Should you re-install Windows every year?

[lister]

Hi I am sure I am not alone, but I honestly have my machine on literally 20 hours a day non stop working away. Its my work horse especially since I work online running a business.

Anyways - I am noticing a few things going a bit wrong like chkdsk.exe not working and a few other issues.

WOuld you suggest that it is a good thing to re-install a clean version of windows 7 from a previous image you made or is that a waste of time?

I mean, if my image backup has missing and corrupt registry items then I guess whats the point?

Thoughts please!

PS I wouldn't be able to re-build the system I have since there are way too many tweaks and setings to re-do, but I think that I have some issues.....

Maybe I should re-install the registry?

 

[electrotune1200]

I do mine every 6 months. Just to make sure it's clean.

With your drivers, files, and program installers organised. It's a 2 hour investment every 6 months. And Having a clean image with no updates or programs installed helps.

Why not?

 

[SIW2]

Not clear to me what your issues are, but you might consider a repair install

Repair Install

 

[electrotune1200]

PS I wouldn't be able to re-build the system I have since there are way too many tweaks and setings to re-do

Maybe I should re-install the registry?

How much tweaking does Windows 7 really need?

 

[lister]

Not clear to me what your issues are, but you might consider a repair install

Repair Install

My issues are that I am noticing a few errors appearing - namely chdesk.exe not working and some programs not installing.

Maybe I am being extreme - I should just do repair install....

Thanks

 

[pparks1]

When I build any new machine, I load the OS, patch the OS, activate the OS and taken an image. Called it "Vanilla build".

Then, I put on software and do whatever I normally do with a PC. I take images after that and call it latest backup.

If i were on a mission of starting out fresh every year, I would use the "vanilla build". It's not really a bad idea in my opinion and if you don't do a ton of mods and know where your data is to back it up, it's pretty simple and keeps the machine running fast.

 

[lister]

PS I wouldn't be able to re-build the system I have since there are way too many tweaks and setings to re-do

Maybe I should re-install the registry?

How much tweaking does Windows 7 really need?

My drivers for example took ages to find and install for example

 

[OldMX]

When I build any new machine, I load the OS, patch the OS, activate the OS and taken an image. Called it "Vanilla build".

Then, I put on software and do whatever I normally do with a PC. I take images after that and call it latest backup.

If i were on a mission of starting out fresh every year, I would use the "vanilla build". It's not really a bad idea in my opinion and if you don't do a ton of mods and know where your data is to back it up, it's pretty simple and keeps the machine running fast.

Same here, a macrium or whatever software you prefer image with a fresh install and patches, if everything goes wrong, i can go back to ground zero in a couple of minutes.

 

[gregrocker]

The modern way is not to reinstall, but to reimage using WIn7 built-in drive imaging: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html

Other popular free imaging apps here are Macrium Reflect and Paragon 11, which have a bit more flexibility in what you can save and where you can reimage.

I save a baseline Win7 Backup image shortly after setup when install is running best in a folder named Baseline, then save normal Backup images regularly so latest programs and changes are included. This way you have the option to go back to Baseline if your most recent image is not close enough to a clean reinstall when reimaged.

Be aware that Win7 is not tolerant of much tweaking beyond normal System settings. The popular tweaks to speed up XP or Vista are completely unnecessary and will almost always come back to bite you.

 

[Zepher]

Maybe your tweaking screwed up Windows 7 over time.
I only reinstall if I have a catastrophic failure with Windows or the drive it resides on.
I installed this copy in August of 09 and it runs like a champ, machine runs 24/7 and only gets shut down when I upgrade parts or when we have a power outage lasting more than 5 minutes.

 

[Rockfella]

OP i don't run business online and don't understand the amount of tweaking you've done in windows 7. I would back-up all data in a different drive then make two partitions in the main disk. Since i use pc for basic home usage i install 7 only in a 15 gb partition, all my downloads by default go into the D drive not the main system partition hence even if i have to install 7 10 times a month there is no need to back up data as it is already backed up in D partition. I disable all "my pictures/music/movies/downloads" etc because all these are extensions of system C drive. Almost nothing ever goes in my main C drive. Hope you understand. This backing-up thing is way too simpler than what people think all over the world.
I assume u must be using some business related softwares that might need more space so u can make a 50 GB partition for windows 7 and keep all data in the secondary partition usually D.
PS: Since you use ur pc for business avoid useless tweaks for the sake of making the OS look good. I don't use/install anything that i don't really need atleast once a week.
Use:
ccleaner (to clean crap)
revouninstaller: to uninstall softwares
defraggler: to defrag.

