How do you know when you should format and reinstall?

KaiZ · Mar 18, 2010

I mean, so that you can keep the best perfomance possible.

CassieFWinTeam · Mar 18, 2010

Hi KaiZ,

For optimal performance I would make sure to have a good anti-virus software, defrag and clean up your hard disk, and delete programs that you do not need or just don't use. Here are some more tips for getting the most out of your computer: Optimize Windows 7 for better performance

Cheers,
Cassandra
Microsoft Windows Outreach

richc46 · Mar 18, 2010

KaiZ said:
I mean, so that you can keep the best perfomance possible.

My answer is never. When you install your OS and prgrams and are activated, you make a system image. If you ever have problems, you just use the system image. A lot easier than formatting, reinstalling and reactivating. If you maintain, properly, that should not even be necessary.

Tepid · Mar 18, 2010

Basically, you should not have to. Win 7 is not Win XP. They are completely different systems.
So going into Win 7 with the Win XP Mindset will not do you any good. You need to forget about XP and start over.

The new Win 7 Defrag, runs all the time in the background by default, and does a very good job of keeping a system defragged all the time.

There is no need to try and disable services,, as the performance boost will not be even noticeable.

Again, remember, Win 7 is Not Win XP.

Phone Man · Mar 18, 2010

Tepid said:
.

The new Win 7 Defrag, runs all the time in the background by default, and does a very good job of keeping a system defragged all the time.

Where did you get that information. You can set it to run on a Daily,Weekly or Monthly schedule but as far as I know it does not run all the time.

Jim

motc7 · Mar 19, 2010

When should you format?

When you have Vista as an OS?

:shock:

Honestly, what has been stated is good. Try the following suggestions as well that I posted yesterday which keeps your system moving along.

http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/71834-routine-computer-maintenance.html

antharr · Mar 19, 2010

richc46 said:
KaiZ said:

I mean, so that you can keep the best perfomance possible.

Click to expand...

My answer is never. When you install your OS and prgrams and are activated, you make a system image. If you ever have problems, you just use the system image. A lot easier than formatting, reinstalling and reactivating. If you maintain, properly, that should not even be necessary.

This is what I do. I created an image of my system partition after I installed all my apps and tweaked things to my liking. If something goes wrong or I just feel I want a fresh start I am back to a fresh install in about 10 minutes. The image only takes up 9GB on my 2nd partition.

CommonTater · Mar 19, 2010

KaiZ said:
I mean, so that you can keep the best perfomance possible.

Simple rule: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

There should be no reason to reformat and reinstall unless you get yourself all virused up. Keep your filing system tidy, do regular defrags, clean out temp folders, rmove unused software, etc. and you should never have to reinstall.

KaiZ · Mar 19, 2010

Ok then, thanks guys.

Tepid · Mar 19, 2010

I may have over simplified it by my statement above,, but essentially......

"Best practices for using defragmentation in Windows 7 are simple – you do not need to do anything! Defragmentation is scheduled to automatically run periodically and in the background with minimal impact to foreground activity."

MadMaxData · Mar 20, 2010

Tepid said:
"Best practices for using defragmentation in Windows 7 are simple – you do not need to do anything!

Only true if your running Diskeeper Pro Premier.

Seven Eleven · Mar 20, 2010

CommonTater said:
Simple rule: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

There should be no reason to reformat and reinstall unless you get yourself all virused up. Keep your filing system tidy, do regular defrags, clean out temp folders, rmove unused software, etc. and you should never have to reinstall.

this.

i reinstalled XP once a year on average. and only because of registry failure it would not boot up anymore.

will see how 7 behaves.

MadMaxData · Mar 20, 2010

Uranus said:
i reinstalled XP once a year on average. and only because of registry failure it would not boot up anymore.

I do a clean install of my OS every 60-90 days whether it needs it or not. It doesn't take but a few hours, and you have a brand spanking new install. I only run my program apps on C:\ Drive and save everything on an internal D:\ Drive. Works great.

CommonTater · Mar 20, 2010

MadMaxData said:
Uranus said:

i reinstalled XP once a year on average. and only because of registry failure it would not boot up anymore.

Click to expand...

I do a clean install of my OS every 60-90 days whether it needs it or not. It doesn't take but a few hours, and you have a brand spanking new install. I only run my program apps on C:\ Drive and save everything on an internal D:\ Drive. Works great.

WOW... I ran a single install of Windows 2000 from 1999 when it came out until late 2006 when I was finally convinced to switch over to XP. On XP I ran a single installation on each of my machines from late 2006 until 2 weeks ago when I decided to go with Win7. I saw no degredation in performance and had no problems whatsoever... Well, none that I didn't cause for myself, that is...

MadMaxData · Mar 20, 2010

I guess it depends on what you do with your computer. I mainly do a clean install just to clean things out, and do some organizing. If it was a long drawn-out process, then I would be more like you, and run it forever. I slipstream all MS updates right into the installation image, as well as most of the programs I use, with a nifty little tool that does all that for me. So it's really not that bad of a process.

