,Canada]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638347 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:06:54 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638303 Tyreman : Using Acronis here with Vista 32 so I just load another image.

In the old days if doing a lot of programs and uninstalling on say 98 then reformat once a year maybe.
I may have hosed it once or twice and had to do it sooner i forget now
I didn't have Acronis then

When I ran XP (I still have it loaded on another drive to my current setup) the first load of XP I tortured it to see what it would do then reformatted again in a I think about 2 months
I then started using Acronis.
--
Southern Ontario,Canada]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638303 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:32:55 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638207 benc : Usually, I wait until I figure that everything breaks. I keep the data I want to keep on a second hard drive, both because it makes installing the OS easier (a special backup isn't necessary), and because in some cases the performance is probably better.

Although generally speaking, years can pass before I do an OS reinstall.

I did perform an install back in February, but that was because I replaced the mobo, CPU, RAM, Video Card, Sound Card, and Power Supply. That and because of the amount of RAM, I had to switch to XP-64 (since I didn't want to do Vista).

Other than that, I probably wouldn't have performed the reinstall.

To test or use other OSes, I just use Virtualbox. If I make a huge mistake, then no big deal. I wipe out the virtual PC and no harm done.

On this note, I used to know a guy that performed a reinstall every six months, and he used Linux. That sounds a bit excessive I think, given the fact that it involves a lot of work and of course you aren't paid to do it.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638207 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:24:51 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638157 cork1958 : I'm down to 5 machines in the house now. Used to have 7.

All 5 are at least 2 years old on their current installs due to reformatting from Linux back to Windows.

Went through a phase there where I thought Linux was REALLY cool. :o

Otherwise,
None of those machines had ever been reformatted.

Count me in as another who doesn't know why some people think this is must thing to do just because.
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»www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638157 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:31:44 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638003 not quite right :
said by BoulderHill1 See Profile :

said by dave See Profile :

said by not quite right See Profile :

Never quite understood why people will put up with a poorly running machine, or spend 10 times longer trying to fix a hosed install.
Never quite understood why people think systems run poorly if they're not frequently reinstalled, or why people so readily decide to reinstall without even understanding the problem first.
I think there is an assumption here that people "think systems run poorly if not frequently reinstalled". That is not the case. The system runs poorly for other reasons such as it has been jacked with, infected with some sort of malware/scareware, major settings tampered with, etc..

As Not Quite Right said, why spend all that time trying to fix a hosed install that in most cases never really fixes the problem, when one can save all personal data, wipe the drive and reinstall th OS in 1/10th the time. I have in the past done all the typical things one would do to "fix" infected, compromised or otherwised hosed machines such as running the whole battery of AV scanners, spyware tools, HiJackThis, etc. only to lose hours and hours of time and still have a machine that does not work properly.

I do this on a regular basis for my customers. They will bring me a machine that has been compromised in one way or another, typically due to some sort of malware infection. I will invariably ask them what personal data they have on the machine that they do not want to lose. Then the typical repair route is to backup that data, wipe the drive, reinstall the OS and other software and updates, and then restore personal data.

Customer recieves back a machine that I am completly confident will work and work as it should. All this for $50.00
Thank You! ..... at least someone got the point I was trying to get across. Believe me when I say I've seen more poorly running machines than I ever have good running ones. ;)
You power users have to realize you are not the norm, and I wasn't really talking to you.
--
"Not many people know this, but I happen to be quite famous."]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22638003 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:49:31 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637995 Loco : I always keep a "Ghost" image of my hard drives....for every pc that i own, up on my server.

Re-installs take only minutes.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637995 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:41:39 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637690 mike31mets : Vista runs great for a lot of people and was a lot more stable out the box than XP was. If your measure for success is adoption of an OS, than Vista is doing better at this point in time than when XP was released despite the circumstances (such as XP having to compete with 2000). It will be interesting to see how Windows 7 fares when it is released. If people don't like Vista because of how the 'interface' was changed, I can't fanthom how they will like Windows 7 (which btw I like) despite the positive reviews. In fact I wouldn't be all that surprised that Win7 will be competing with Vista for a few years for the simple reason that Vista resembles XP more in interface than Win7 does.