All small sized freewares.

 

[Howie]

Agree with Rockfella 100%
That's the way I've done it for ages and it makes life so much easier

 

[gregrocker]

You can link your User folders to your data drive this way: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html

This makes the backup image more compact so that if Win7 becomes irreparable, you can reimage OS/Programs partition in 15 minutes and the data is waiting and current in it's own partition "vault."

Best to put data on another HD, too, along with image.

 

[pparks1]

I think when this user refers to the words "tweaks", it's more like customizations and stuff. For example, changing fonts in applications. Setting up wallpaper rotations. Setting up skins for your music and media player. Configuring default save locations within applications. You know....all of the stuff that you do to the computer to make it work the way you want it to work.

 

[Rockfella]

Same here zero probs since 2007. I laugh at people who talk about "loosing data" after a fresh format/install...it amazes me really. I also wonder why companies like dell keep the main C drive as a huge 95% of the entire hdd and 5% as restore partition but dell charges money to create partitions before installation

Agree with Rockfella 100%
That's the way I've done it for ages and it makes life so much easier

 

[electrotune1200]

I also wonder why companies like dell keep the main C drive as a huge 95% of the entire hdd and 5% as restore partition but dell charges money to create partitions before installation

Why would the restore partition need to be any bigger than necessary?

 

[Rockfella]

Why would there be a restore option? Why cant they make C drive of only 20 Gbs and leave the rest hdd space as D drive?

I also wonder why companies like dell keep the main C drive as a huge 95% of the entire hdd and 5% as restore partition but dell charges money to create partitions before installation

Why would the restore partition need to be any bigger than necessary?

 

[seekermeister]

I do mine every 6 months. Just to make sure it's clean.

With your drivers, files, and program installers organised. It's a 2 hour investment every 6 months. And Having a clean image with no updates or programs installed helps.

Why not?

You must be far, far more organized than I am, because the idea of finishing a clean install, including all of the drivers, programs and resetting all of the tweaks necessary in 2 hours is only a pipe dream for me. If it were that easy for me, I would make it a routine as you have, but I have been running his installation since W7 was first released.

I guess that I'm just too lazy to tackle that situation. Actually, it feels kind of good that I have run this long, because in the past I was never able to keep it going like this, because of some kind of problem that forced me to do it far more often than I cared for.

This is one reason that I have postponed doing some major hardware upgrades, because that would force me to start from scratch.

 

[barryware]

You must be far, far more organized than I am, because the idea of finishing a clean install, including all of the drivers, programs and resetting all of the tweaks necessary in 2 hours is only a pipe dream for me. If it were that easy for me, I would make it a routine as you have, but I have been running his installation since W7 was first released.

I guess that I'm just too lazy to tackle that situation. Actually, it feels kind of good that I have run this long, because in the past I was never able to keep it going like this, because of some kind of problem that forced me to do it far more often than I cared for.

This is one reason that I have postponed doing some major hardware upgrades, because that would force me to start from scratch.

A clean install, drivers, MS updates, install your apps, update them, etc, etc., then tweak my UI and everything else Takes me 8 ~ 10 hours.

I image my drives every week.. I keep three weeks worth of images on two seperate drives. I do another image prior to an app install or a big update.

If something does not turn out the way I like, I restore a drive image as oppesed to "uninstall" the app or update. That way, my machine stays clean.

Uninstalling anything, leaves a bunch of junk behind in regards to reg entries, program files in the system folder, etc. It really never completely "uninstalls"

 

[seekermeister]

Okay, I can understand that, but restoring from an image is totally different from doing a clean install, as the subject of the thread is about. Actually, restoring an image shouldn't require any additional driver, programs or tweaks, so an hour should be plenty of time.