How often do you reformat?
 

I very seldom go over 6 months without reformatting, but my work machine hasn't been done in about 2 years (!!!). You can tell... it runs HORRIBLY, but I can't ever seem to find the time to back everything up and clean it out (soon though, hopefully).

Of course, I'm talking about Windows, the OS that "ages". You'd think that they would've at least fixed windows to the point where you still wouldn't have to do this so often, but I guess that's MS for ya.

But what exactly causes this? By the "aging" I'm referring to the inevitable sluggishness of a system which generally occurs for no apparent reason other than date of install. You could have little to no apps starting up at boot, HD 40% free and completely defragged, and of course, no viruses or ad/spyware.. the thing will just run like the CPU/RAM is half of what it actually is!

But you reformat, install... and everything is golden once again!

Do Linux desktop users experience the same thing, or is it pretty much a windows-only thing?

I think its just the uninstalling, installing, reinstalling of software that causes it. I could probably load up a machine with 98 and use it regularly for years with no problems providing I don't install ANY software on it. But then who wants to use Notepad and play solitaire for the rest of their lives?

I have a habit of doing it at least once a year. Gives me a chance to squeeze an extra year out of Norton Antivirus w/out paying for a renewal.

For awhile when I was trying a lot of crazy things, reinstalling was a every 3-4 week type of thing, so I've become a seasoned pro at it, but I've been avoiding it this time around because I don't want to compile a list of software/settings I need to put back after the reload. When I do get to that point, I'll load SP2 on first just to say "I did it." :-P

As far as I can tell it is the constant bloat in the registry and disk fragmentation. You can defrag your disk (and the MFT) with a third-party utility (MS's tool is so-so, not the best, though) and if you can find a reliable method to clean the registry (good luck), it's possible to get back much of the performance.

There's a page by Verity Stob that I had a while ago, but it seems to be behind a password now. I found this summary elsewhere:

haha redlemon, that is great

I reformat Windows every 12-18 months. The time length has grown with XP compared with earlier versions. I agree with everyone - it's the install/uninstall/registry that gives the problems.

I wonder if this sort of thing impacts Linux or Mac OS?

speaking from the OLD Mac OS, we had to reimage them as well on a regular basis to keep top performance.

Yeah, it's definitely the installation and uninstallation of programs that slows down Windows. I usually format every six months to a year depending on how bad my PC fucks up.

-Lasereth

Usually when I get into a Linux hype and try to do a dual-boot of Red Hat 9 and WinXP,
which fails miserably causing my hard drive to lose all data due to a reformat of WinXP
which PISSES ME OFF I FUCKING HATE LINUX

I format when there's something badly wrong that I can't fix. So only when I have to.

I haven't formatted my server (Linux, my own distro) since.... ever. Never formatted it. And that computer used to run windows XP and before that 98 SE. That thing's a trooper. Call him Shady. Been running Linux since Fall of '02 almost non-stop. I turned it off this summer to save on electricity (living on my own instead of at home).

Every hmm, 4-6 months I suppose. Running XP Pro, and I try to be relatively cautious about un/in-stalling lots of progs..I'm pretty comfortable with the software I know and love....but still, it just 'feels good' to format every so often.
Plus, it forces me to organise my files a bit.

My bf's made a nice dvd-rw for the installation, mostly automates things, the OS and as many progs as it can do in that fashion.
Makes things easier...but it's a pain in the ass to initially make it.

//edit - to clarify...it's not a ghost, it's an automated/unattended install.

I used to reGhost my machine all the time... if you'd like to call that a reformat.

Can anyone explain how I can reformat but back up my entire computer so it's like the way I left it? Its taken me three years without a format to get my computer the way I like it but it IS running slower then normal. I'd like to format but not lose all my hard work. Can this be done or am I asking for the best of both worlds?

No it can't. Windows Xp has the backup settings and files transfer. That works pretty well. Just pretend that it's your old computer and then after you format, it's your new computer.

With XP, about every 6 months or so.

I had no idea that people reformatted so often. It seems like such a pain in the ass. I've never reformatted a computer. I had my first computer for about 4 years, got rid of it when it was waaay outdated. My second computer died, but that was because of mechanical problems with the HD, not reg or fragmentation issues. The disk just stopped spinning and wouldn't work on my new one either. I had that for 4 years also. I just built a computer this year and it's also run great. Either the performance never declined or it was so slow and steady that I never noticed. I'm not that careful either but I've never had a virus either. Maybe I'm just super lucky.