EDIT: link to story »www.informationweek.com/news/win···07600845]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637690 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:12:55 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637533 Wolfie00 :
said by dave See Profile :

one of the shortest between Windows releases
Not hardly. Only the Vista release and the Win2000 release took longer, and they were both celebrated disaster areas.
OK, this is one of those very rare occasions where I'm going to argue with you, but I acknowledge that you're technically correct, and I shouldn't have made that insupportable statement about the short timeframe between Vista and 7 -- but I do have an explanation! ;) My major point -- about the incredible longevity of Windows XP, which continues to survive despite Vista and may indeed survive Windows 7 -- remains.

Herewith Wolfie's history of those aforementioned OS's! ;)

My explanation is that all those short release cycles were special cases. NT 3.5 followed on a completely new and incredibly ambitious OS architecture in 3.1, the likes of which had never been done on a PC before. 3.51 was essentially a service pack. 4.0 was accelerated by huge pressure to replace the clunky GUI with one that conformed to Windows 95, which is probably why it was rushed. Windows 2000 took a good respectable timeframe.

Win XP followed fairly soon only because Windows 2000 was an interim release that had been intended for, but then pulled back from, the consumer market. It was in no way a "disaster" -- it was a terrific OS -- the foundation of XP -- but not fully-featured enough for the consumer market. Once 2000 evolved into XP, it was a stellar OS that was hard -- virtually impossible -- to beat, and Microsoft fiddled with elaborate and ultimately doomed plans for years trying to invent killer new features, and finally introduced a steaming pile called Vista that had virtually none, and merely worked moderately well except for requiring 8 times the memory and being incompatible with a lot of stuff. The "moderate" release timeframe between Vista and 7 IMHO was that it was as fast as Microsoft could transform the steaming pile into something that people might actually pay money for again! :p
--
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" -- a corollary of Murphy's Law
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]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637533 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:24:15 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637499 mike31mets : With XP I would format about every 6 months on average. The most I lasted was 1 year without reformatting. Ever since I moved to Vista which was around late 07 or Jan 08, I've formatted once in Aug 08. Every time a SP comes out I like to reformat, though in Vista SP1's case I actually waited until just right before I went back to school that year. I'm planning on formatting soon actually in order to install SP2. So with Vista this will have been about 7 months or so since I last reformatted.

While it's become more of a habit as a Windows user to reformat because of the registry, I think that was mostly when I was on XP. Things would just get slower as time went by. With Vista, it's been the opposite experience which is why I love it so much. It's been pretty stable and solid since installing. I haven't noticed any slow down either with time. I'm not sure if it's because of it's memory management or what not, but Vista boots up quicker than XP ever did for me too. So as far as I know I'll probably format again when SP3 comes out for Vista or whenever I move up to Win7.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637499 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:14:16 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637443 quatrix :
said by alchav See Profile :

Changing Mobo's is a major Hardware change and should require a Clean Load, especially from an upgraded OS. Motherboards and HDD should require a Clean Load.
Uh, no.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637443 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:58:17 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637442 quatrix : The people who told you that don't know how to take care of their PCs. I upgraded from 3.1 to 95 to 98 to 98 SE to XP Pro and haven't done a completely clean install since 3.1 before 1996. Everything still runs as smooth as silk.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637442 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:57:21 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637436 Jeffrey : It's tough to remember, but with Win98 and ME, I felt like it was every 9 months or so.

With XP, I think I did it once on my one Dell after 5 years. Other than that, no reinstalls for me.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637436 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:55:59 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637395 dave :
one of the shortest between Windows releases
Not hardly. Only the Vista release and the Win2000 release took longer, and they were both celebrated disaster areas.

NT 3.1 : July 1993
NT 3.5 : Sept 1994
= 1 year 2 months

NT 3.51 : May 1995
= 8 months

NT 4.0 : July 1996
= 1 year 2 months

Windows 2000 : Feb 2000
= 3 years 7 months

Windows XP : Oct 2001
= 1 year 8 months

Windows Vista : Nov 2006
= 5 years 1 month

The rule of thumb used to be "18 months", clearly violated by Windows 2000 and Vista.

(I include only real Windows systems here, not the DOS-and-derivatives line, and only the desktop releases. I used dates of first availability, as near as I could figure them).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637395 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:47:19 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637304 Wolfie00 : Not going to get into another Vista debate here -- but just to quote some facts:

I've been running XP on my oldest system for almost 8 years now (7 years 8 months) with no problems and no reinstalls.

