Question about reformatting

[Durhamster]

When should one reformat their computer and how would one know when it's time to do so?

 

[GeneO]

You don't ever need to unless you want to change the cluster size or file system. If you are reinstalling the OS or installing a new OS from scratch you might want reformat, but you don't need to.

It is not something that you need to "freshen"

 

[BriceH]

As GeneO said, you never need to reformat. Sometimes, if you find that Windows is slowing down, it can be useful to reformat and only reinstall the programs that you use.

 

[seavixen32]

Although there are some people that carry out a reinstall of their operating system on a regular basis in an effort to stop their system slowing down or becoming infected with a virus, there are others that think a far better solution is to create an image backup of your hard drive and restore from that should the need arise.

The benefits are a quicker system, no activation worries and freedom from any viruses that may be lurking on your system.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/675-system-image-recovery.html

 

[rbeldua]

its the easiest way to delete all data and erase the hard disk completely. and it depends entirely up to you if you wanted to and the situation your on.

 

[Britton30]

Reformatting isn't a mormal maintenance task. If you are having an issue there are other ways to attack it. If your system has current updates and your regularly clean-up temps files and defrag, you should be fine.

 

[Bill2]

One situation you can try a reformat in is a nasty virus infection. Even after you've got rid of it you observe/imagine some wierd behaviour, particularly if you do financial transactions on this computer. A reformat will take care of any lurking trojans and also give you peace of mind. I wouldnt be completely comfortable just restoring from an image here.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Never say never. There are times (bad malware infection, mucked up services or "tweaking" etc) when a reformat is the best, quickest solution. For me, it's when I feel nothing else I'm trying to resolve an issue is working. When I'm working on someone else's system, I will spend a few hours on the issue....if it seems to be taking longer than that, I'll reformat, as that can be done in 2 hours or so, to get them back to a fully running, restored system.

 

[GeneO]

Never say never. There are times (bad malware infection, mucked up services or "tweaking" etc) when a reformat is the best, quickest solution. For me, it's when I feel nothing else I'm trying to resolve an issue is working. When I'm working on someone else's system, I will spend a few hours on the issue....if it seems to be taking longer than that, I'll reformat, as that can be done in 2 hours or so, to get them back to a fully running, restored system.

Sure, but it was pretty clear the OP was thinking of regular maintenance and you really don't EVER need to reformat I expect unless you have a boot sector virus or something like that. But it usually not the reformatting that gets them back to a running system, but a reinstall of the OS. But I guess if your are going to reinstall the OS, you might as well do at least a quick format - full if it is not an SSD and you think there might be bad sectors on the drive or you are patient.

Cheers

 

[MacGyvr]

You don't ever need to unless you want to change the cluster size or file system. If you are reinstalling the OS or installing a new OS from scratch you might want reformat, but you don't need to.

It is not something that you need to "freshen"

I disagree. With Windows XP, I found it necessary every 6 months at least. With Windows 7, the span is much longer, but I would say roughly around the 8-10 month mark. You'll want to do it more often if you install/uninstall a lot of programs. They simply do not clean up after themselves appropriately, and Windows doesn't take care of that task...it is up to the software author. There will always be a time when you want to start with a clean, fresh system. To say otherwise....well....'nuff said.

 

[DeaconFrost]

I've been going about every 18th months now with Windows 7, except my work tower, which is still running Windows 7 Pro from it's August 2009 release. XP had a regular interval, whereas Windows 7 really doesn't. My home system mainly gets it reinstalled due to massive hardware upgrades, and that's my own choosing to do a clean install. It's only a 2 hour process, so why not? However, there are still times when a person, like my father-in-law, will get enough malware that even upon cleaning it, the system is still suffering from stability issues. I back his data drive up, reimage it, and send him on his way.

 

[Britton30]

Yes Deacon...relatives.
Looked at my sis's IE and she had more toolbars than I had ever seen, one for porn.:shock: (Ex-hubby)
But they keep us on our toes, eh?

 

[DeaconFrost]

They certainly do. My father-in-law preps me for the viruses I'll see later on in my company when my work-at-home employees allow their kids to use their laptops. He had so many toolbars once, you could barely see the web page. That's when he decided to call me.

 

[essenbe]

Every time I go through Uninstall programs, I uninstall everything that says toolbar on it, and never download one intentionally. I advise family members to do the same. I guess I should save by breath.