Updates after reinstalling operating system

If problems arise with an operating system (perhaps because of multiple MS updates over the years) and you reinstall the system, is it not the case that you will be deluged with updates and end up back where you started?


The background to this is that I have a Dell Latitude 3540 running W7. I am very fussy about what I do with it (e.g. careful what I download, minimise start up programmes etc.) and largely it has been excellent although it is slow to start nowadays. Recently I have experienced it freezing - this is very intermittent and otherwise it seems to be working fine. When it does freeze I generally have Firefox, Open Office, Windows Live Mail and eM Client open. When it freezes I cannot open the task manager and I get to the point where killing it is the only answer.


I am not techie and I am not clear why this is happening but an associate has suggested reinstalling the operating system.


Thanks for any general thoughts.

Hello Uplander

Yes, if you Clean Install (reinstall) Windows Operating system, then you will be faced with re-installing a lot of updates. As this is an automatic process, it should not cause you, or your computer, any trouble. Windows Update will take care or which updates to install, and if some update has been superseded in time, then only the latest update will be installed, by default, should that save you.

If your computer is experiencing occasional freezes, then why not try a disk cleanup and a disk defrag?

Please edit your settings with ALL your hardware specs. It will help us to help you.
System Info - See Your System Specs

The freezing issue can be a software problem or a hardware problem.
Start by checking your disk.
Open a cmd window as administrator and type:
chkdsk c:
if it finds any problems, you must do a offline check disk:
chkdsk c: /f
It will say your disk is in use and ask if you want to schedule to next start = Yes
restart

Another freezing factor is over temperature due to dust on the heat sink.
Do you have a hardware monitor?
How old is your laptop?


I do a clean install every two years. The reason is to get rid of all trash you store over the years.
It takes half a day (Backup data, install windows, drivers, updates and all my software restore data) but the improvement is clear.

As suggested you can also do a Repair Install
It will reinstall Windows, keeping your drivers, data and programs. You will need to reinstall the updates. My recommendation is to use Simplix.
My suggestion is to set Services - Windows Update - Manual and on WU page set it to Never check.
Then run UpdatePack7R2
Simplix is a single file (750MB) that contain all updates since Win 7 released up to date. It has all security and non security updates without the trash (telemetry and tracking). Very good.
Then run WU manually to find updates for Office etc and decide witch one to install.

For the freezing issue, you must check your disk.
Open a cmd window as administrator and type:
chkdsk c:
if it finds any problems, you must do a offline check disk:
chkdsk c: /f
It will say your disk is in use and ask if you want to schedule to next start = Yes
restart