The time between the general worldwide release of XP and the worldwide release of Vista was 5 years and 3 months -- the longest between the releases of any two major Windows versions.

The time between the release of Vista and the accelerated rush to get its successor out the door will be 2 years 9 months -- one of the shortest between Windows releases.

I rest my case.
--
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" -- a corollary of Murphy's Law
"A dog is like a child who never grows old ... always there to love and be loved" -- Aaron Katcher
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637304 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:24:08 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637291 nrf : for Vista, I found the most useful capability is that it can do a restore from a backup image no matter how bad the situation. If it gets hosed, I can easily back up to a few days ago. (my private data is on a server anyway)

From years of experience, I can say that things go wrong that take a long time to figure out, and it may be more practical and time-wise effective to do such a restore, or a fresh reload.

After rebuilding my wife's system recently, I have endeavored to keep her environment as simple as possible, not adding anything that is not absolutely necessary. The less on it the less that can go wrong. (for example, I tried the windows 7 compatibility wizard but stopped when it wanted .NET installed.)

simplicity has its benefits.
nrf]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637291 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:17:44 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637225 anon : Usually I do it yearly.

It would take about 5 hours to do everything. Backing up your hard drive to external drive will take an hour...thats about 50G or so worth of files. Actual installation is 30 to 45 minutes...driver installation is another 20 minutes. Applications about half an hour...or install by demand. Then putting back your 50G is another 1 hour...then customizing it like it use to be another 15 minutes.

It's okay because I usually leave the OS installation and the backing up of files and putting it back. So I'm only in front of the computer for a total of 1.5 hours.

This will clean all those dll's you don't need and registry will be fresh. Also you don't need to look for those applications you don't need anymore or plain useless and uninstall it one by one.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637225 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:07:23 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637214 Maven : I used to clean install on a regular basis, but I stopped when Vista came out. This OS has been rock stable for me, in fact I haven't reinstalled Vista once and I've had it since day one.

I don't know where all the Vista hate is coming from. It was rocky at the beginning because of the drivers and such, but that goes for any OS. Also, it wasn't a significant update over the already solid XP, so it may have appeared fluffy to some. But that doesn't make it a bad OS in any way, the advantages over XP in terms of stability are clear to me.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637214 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:03:29 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637159 onDvine :
said by Wolfie00 See Profile :

... System Restore can work wonders ...
I've used that a few times, too. It probably saved me from clean installs on those occasions.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637159 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:47:36 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637119 Wolfie00 :
said by felony See Profile :

Hey! Someone agrees with me!

Only thing I don't like about it is that it the images only work with identical hardware setups, which is kinda a bummer. Unless I am missing something.
Well, their Enterprise product has a "universal restore" option, but that's not practical for a home user:
»www.acronis.com/enterprise/produ···ore.html

Other than that, it may be possible to restore to "different" hardware and rely on XP's own resiliency to adapt, or do a reinstall in place to load the right drivers -- potentially a reinstall in place with a CD that's been slipstreamed with the correct drivers if XP doesn't have them. All of which is fraught with peril, I admit!

When I built a new system a few years ago as my son's gaming computer, I slipstreamed SP2 and all the required motherboard drivers into the retail copy of XP that I already owned, and the install worked like a charm. Activation was no hassle, either, since this was a legal transfer of XP Pro retail from his old system. But that was a fresh install.
--
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" -- a corollary of Murphy's Law
"A dog is like a child who never grows old ... always there to love and be loved" -- Aaron Katcher
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637119 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:40:00 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637035 felony : Hey! Someone agrees with me!

Only thing I don't like about it is that it the images only work with identical hardware setups, which is kinda a bummer. Unless I am missing something.
--
i control airplanes.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22637035 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:19:39 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636980 Wolfie00 :
said by felony See Profile :

I use XP PRO, ACRONIS and BARTPE

I have several images of fresh XP installs, and 'mature' XP installs just the way I like them. If I ever have a need to revert, I've got my images backed up safely.

