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koam
Pink Pecker
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join:2000-08-16
East Puddle
·Shoreham Telephone

1 edit

koam

Premium Member

[WIN7] Should I reinstall Windows?

I'm wondering if I'm overdue to reinstall Windows 7. It's been 17 months since I installed.

System Info:
OS Name: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
OS Version: 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation
OS Configuration: Standalone Workstation
OS Build Type: Multiprocessor Free
Registered Organization:
Product ID: 00371-153-*******-85219
Original Install Date: 10/31/2009, 7:58:11 PM
System Boot Time: 3/26/2011, 3:37:31 PM
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Vostro 1700
System Type: x64-based PC
Processor(s): 1 Processor(s) Installed.
[01]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 13 GenuineIn
tel ~2001 Mhz
BIOS Version: Dell Inc. A07, 4/21/2008
Windows Directory: C:\Windows
System Directory: C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device: \Device\HarddiskVolume3
System Locale: en-us;English (United States)
Input Locale: en-us;English (United States)
Time Zone: (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Total Physical Memory: 4,094 MB
Available Physical Memory: 1,761 MB
Virtual Memory: Max Size: 8,186 MB
Virtual Memory: Available: 5,521 MB
Virtual Memory: In Use: 2,665 MB
Page File Location(s): Y:\pagefile.sys
Domain: WORKGROUP
Logon Server: \\SATURNV
Hotfix(s): 17 Hotfix(s) Installed.
[01]: 982861
[02]: KB971033
[03]: KB2305420
[04]: KB2393802
[05]: KB2425227
[06]: KB2475792
[07]: KB2479628
[08]: KB2479943
[09]: KB2484033
[10]: KB2485376
[11]: KB2487426
[12]: KB2488113
[13]: KB2505438
[14]: KB2524375
[15]: KB958488
[16]: KB976902
[17]: KB976932
Network Card(s): 3 NIC(s) Installed.
[01]: Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
Connection Name: Local Area Connection
Status: Media disconnected
[02]: EasyTether Network Adapter
Connection Name: Local Area Connection 2
Status: Media disconnected
[03]: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
Connection Name: Wireless Network Connection 5
DHCP Enabled: Yes
DHCP Server: 192.168.0.1
IP address(es)
[01]: 192.168.0.11
[02]: fe80::****:85f1:2fae:ecd9

w7pro
Premium Member
join:2010-05-18
Seattle, WA

w7pro

Premium Member

Re: [WIN7] How often do you reinstall Windows?

Unless there's a virus issue or some sort of problem with your computer that cannot be relieved with System Restore, you don't need to reinstall Windows 7. Doing a reinstall (a clean install, specifically), will result with data loss.

This FAQ might be helpful: »windows.microsoft.com/en ··· uestions

-- Ryan
Windows Outreach Team

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy to koam

MVM

to koam
As long as it is working fine I let it run. Normally that means at least two years. It really depends on how much software you install and uninstall. My last install was to move to an SSD from a mechanical hard drive and that will be a year next month.

I normally install whenever a new Windows OS comes out to the retail channels.

Razzy12345
@rr.com

Razzy12345 to koam

Anon

to koam
Until I get a new motherboard/CPU. I never reinstall Windows.

Frydays
join:2005-10-21
South Padre Island, TX

Frydays to koam

Member

to koam
i have to reinstall it every 20 days or so cuz my stupid activations ran out

Link Logger
MVM
join:2001-03-29
Calgary, AB

Link Logger to koam

MVM

to koam
I only reinstall when Microsoft sends me new versions to test (no Windows 8 test versions yet). All of my systems here are running the release version of Windows 7 and I haven't reinstalled since installing the gold release (nor have I seen any reason to reinstall).

NOTE I also keep a small fleet of older computers here in order to test hardware compatibilities etc with older hardware and drivers, so I'm not very nice to new OSs.

Blake

Skipdawg
The Original

join:2001-04-19
Mount Vernon, WA

1 recommendation

Skipdawg to koam

to koam
I will only reinstall if I am having major issues that can't seem to get resolved any other way.

Keep it clean and as secure as you can and there is really no need to do it but for the first install.

This Desktop I've never had to and only once with the Laptop.

jadinolf
I love you Fred
Premium Member
join:2005-07-09
Ojai, CA

jadinolf to koam

Premium Member

to koam
Only when I screw something up.

Cheese
Premium Member
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL

1 recommendation

Cheese to Frydays

Premium Member

to Frydays
said by Frydays:

i have to reinstall it every 20 days or so cuz my stupid activations ran out

....

workablob
join:2004-06-09
Houston, TX

workablob to koam

Member

to koam
Whenever I get to thinking my installation is getting weird or sluggish I restore from a ghost image made previously.

That image gets updated once every few months.

Dave

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle
·Shoreham Telephone

koam

Premium Member

It does get sluggish.

