How often do you reformat your computer?

[fuzzynavel]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
I know my computer runs as well as it can because I know how it and all of the software installed on it work and when something is wrong, I fix it instead of blasting over the problem with a restore CD.

Don't you find though that with years of installing/uninstalling etc...that your computer develops little quirks.....takes longer to startup/shutdown....I do and that is why I do what I do! Maybe it is just what I do to it...but I definatley feel that my computer runs better after a fresh install/update etc

Also.....I try out a lot of stuff from sourceforge and the like....beta software....some unstable etc....not always the best for OS integrity.

The reason for the restore CD as you call it is for problems that
1. I don't have time to deal with
2. I can't be bothered messing around that day (i.e need BF2 hit)
3. there is a problem that has recently developed that I can't find/work out a solution for...

not all uninstall routines manage to get everything....ATI and Norton to name two

 

[Nothinman]

Don't you find though that with years of installing/uninstalling etc...that your computer develops little quirks.....takes longer to startup/shutdown....I do and that is why I do what I do! Maybe it is just what I do to it...but I definatley feel that my computer runs better after a fresh install/update etc

Not really, usually if it does it's because I've installed something and forgot about it starting on bootup. Removing it from startup or removing it completly takes care of the problem.

Also.....I try out a lot of stuff from sourceforge and the like....beta software....some unstable etc....not always the best for OS integrity.

I run Debian unstable which has a decent amount of stuff in beta and in some cases straight CVS snapshots. But generally those are the only apps to suffer, installing a cvs snapshot of smartmontools doesn't really affect the rest of the system.

 

[fuzzynavel]

Lol we could keep going like this all night....lets just agree to disagree....I do my thing you do yours and we are both happy.....

 

[n7]

Every few months for various reasons.

 

[Nothinman]

Lol we could keep going like this all night....lets just agree to disagree....I do my thing you do yours and we are both happy.....

The difference is that I'm right and you're not. Do you move to a new apartment/house whenever the current one gets too dirty?

 

[fuzzynavel]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Lol we could keep going like this all night....lets just agree to disagree....I do my thing you do yours and we are both happy.....

The difference is that I'm right and you're not. Do you move to a new apartment/house whenever the current one gets too dirty?

If my:heart: wife:heart: would let me away with it yes....!! :thumbsup:

Or I could just get another wife that likes to clean!

I just find that my system gets cluttered and I don't like it......a lot of the time it does run fine and I reinstall anyway just because I don't like it......guess I have too much time on my hands.... My wifes' computer has run fine for about 3 years on one install.....she won't let me touch it but it is getting awful cluttered with shortcuts that are no longer used....her registry is getting huge....she has folders on her HD that are from things deleted a long time ago....

She's happy so I leave it alone!

 

[pr0]

I format when things start getting slow or whenever I upgrade the HDD. Usually once every year.

 

[Brentx]

Every 3 months to a year. It depends on if I get new hardware or not, and some other factors. I have been doing some small but big upgrades in the last 3 months, so I have had to do a bunch of reinstalls. New CPU and a new Mobo with different chipset, going from nVidia to ATi for video cards, and things of the like. I am finally done, got xp x64, and haven't had to reinstall, and don't plan to reinstall for quite some time.

 

[cbuchach]

Originally posted by: statik213
every 6mo-1yr

 

[speedstream5621]

When I screw something up. I tinker aroun so much that I rarely get a chance to format because I want to.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Lol we could keep going like this all night....lets just agree to disagree....I do my thing you do yours and we are both happy.....

The difference is that I'm right and you're not. Do you move to a new apartment/house whenever the current one gets too dirty?

The other major difference is Operating systems. You run Debian Testing, he runs Windows. Debian is built to last for years and years, through major upgrade cycles and across hardware (esp when properly maintained). Windows has a tendancy to self destruct after a while, especially with heavy install/uninstall of programs. Remember he had to find it on the web/on media and run the setup program and all that hard windows stuff

 

[Parkre]

I like to tinker. When I was messin around with raid, I had formatted the Partition 8 times in one day ( a few quick, a few regular/full, and 2 lowlevel that took forever) I thought the hard drives were failing then I thought my 98 cd was bad. It would install windows but would crash and give me an error after 2 minutes of complete install. Turns out the raid controller failed I was not a happy camper when I found that out.

Typically, I format every month or so. But I need to try out new OS (winborgXP, Vista, Longhorn (before it was Vista) , etc). I have the OS on one 80gb HD and everything else already on seperate 250. It's great.

 

[Nothinman]

The other major difference is Operating systems. You run Debian Testing, he runs Windows. Debian is built to last for years and years, through major upgrade cycles and across hardware (esp when properly maintained). Windows has a tendancy to self destruct after a while, especially with heavy install/uninstall of programs. Remember he had to find it on the web/on media and run the setup program and all that hard windows stuff

I have a Windows install at work that runs just as well as it did the first day I got the machine, I don't use it for nearly as much as I do my Linux machines, but I still use it every day.