While I really have never had to do a fresh install, something I bugger something up and it is nice to have a backup without going through the fuss of the actually reinstall process.
A wise man -- and one who uses my favorite OS and two of my favorite related software tools! :)

Other than adding that System Restore can work wonders, too, I think you've got a winning strategy there!
--
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" -- a corollary of Murphy's Law
"A dog is like a child who never grows old ... always there to love and be loved" -- Aaron Katcher
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636980 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:07:42 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636977 r81984 : Never with XP.

Now, I have had to reformat a friends computer. After 3 hours of virus and spyware and fixing drivers I gave up and just did a format and reinstall which took about an hour to install xp and all the extra programs. 99% of the time xp can be fixed and a reinstall is not necessary.
--
For those of you playing a drinking game.... MY FRIENDS!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636977 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:06:51 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636960 felony : I use XP PRO, ACRONIS and BARTPE

I have several images of fresh XP installs, and 'mature' XP installs just the way I like them. If I ever have a need to revert, I've got my images backed up safely.

While I really have never had to do a fresh install, if I bugger something up it is nice to have a backup without going through the fuss of the actually reinstall process.
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i control airplanes.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636960 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:02:59 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636918 onDvine : Have had this computer since April, 2003. Did 3 clean installs while running SP1 because things went wrong that I didn't understand well enough to fix. Don't remember what they were. The last (4th) clean install was when I upgraded to SP2 a couple years back. All's been well since; the computer runs fine. (Knock on wood. ;) ) As long as it stays that way I see no need to reinstall.

I defrag and use CCleaner several times a week. Also run Registry First Aid every few months and remove the stuff that's supposedly absolutely safe.
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Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything. ▪Aesop]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636918 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:53:07 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636775 Wolfie00 : I have never reinstalled XP since the first retail install and see no need to do it. When problems/slowdowns occur (which is very rare) it's easier to find the cause than to reinstall what by now must be hundreds of applications and tweaks on my oldest system, which I've been running as my main desktop since November, 2001!

It's true that the registry does grow and get fragmented, but I don't believe that this is a significant performance hit unless it gets truly horrendously mangled. There are tools to optimize such issues but I don't trust them and have not used them.

I'm a big critic of Microsoft so I like to give them credit when they deserve it. They did a fantastic job making XP rock-solid stable and resilient over long periods; by needlessly reinstalling, especially if there are a lot of apps involved, you're negating the benefits of that achievement! :)

Not sure that the OP's problem is necessarily software related but it's a difficult thing to track down and a fresh install might be a useful investigative path. Oddly enough I had occasional lockups like that start to happen a few years ago, only when the CPU was under very heavy load -- but it wasn't a thermal problem. Very strange -- but by a process of elimination I traced it to some fault in the ACPI power management -- it would only happen after the computer woke up from sleep. The problem went away when I turned off the "sleep" feature. I'm practically certain it was a hardware issue so a reinstall or repair wouldn't have helped.
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"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" -- a corollary of Murphy's Law
"A dog is like a child who never grows old ... always there to love and be loved" -- Aaron Katcher
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636775 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:21:52 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636309 BF69 :
said by not quite right See Profile :

Just suck it up .... it was time a looong time ago. I do a fresh install with any major hardware upgrade, and "spring clean" at least once a year weather it needs it or not. Never quite understood why people will put up with a poorly running machine, or spend 10 times longer trying to fix a hosed install. :uhh:
My machine is 4 years old I have never done a fresh install. My machine works fine. How do you know how my machine runs? How do you know it's running so poorly that somehow a fresh install would make it run better?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636309 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:42:23 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636439 jefe : Never.

My main desktop machine is approaching 4 years old. The WinXP Pro installation that came with the PC is still the installation I'm running. With lots of updates, of course. But never a complete re-install.

I, like others who have replied here, have never understood why some users feel the need, or are willing to spend the time, to re-install every time the moon changes phases.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636439 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:08:35 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636320 ironwalker : Never.
I never reinstall due to a problem, I always figure it out. It's the analytical side of my brain and the mrfixit in me.
I don't reinstall just because it's been a long time either, that makes no sense to me.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636320 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:42:48 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636230 banditws6 : Once every 2-3 years for me. I use Acronis now too; makes it a lot simpler than it used to be.
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"I'll follow the law until it's just stupid." -Ted Nugent]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22636230 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:24:52 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635994 ender7074 : About every 6-8 months. Not because of some phantom problem but its nice to wipe it all and start with a clean slate. I typically erase the drive completely and reinstall. Is it necessary? Probably not but I enjoy doing it most of the time.
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Does Microsoft mean small and squishy?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635994 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:32:21 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635806 Hiker 2 : Since Win XP - never.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635806 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:51:06 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635803 BoulderHill1 :
said by dave See Profile :

said by not quite right See Profile :