I have the world's slowest ISP. It's DSL but may as well be dial up.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if the ISP speed is making Windows seem slow overall. It becomes very slow to respond when trying to change windows, taps, pull down menus, etc. The keyboard buffer can seem delayed too.

I suppose that I could first reinstall my main browser, Chrome, but I find that my Firefox and IE are also very slow.

I could also take the computer to the college down the street and see if overall performance picks up with a faster internet connection.

See also: »How much better would a new computer be than this?

and my topics are here: »/postl ··· tart&p=1
WhyMe420
Premium Member
join:2009-04-06

WhyMe420 to Kilroy

Premium Member

to Kilroy
said by Kilroy:

As long as it is working fine I let it run. Normally that means at least two years. It really depends on how much software you install and uninstall. My last install was to move to an SSD from a mechanical hard drive and that will be a year next month.

I normally install whenever a new Windows OS comes out to the retail channels.

This is what I do. Also reinstalled 7 recently for an SSD. Another thing I do, is say I upgrade to a larger HDD, or even a larger/faster SSD, I will clone Windows onto the new drive, rather than reinstall. It's never given me problems.

Heck one time I even changed the motherboard, and didn't reinstall Vista, as long as you use a generic HDD driver, and show hidden devices in Device Manager, and uninstall all old unused devices, there is no problem.

Of course, all of this is taking for granted that you haven't gotten any viruses or done anything to mess up your installation. Personally I haven't had a virus in 6 years.

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle
·Shoreham Telephone

koam

Premium Member

Any scans I've done haven't revealed any viruses....but it's slow as I explained earlier.

I also see WmiPrvSE.exe usually above 10%, sometimes up to 20%,of CPU in Windows Task Manager Processes. And it's always near the top when sorted by CPU.
joewho
Premium Member
join:2004-08-20
Dundee, IL

1 edit

joewho to koam

Premium Member

to koam

Re: [WIN7] Should I reinstall Windows?

I re-install if there's a major issue or if I didn't bother to install extra utility software. Chances are that you need to clean up IE, drivers from uninstalls etc. It's a lot of work, but ask around for clean up software. Some software, like driver cleaner will clean up leftovers from driver uninstalls. Other software, like cc cleaner will clean up software left overs, and yet other software, like reg cleaners will clean up the registry. Often, I spend an hour or more on friends machines cleaning it up. Do you have any "extra" tool bars in IE?
Go to run/msconfig, how many programs are starting? That would be the number one issue I would look at Close second is to go to control panel and see exactly what is installed. Hope this helps. P.S. CC Cleaner has a built in Regisry cleaner, but I don't reccomend it because it can easily screw the computer unless you know exactly what you're doing. It'll work if you just install default settings. Try to change them and it could be trouble. Another tip is to go to services and disable Windows Media Player services. This will make it a bit more snappy.

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle
·Shoreham Telephone

koam

Premium Member

Thanks. For msconfig, Startup tab I'm running:
• Alps Pointing Driver (my touchpad)
• SUPERAntiSpyware
• Avast@ Antivirus
• a tiny Keyboard macro that I've used forever, Hotkey

all others are disabled.

Control Panel Programs, ...too long a list to type here.

I've used CCleaner recently.

I only see 1 service named "Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service". I disabled it and also two Windows Media Center services.

An example of the delays I see are if a web page is loading in one tab, when I try to switch tabs, there's a big lag. Also certain web pages such as many on Politico.com take a very long time to load.

Oh, this is probably an indicator: If I go into System Information in Windows, many of the subtabs don't load...they just show "Refreshing System Information" in the right panel. The app can also show as "Not Responding" when I try to navigate in it. This suggests that something's awry with a Windows system tool.
joewho
Premium Member
join:2004-08-20
Dundee, IL

joewho to koam

Premium Member

to koam
Good. Those are the 3 I also disable. Let's start with IE. Do you have anything at the top toolbar, like zinga, ask.com, facebook toolbar or anything at all? Also, do you have weather bug? I see you've been a member here longer than I. Stick with me and I'll push you through everthing I know. .

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle

koam

Premium Member

Thanks. In IE the only toolbar is McAfee SiteAdvisor
koam

koam to joewho

Premium Member

to joewho
Click for full size
With only IE open, 1 tab, and Chrome, 6 tabs, this is what my Task Manager looks like...100% CPU. Note that WmiPrvSE.exe often is up well above 10% of CPU. And this high % CPU can even be when I'm not loading any web pages.
joewho
Premium Member
join:2004-08-20
Dundee, IL