CommonTater · Mar 20, 2010

MadMaxData said:
I guess it depends on what you do with your computer. I mainly do a clean install just to clean things out, and do some organizing. If it was a long drawn-out process, then I would be more like you, and run it forever. I slipstream all MS updates right into the installation image, as well as most of the programs I use, with a nifty little tool that does all that for me. So it's really not that bad of a process.

Interesting... I'm guessing you're referring to VLite and NLite which I use quite extensively when preparing operating systems. It's amazing how much junk you can pull out of Windows without compromising behavior. Or are you using an imaging program?

I also do things that will bulge everyone's eyes but I consider them the secrets of my "success"...

1) Disable system restore. I used to have it turned on all the time and basically it was just trying up disk space... I never used it.

2) Disable automatic updates. Boy did this ever save me a lot of problems. When they first started (Win2000 sp4) I thought this was just the coolest thing... Then I started looking at what it was doing... Most of the updates were actually on my disk 3 times (installed, backup and restore point) tying up an ever increasing amount of disk space and, for the most part, providing zero improvement in system behavior. So, I turned them off, cleaned up their mess and haven't used them since. (I do install service packs but never automatic updates.)

3) Disable all non-essential behaviors. In Win2000 I had my systems booting up in under 30megs of ram, in XP it was about 68. The systems were fast and rock stable... No point having it running if you don't use/need it...

4) Write shut down scripts that do system maintenance at user and Windows levels. This alone saved me a ton of effort in system maintenance... I could simply ignore those tasks and let the goodbye process deal with them. Every startup was clean and fast.

As I said earlier on... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"... works for me.

Seven Eleven · Mar 20, 2010

CommonTater said:
WOW... I ran a single install of Windows 2000 from 1999 when it came out until late 2006 when I was finally convinced to switch over to XP. On XP I ran a single installation on each of my machines from late 2006 until 2 weeks ago when I decided to go with Win7. I saw no degredation in performance and had no problems whatsoever... Well, none that I didn't cause for myself, that is...

woah impressive... :shock:

in my case: the more i install-uninstall stuff the faster it becomes corrupted.
if i use the same apps without adding any new stuff windows runs longer without re-installing.

MadMaxData · Mar 20, 2010

CommonTater said:
Interesting... I'm guessing you're referring to VLite and NLite which I use quite extensively when preparing operating systems.

Nope, I don't use NLite, or VLite anymore, but I most certainly did until Vista & 7 came out. Those programs are what got me started on slipstreaming though. Well, actually I started out slipstreaming service packs with the native Windows integration commands first. Now I use the Windows Automated Instalation Kit [WAIK] and change everything in the boot.wim image before mounting it. It's a heck of alot more complicated, but so worth it once you get the hang of it.

CommonTater said:
I also do things that will bulge everyone's eyes but I consider them the secrets of my "success"...

1) Disable system restore. I used to have it turned on all the time and basically it was just trying up disk space... I never used it.

2) Disable automatic updates. Boy did this ever save me a lot of problems. When they first started (Win2000 sp4) I thought this was just the coolest thing... Then I started looking at what it was doing... Most of the updates were actually on my disk 3 times (installed, backup and restore point) tying up an ever increasing amount of disk space and, for the most part, providing zero improvement in system behavior. So, I turned them off, cleaned up their mess and haven't used them since. (I do install service packs but never automatic updates.)

3) Disable all non-essential behaviors. In Win2000 I had my systems booting up in under 30megs of ram, in XP it was about 68. The systems were fast and rock stable... No point having it running if you don't use/need it...

4) Write shut down scripts that do system maintenance at user and Windows levels. This alone saved me a ton of effort in system maintenance... I could simply ignore those tasks and let the goodbye process deal with them. Every startup was clean and fast.

As I said earlier on... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"... works for me.

Same here, among many other things. It's good to know others here know the advantages of slipstreaming. It's changed almost everything about how I use a PC.

Max

CommonTater · Mar 20, 2010

Uranus said:
in my case: the more i install-uninstall stuff the faster it becomes corrupted.
if i use the same apps without adding any new stuff windows runs longer without re-installing.

True enough. I do have a standard kit of software that I put in and pretty much stay with that unless I get into something new or very different. I have an archive of software on my drive called "Best Versions"... In many cases I've found that software tends to improve up to a certain point then it's like the programmers go stupid and mess it all up... Nero is a good example. I still use 5.5, which in my opinion is the most reliable and easiest to use.

I do a fair bit of install/uninstall stuff from time to time... but I'm very careful to install, test, remove only one program at a time. Makes it a lot easier to clean up afterwards.

MadMaxData · Mar 20, 2010

Wow, were alot alike CommonTater. I use the same protocol. However, I prefer Nero 7 Premium. It handles ISO images great.

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