Never quite understood why people will put up with a poorly running machine, or spend 10 times longer trying to fix a hosed install.
Never quite understood why people think systems run poorly if they're not frequently reinstalled, or why people so readily decide to reinstall without even understanding the problem first.
I think there is an assumption here that people "think systems run poorly if not frequently reinstalled". That is not the case. The system runs poorly for other reasons such as it has been jacked with, infected with some sort of malware/scareware, major settings tampered with, etc..

As Not Quite Right said, why spend all that time trying to fix a hosed install that in most cases never really fixes the problem, when one can save all personal data, wipe the drive and reinstall th OS in 1/10th the time. I have in the past done all the typical things one would do to "fix" infected, compromised or otherwised hosed machines such as running the whole battery of AV scanners, spyware tools, HiJackThis, etc. only to lose hours and hours of time and still have a machine that does not work properly.

I do this on a regular basis for my customers. They will bring me a machine that has been compromised in one way or another, typically due to some sort of malware infection. I will invariably ask them what personal data they have on the machine that they do not want to lose. Then the typical repair route is to backup that data, wipe the drive, reinstall the OS and other software and updates, and then restore personal data.

Customer recieves back a machine that I am completly confident will work and work as it should. All this for $50.00]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635803 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:50:49 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635779 lmacmil :
said by not quite right See Profile :

Just suck it up .... it was time a looong time ago.... I do a fresh install with any major hardware upgrade
You're probably right about that :D

And this was a very major hardware (mobo, CPU, memory, video).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635779 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:47:32 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635778 OZO : In a while Windows OS accumulates a lot of trash in its registry and in files/folders. It contains logs of what you did with it (what programs you have ever installed, what web sites you have visited, when last time you did it, etc.) and it contains lot of old files kept from previous installations that will never be used again. That gradually slows down computer and for some may create a privacy concern. You have a doubt about it? Then make notes about how fast it runs after a year or a couple of years, check OS loading time, check registry size, check footprint that OS takes on your HD, etc. Then make a clean install and compare. You'll see (and not just feel) the difference.

I found it especially useful to make clean install after a new service pack for OS is issued. One thing is running computer after it was updated with latest service pack and another thing is running the very same computer with OS installed from the scratch using new slipstreamed disk.
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Keep it simple, it'll become complex by itself...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635778 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:47:31 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635594 MarkAW : When i first installed this OS back on May 10 2007 i made a image of it with Acronis and haven't seen the need to do clean install ever since.
[att=1]
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635594 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:14:06 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635463 jabarnut :
said by dave See Profile :

said by not quite right See Profile :

Never quite understood why people will put up with a poorly running machine, or spend 10 times longer trying to fix a hosed install.
Never quite understood why people think systems run poorly if they're not frequently reinstalled, or why people so readily decide to reinstall without even understanding the problem first.
I also agree.
I've been running XP Pro on two machines since...(heck, I don't know, since it was first released I suppose), and I've NEVER started from scratch and done a new clean install.
You kidding? What a PITA that is!

Fact is, my machines run just as well as the day I first installed the OS...heck, I don't know, maybe better.
I do however, keep a fresh image of my system partition reasonably up to date, and also keep a record of what's changed since the last image.

Therefore, if I do have a problem (and worst case scenario, have to restore a previous image), I tend to know exactly what it was that caused the problem.

I've known other people who start from scratch just for the sake of feeling "clean" again....I'm just not one of them.
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I had a life once.....now I have a Computer and a Modem.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635463 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:47:21 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635455 dadkins : Me?
Whenever I have an Acronis image that fails to install.
Uhm... last one has lasted for about 3 years now(XP Home, right?) with MANY reimagings.

Reinstalling for the hell of it is a waste of time IMHO.
All the updating, and reinstalling of all my must-have software? No thanks! :(

This Vista machine is still running on Factory.
Doing ok too!