I've been with my employer for three years. We are a small company and my boss also is like our basic "IT" guy also in addition to his normal tasks. We also have a company contracted for any issues beyond his knowledge. In the time I've worked there, not a single computer has ever been reformatted. The only new computers we have bought were only bought because the office was broken into and half of our computers were stolen. All of our actual work is stored on the server (backed up every day) so the computers are just boxes that run the programs. Therefore, I've only used my C: drive for storing mp3's. Maybe that makes a difference.

My friend was telling me how he reformats every six months, I thought it was just him being himself because he's a little paranoid and a bit of a hypocondriac (sp).

i format mine about ever 6 months. which is right around the time i fuk sumtim up and it no longer works. Im realy love my Pc right after i format. Cuz it removes any stupid spyware / virus / popup problems i have. Which is normaly why i format. Cuz it seems like i can neva get spyware programs to remove the virus. Like right now. Ever time i open IE 6.0 it redirects me to a stupid search thing. I use Ad-aware SE and it finds the spyware ever time. And it removes it. then next time i open IE 6.0 it comes bak. Ive tried all kinds of other spyware programs and cant get ride of it. Prolly in the next month or 2 i will reformat. For now illl just use firefox. But i realy dont like firefox.

I do a reformat quite often. Often times I do it because, my computer runs slower, and I really hate the defrag process. Sometimes I might face a problem, and instead of killing myself looking for the solution I just reformat.

I used to reformat every year on win 9x, but now that i'm on 2000, I haven't reinstalled recently (1-1/2 years), although I am really lazy and really should reformat soon just for the freshly installed OS feel :).

I haven't had the patience to learn linux yet, but I'm talking with a friend who's a linux freak and we're talking about how it's funny how Windows users just kind of accept the fact that reloading Windows is just a normal part of using it. This whole thread confirms it ;)

When I used to use Windows.. once every 6 months.

Now, in Linux-land.. Never. No need.

Not that I don't understand you pain, but that's user error dude, not Linux. This forums a great source if you ever need future help.

Anyway, I reformat my Windows installation about every 4-6 months because I feel I need it. At the same time I reformat and reinstall Linux, not because I feel I need to but because I like the idea of starting fresh every now and then.

I've never done that on win2000. Well, once a year I buy a new hd anyway and install windows on that.

For my mom's 98 computer, we had to reinstall it I'd say every 6 months. We haven't done it yet, but you can tell it's begging for it. As for my Linux comp, I'd reformat almost every other month, but that was because I kept on trying new distro's until I hit Slackware which I've stayed with for about 6-8 months now and I intend on keeping that comp with that till it dies.

Every 3 or so months. I've to try different operating systems, and switch again. It's like a sickness.

I reformat about once every 6-12 months, and I would've reformatted my girlfriend's shit HP about a year ago (she's had it for almost 2 years now and is still running HP's original build) but she won't fucking let me install XP Pro because it's "illegal and not the OS that was on there in the first place and I might *break* something." I hate that attitude. Who's fucking Tech Support around here huh? (<- rhetorical question referring to myself)

My linux machines at home I don't think have been reformatted in the last 2-3 years. They run fine, and one of them has an uptime of ~700days. Gotta love linux.

Oh my god, people with morals still exist? Doing on-site support I constantly find myself selling Norton AntiVirus since a surprising number of people still run without anti-virus software. And yes, you can get away with putting Norton 2003 on several PC's. I explain to my clients I'm not the software police and I don't care what happens when I leave, but they constantly pester me to install the one copy on all of their PC's.

I haven't reformatted a couple of my xp machines in over 2 years.

They still run top notch. Diskkeeper automatic defrags, and an occassional disk cleanup are the only maintenance I need.

Don't install 50000 programs, and don't click YES on IE popups, and you'd be surprised at how well windows will run.

People blame windows for the problems....and though some of you may be offended, the truth is that 1/2 the time it's malicious programs, and the other 1/2 of the time it's user error.

I don't get what is going so wrong on a computer that you need to reformat. Mabye I just adjust well.

Not true.

I've had the same apps installed since the day I formatted this, minus a few games here and there to preserve HD space.

I'm a security freak, so it's very RARE that my computer gets spyware/adware or any virus on it. Actually, it's been about 3 years since I've had a virus and aside from tracking cookies, a bit more than a year since I've had spy/adware.

I have seriously only a few apps I have installed:

Visual Studio
SQL Server
Firefox
Thunderbird
Games (usually FFXI, Warcraft 3, Diablo II)
VMWare
Winamp
AdAware

Aside from that... nothing. Well, not counting the small "utility" apps like winzip, quicktime, etc.. I've kept the SAME apps on my computer since I've installed and it still craps out after 6 months or so.