 

[maxxpowerr]

What are some of the pitfalls to avoid for a first timer?

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: maxxpowerr
What are some of the pitfalls to avoid for a first timer?

A first timer to what? Reformatting?

 

[Xyclone]

Usually 4 times a year when experimenting with unknown software. Even if nothing goes wrong, I still like to reformat once a year; I like to start fresh.

 

[heedoyiu]

its funny all of the ones i built and used i did it may 4-8
i kept getting guilty and switching to linux.

but others i have built for other people none

 

[trmiv]

As infrequently as I can. Looks like what I'm running right now was installed 2/3/2003, so over 2.5 years. Don't plan on it any time soon either. Oh, this is Windows XP.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Lol we could keep going like this all night....lets just agree to disagree....I do my thing you do yours and we are both happy.....

The difference is that I'm right and you're not. Do you move to a new apartment/house whenever the current one gets too dirty?

wow...you really are a fvckstick :roll:

if you have to declare that you are right and that is the way it is...thats sad.

i format every 3-4 months. you have no idea what you are talking about if you think windows doesnt get cluttered after long periods of time. if you get on it to use email and make a spreadsheet, then no, it wont mess up and you could use it forever. a lot of people dont do that though, so saying you are right under all circumstances is the dumbest sh!t ive ever heard.

 

[Nothinman]

if you have to declare that you are right and that is the way it is...thats sad.

Sometimes it's necessary, some people just don't get the point otherwise.

i format every 3-4 months. you have no idea what you are talking about if you think windows doesnt get cluttered after long periods of time. if you get on it to use email and make a spreadsheet, then no, it wont mess up and you could use it forever. a lot of people dont do that though, so saying you are right under all circumstances is the dumbest sh!t ive ever heard.

There is always the rare case that you break something beyond repair, but that's what backups are for. Hell you get a copy of Ghost with virtually every new hard drive you buy so there's no excuse for not using it. In the absolute worst case scenario you should restore the OS from a backup made a day, a week or maybe a month ago, not reinstall everything from scratch.

 

[w00t]

make poll. I would say every time it gets messed up anything goes wrong i do.

 

[magomago]

haven't done XP since spring of 2004 which is a LOOOOONG time for me, and haven't done ubuntu at all...linux seems to keep up more nicely

 

[Nocturnal]

Only when I mess something up. Other than that I try not to format as it's a pain in the anal crevices. I used to do it all the time though when I first got my computer.

 

[fuzzynavel]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

if you have to declare that you are right and that is the way it is...thats sad.

Sometimes it's necessary, some people just don't get the point otherwise.

i format every 3-4 months. you have no idea what you are talking about if you think windows doesnt get cluttered after long periods of time. if you get on it to use email and make a spreadsheet, then no, it wont mess up and you could use it forever. a lot of people dont do that though, so saying you are right under all circumstances is the dumbest sh!t ive ever heard.

There is always the rare case that you break something beyond repair, but that's what backups are for. Hell you get a copy of Ghost with virtually every new hard drive you buy so there's no excuse for not using it. In the absolute worst case scenario you should restore the OS from a backup made a day, a week or maybe a month ago, not reinstall everything from scratch.

I rarely break things beyond repair but the way I have my computer/ backups and reformats set is so that if I can't be arsed fixing something then it is easiest to just reinstall...

I saw too many evenings getting consumed by fault-finding on my PC when I did a bad install of say norton 2005 and tried to uninstall then getting BSODs...I learned that I could do it faster by just reinstalling and getting some gaming in rather than arsing around for hours!!

I do have backups but I don't ghost my drives.......never really tried.....I like the fresh install and have never lost anything that I needed yet...the problem with ghosts is that underlying problems can still exist after the ghosting process if your O/S was already developing problems....

Originally posted by: Nothinman

I have a Windows install at work that runs just as well as it did the first day I got the machine, I don't use it for nearly as much as I do my Linux machines, but I still use it every day.

Work machines are different.....they don't get abused nearly as much as home machines(in my experience). they are usually locked down as well to stop computer retards messing them up....

 

[Turge]

My main PC is also a Media Center PC with a tuner, etc. so whenever I start having driver, codec, etc. issues with the PC, I reinstall Windows.

This is why I have streamlined my process. I setup a RIS server on my Server 2003 box. With it, I can PXE network boot any of my PCs, and WinPE instantly runs. From there, I can select the image I want and it reinstalls a patched OS with drivers and the basic applications I want included, without overwriting my data by using XImage (Longhorn Vista WAIK). I've spent quite some time setting it up but it's been a great learning process and will prove to be more than usueful in the future.