joewho to koam

Premium Member

to koam
Since other people are observing this, I did go to services just to confirm, media center scheduler, reciever are set to manual, network sharaing is disabled. I Confirm that your msconfig looks good too. Windows shouldn't run slow if it "remembers" your settings. I have a ms mouse and ms keyboard starting up, but that won't slow things down because it all loads fairly quickly. Most legimate programs should not slow the system, but I don't use McAffee. I know for sure that Norton and MS Security Essentials are "lightweight" and won't cause any slow down. Again, I'm just offering re-assurances. Hope to move quickly throught this from here on out.
joewho

joewho to koam

Premium Member

to koam
Now, just go to IE, make sure you know all the passwords to your sites. OK? Go to tools, general, history. Personally, I have it set to delete everything apon leaving IE. Your choice, but I'd like you to go to settings and check EVERY box and delete. One more time, I offer re-assurance, you'll be fine if you know all your online passwords. After this, I won't. Just delete all of it, close IE, start it again and see if things are just a little bit faster. I have a lot more for you to do. It's a brain bender, but I'm sure you'll be ok.

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle
·Shoreham Telephone

koam

Premium Member

I did what you said in IE.
My IE is largely unmodified and I do have it delete all data upon closing. I only use it on occasion and it works very slowly.

Even after just rebooting and only 3 Chrome tabs open and 1 IE Tab, I see CPU% going from 50% up to 90+% and I'm not really doing anything.
joewho
Premium Member
join:2004-08-20
Dundee, IL

joewho to koam

Premium Member

to koam
Akk, task mgr. whos using all the resouces? wmi process server? Wmi isn't the culprit, wmi is being invoked by "something" else. I only say this to look for shortcuts, but is it wmi?

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle

koam

Premium Member

largely the browsers. as in the image above
joewho
Premium Member
join:2004-08-20
Dundee, IL

joewho to koam

Premium Member

to koam
Don't worry about IE and Chrome conflct. We're going to get through all that. Could you please just open task manager and tell me what process is using 90% of your processor? For some reason your image or screenshot is not here. I can't see it.

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle
·Shoreham Telephone

koam

Premium Member

Normally it's several instances of Chrome.exe *32 -- one for each tab and one for any extensions. I run minimal extensions. Normally a few instances of Chrome will have 20 to 30% each and then the rest will only have 2% each. Sometimes I know I just need to close all Chrome and restart it to clear some memory and CPU usage.

Right now the Chromes are low CPU (idling) and their Memory is 12 to 77 MB each.

When IE is open (I usually don't even use IE) that will take 40 to 50% of the CPUs just sitting there doing nothing. (1 tab open msn.com) IE never dips below 38% CPU. IE's memory is 140 MB
joewho
Premium Member
join:2004-08-20
Dundee, IL

1 edit

joewho to koam

Premium Member

to koam
At this point, my very humble opinion is, no, don't reinstall windows. Actually, you could re-install and chrome will work great for a while, but in the end, it will do what it's doing now. I wanted to join the Chrome bandwagon, but noticed that things "just aren't right". It's hip, but my personal observation is that you have to be completely dedicated to Chrome. IE and Chrome don't get along, especially if you don't have a superior dual processor to hide the conflict. Not yelling at you, I want your computer to work awesomelly, and we can probably do it, but it's going to be a lot of work. I do invite comments on this subject, in this forum. I've never had luck with Chrome and just because your browser is slow doesn't mean the whole computer is slow. I'm here, willing to go into a whole lot of other issues to speed up the computer. Just don't have a lot of faith in making Chrome faster. You may not know how many millions are willing to wait, just because they like Chrome. I do.

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle

koam

Premium Member

?
ctggzg
Premium Member
join:2005-02-11
USA

ctggzg to Razzy12345

Premium Member

to Razzy12345

Re: [WIN7] How often do you reinstall Windows?

said by Razzy12345 :

Until I get a new motherboard/CPU. I never reinstall Windows.

Getting a new motherboard/CPU isn't a good reason to reinstall either.
joewho
Premium Member
join:2004-08-20
Dundee, IL

1 edit

joewho to koam

Premium Member

to koam

Re: [WIN7] Should I reinstall Windows?

In short, Chrome sucks. Stick with Google search.
We must have posted at the same time. There's a lot more to go through before getting a new cpu/MB, but no. Don't do it. I'm not predjudiced against Chrome, but there is so much more to do. Why spend all that money just to find out that Chrome is slow? Again, I invite opinions, my experience is that you'd be buying those things to make Chrome work faster? It's not fast! I could be wrong, and I invite some one with more experience to correct me.....Otherewise, I'm happy to move on with you to make your COMPUTER faster but not chrome. Let me know.

Cheese
Premium Member
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL

Cheese to ctggzg

Premium Member

to ctggzg

Re: [WIN7] How often do you reinstall Windows?

said by ctggzg:

said by Razzy12345 :

Until I get a new motherboard/CPU. I never reinstall Windows.

Getting a new motherboard/CPU isn't a good reason to reinstall either.

I think that is a perfectly valid reason, different chip sets, different drivers.