One thing I do differently is ... the use of windows defragger. I'm gonna start using a 3rd party one that people say works better, because that might be the issue.

I know a lot of people are tempted to say user error, but trust me, my system is LOCKED down and clean. I keep the registry clean and all that as well, so it really is a mystery how a system just ends up crappin out.

Servers are a different story. My Win2k3 server hasn't been formatted in about 1.5 years. Even then, it wasn't askin for it. I just wanted win2k3 instead of win2k.

Friends of mine are the same way.. totally security & system conscious. Never install crappy misc. apps or anything, and always reformat!

[edit]

A good example is my work computer, the one that hasn't been reformatted in almost 2 years (XP Pro). There's NOTHING that starts up aside from IIS, Sql Server, Norton, and ... that's actually it. Those are the only 3 apps I have loading (and, of course, the misc windows services). It takes about 3 minutes after I LOG IN for me to be able to use it. I don't know what takes it so long to start up... nothing is running! Also, there aren't any network paths being reestablished or anything, so it's definitely not that. Trust me, I've checked every nook and cranny when it comes to system performance and what runs during start up... nothing is there!

There's seriously no reason for it. I guarantee you that when I reformat and install the SAME apps, the system will run 100% better. And trust me, of all things, my work computer is used STRICTLY for work, so that means less crap than I have on my home pc (no games, etc)

If you search around, there's a utility you can get that strips out all of the pertinient user settings and save them. I don't rememebr everything that it said it saved, but I remember thinking at the time that it would have been handy to use the last time I ended up with a crapped out system.

If you tend to install and uninstall a lot of programs (games, programs you want to try out and then find out you don't like, etc) you will notice what is referred to as "windows rot", basically various files get updated because program x needs version y of a system dll or system progrram. When you go to uninstall the program that updated the system file, it leaves the newer version. Combine this multiple times with any normal system updates (service packs, bug fixes, security patches) and then updates needed to play games (updated drivers, direct x, etc) and you get a lot of crap that is just sitting around and bloating windows, which causwes the system to be slower/unstable.
This is usually why there was a basic rule of reformatting/reinstalling your OS at least once a year. win2k/winxp are more immune to this "windows rot" so the slowdowns/instabilities aren't as noticeable or there.

With one main computer and one laptop, it usually averages to around 3 months for one format on either computer. Sometimes things get messed up when updating, like with the new Service Pack 2. Had to do a format to get rid of the error messages during installation. Was probably a problem from before.

It is really nice doing a format though. Everything is extremely fast and you get to start off a clean slate.

As a Linux desktop user for the last 4 years, I can attest to never having to reformat. I installed Debian about 1.5 years ago (last time I formatted my Linux OS HD) and didn't even have to reformat to upgrade the distribution to a new version (yay for apt-get). My file server/firewall/internet gateway runs Linux as well, and has an uptime of some 120 days. In my experience, these installations have never becomes slower or cruftier or displaying weird errors... it does seem to be unique to Windows.

redarrow: Maybe you should get a friend who's got his RH/WinXP installation to work to help you out. I'm guessing that its resizing your Windows XP partition thats screwing things up. This is indeed a part which can go wrong... Maybe you should get a cheap second hand HD with about 10GB to install RH Linux on... that way you won't have to touch your Windows XP partition. Or try out the Knoppix LiveCD... to see if Linux is worth it for you.

Computer hard drives suffer from "bit rot" where (if I remember right) radiation from the sun can change a certain number of 1's to 0's and vice-versa, which makes the system sluggish, prone to errors, etc.

Well, not really...

Bit rot in memory modules happens from alpha particles emmitted from thorium found in trace amounts in chips, which is left there from the manufacturing process (see jargon file entry on 'cosmic rays'). But circuits are built with checksums and such to compensate for this. Bit rot on CDs happens as the carrier material (the plastic layer) degrades. Bit rot on hard drives happens for various reasons. See this informative page.

Bit rot on your hard drive could lead to errors in programs as described in some of the levels of cruft listed in an earlier post. Bit rot will not, however, make a computer slower. As to why Windows becomes slower over time, I have no idea. I've some some cursory googling, but haven't come up with any definite answers.

Eh? Wouldn't that require your HD to be in the sunlight?

That's why they manufacture hard drives 3,000 feet below the surface of the Earth to ensure none of the radiation gets to it. Sometimes if you get too much radiation the 1's will change to 2's. :)