Language English (United States)
Installation Time Sun May 18 16:48:24 2008
Boot Time 06/30/2009 09:23:16.375

Re-install? Hopefully never!
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Think outside the Fox... Opera]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635455 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:46:22 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635300 La Luna : ^^ Agree. Never could understand this strange need to reinstall just......because. Even if nothing is wrong. I haven't reinstalled on this XP Pro box in three years and it's running great. Then again, I try to not bork it up doing silly things if at all possible. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635300 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:17:28 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635244 dave :
said by not quite right See Profile :

Never quite understood why people will put up with a poorly running machine, or spend 10 times longer trying to fix a hosed install.
Never quite understood why people think systems run poorly if they're not frequently reinstalled, or why people so readily decide to reinstall without even understanding the problem first.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635244 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:07:31 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635136 alchav :
said by not quite right See Profile :

Just suck it up .... it was time a looong time ago. I do a fresh install with any major hardware upgrade, and "spring clean" at least once a year weather it needs it or not. Never quite understood why people will put up with a poorly running machine, or spend 10 times longer trying to fix a hosed install. :uhh:
Well I kind of agree with Not Quite Right, but I think he over does it. He is correct, you are way over due for a Clean Load. Changing Mobo's is a major Hardware change and should require a Clean Load, especially from an upgraded OS. Motherboards and HDD should require a Clean Load.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635136 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:50:28 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635040 Kilroy : I normally do a clean install with each new OS. I buy a new hard drive, just in case things don't work I just plug the old one back in. Remove all of the drives except for the hard drive and an optical drive. Install with the DVD from the optical drive. After the OS is up and running I power off and connect the other drives and then boot and start running on my new OS.
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When will the people realize that with DRM they aren't purchasing anything?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22635040 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:31:21 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22634694 dandelion : Almost yearly on my '98, only once on my ME and like captokita See Profile was due to messing with something I shouldn't have ;). Never on my XP. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22634694 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:31:42 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22634527 dibbb : I wipe and reinstall my PC's about once every 2 years or so.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22634527 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:08:26 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22634384 not quite right : Just suck it up .... it was time a looong time ago. I do a fresh install with any major hardware upgrade, and "spring clean" at least once a year weather it needs it or not. Never quite understood why people will put up with a poorly running machine, or spend 10 times longer trying to fix a hosed install. :uhh:
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"Not many people know this, but I happen to be quite famous."]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22634384 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:44:08 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22633518 HRM : Never on my desktop. 4/28/05

On a laptop, I tried manufacturers drivers and couldn't undo the video which forced me to reinstall, but I never had to otherwise.

Switching Motherboards I would do a clean install if there were different chipsets. (nvidia to nvidia would be OK in my book)

You may need to delete config files in older games to let them find new hardware such as video cards and other important things. Newer games seem to auto detect though you might have to click "use recommended settings" or such.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22633518 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:50:49 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22633208 lmacmil :
said by captokita See Profile :

Also, now that I use Acronis, reinstalls should never even be an issue. :D
Why is that?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22633208 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:13:25 EDT Re: [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22633022 captokita : With 98 it was almost a yearly thing, when I ran ME, it was every 6 months or so. I've never had to do a fresh install of XP OR 2000, unless it was a new computer. XP runs a lot better / stable than anything before it. Hopefully, 7 will be similar. I don't use Vista, so I can't vouch for that.

Now I know I'm in the minority with ME - I really liked it when I had it running on my old HP - ran fast / stable. (at FIRST) Most cases of me needing to do a wipe were caused by me messing around with it.

Also, now that I use Acronis, reinstalls should never even be an issue. :D]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22633022 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:41:53 EDT [XPHome] How often do you do a clean install? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22632935 lmacmil : I have had people tell me they do a clean OS installation every 2 or 3 years to clean up all the junk that accumulates. I have never done this. My XP Home install was an upgrade from Win95 that I did in 2001 or so. I have SP3 and other updates that install via automatic update.

During this time, I have upgraded motherboards twice (doing repair installs of the OS) and am now fairly current hardware-wise (AMD 780G chipset with Athlon 4850e CPU). I am currently experiencing a problem (random lockups with loss of video) that has carried over from the recent mobo/CPU upgrade, which leads me to believe it may be software related.

I'm curious how many of you periodically do a fresh installation of your current operating system and how often you do this. Thanks.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22632935 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:24:17 EDT