When, If Ever, Do You Re-Format

[Prototype]

I've always believed a reformat of my PC is in order every 2-3 years. I've had the same computer since about 2005, and had no problems with in, only upgrading RAM and HDDs.

Is it foolish to look to reformat every once an a while on a system that hasn't shown any problems? Am I doing more damage than good by doing so? How long should I look, if ever, at re-formatting the old compy?

EDIT: I should say that lately, I've been using it mainly as a Media Server for my PS3 and AppleTV. Maybe burning the occasional DVD or CD. I don't play games on it, I barely use internet on it.

Really, it's not giving me a reason to re-format, but I like to think that it cleans up some of the crap that comes with owning a PC (registry, hidden files, etc).

[Yanda]

every 6 months or when something breaks

[3 Justin 3]

I re-format every time something goes wrong, or I get a virus that is very hard to get rid of.

So in the 5 years of owning my laptop I've done it I think 2-3 times.

[DownhillGoat]

I reformatted mine annually. Helped keep things speedy and gave me an excuse to back stuff up and keep my folders organized.

Insert obligatory: "haven't reformatted since I switched to a mac" comment.

[MacGruber]

I have my HD partitioned... the 1st drive is only 120 gigs and has windows and programs, my 2nd HD has all backed up work programs and media. formatting takes me 3 hours tops to restore totally, and i do it anytime my pc is slowing down, or something goes wrong, just like justin. fixes eveyrthing nice and quick

[sclitheroe]

The "crap in the registry" thing is the BIGGEST myth in the world. I'd argue that a few leftover files and settings from old apps is inconsequential in the vast majority of cases too - with WinSxS technology in Vista and Win7, DLL hell is basically solved now too.

When would I reinstall? If I got infected, and a leading tool like Malwarebytes didn't nuke the malware on the first shot. Actually, for my own machines, I'd probably reinstall anyways, but for neighbors machines, if MalwareBytes gets it first shot, no reinstall.

Otherwise, you're wasting your time watching progress bars. Worry about a reinstall when the next version of Windows comes out, which means a reinstall every 3-4 years or so.

There is no way the registry or a few extra DLL's or ini files or anything else are causing any substantial, observable performance hit in day to day use.

Edit: take the time you'd waste on a reinstall to develop a proper backup and restore strategy that allows you to quickly get back to a known good state. Maybe you want to use Acronis, or Windows Backup, or whatever. But put together a kit with the discs you need, the external drives or other hardware, and a plan to keep your backup and recovery tools current. That's time FAR BETTER spent that doing yet another reinstall.

[Hack&Lube]

I never reformat. I only install new versions of Windows (and usually save the old one on a separate drive or partition so I can still access it).

If you know what you are doing and do good maintenance, a windows install can last forever. I usually get attached to one because I have completely modified many aspects of it where it would be painful to try to duplicate that on a fresh install.

I will resort to loading backed up registry hives, copying files from a second windows install, and replacing all the parts of the OS (if it bluescreens on boot) I can manually to save it before I will ever thing about a format. Even doing all that would take much less time than it does for me to create an environment that I am happy with using on a daily basis.

I have Windows 7 on my Sandy Bridge laptops but my desktop machine is used mainly for music production and most of my software licenses are for XP. That install has been with me for over 10 years, since XP came out. It's been cloned and moved from harddrive to harddrive from an Athlon XP system (VIA) to an Athlon 64 (NF3) to an Opteron to an Athlon X2 (NF4), and finally to a Intel socket 775 (P45) chipset. People always say to reformat when moving between motherboards but I have never done it. I just install the drivers manually, even when changing between something completely different. It does work!

To be honest, I'll probably never do this sort of thing again but it's worth it for me for the amount of changes and software I have installed and modifed on this particular XP installation that I cannot replace.

I just use Acronis images and VMware now though for easy backups and running OS's that you can allow to screw up without affecting your whole system. To be honest, computers are fast enough with new CPU architectures and SSDs that you can run all your OS's as virtualizations and so if there are ever any problems, it is extremely easy to deal with and it will rarely ever affect the overall system.

Do what Sclitheroe said and instead of wasting time on formatting, reinstalling Windows, reinstalling all your programs, downloading all the updates, making all the changes to the OS, making all the profiles, importing all your files, mail, settings, etc. Just make a backup image once a month. It will save you all the time in the world.

What Sclitheroe said is true, the clogged up registry or extra dlls and extra hidden files do not slow your system down. It's just how you manage the system properly. Extra files can cause the indexing service to slow down (turn it off then) but any services and installed programs that have been installed and run at boot or in the background can be simply checked and deactivated or uninstalled. That's basically it for things that can actually slow down your PC aside from a fragmented mechanical drive or simply buggy software.

[Mad Mel]

When? At home, it's usually very soon after I have come very close to requiring a new machine due to putting my fist through the screen. Then I think to myself: "Self, maybe it's time to rebuild this bad boy". And then I give the machine to somebody and buy a new one, since I'm too lazy to reformat it and I really need something state-of-the-art to surf the web with.

At work, Acronis images save the day. 1. Get new hardware. 2. Install your crap. 3. Image it. After six months, slap a new image on it, just because it's taking twelve seconds longer to start up than it used to.

[Rathji]

I tend to reinstall when I get new PC or when there is a virus that is a pain to deal with and the machine I am using doesn't get a regular backup (like my school laptop).

[Mtt48]

I have wondered about this for a while:

If you have used your computer for a couple months, filled up the entire hard drive and deleted stuff, etc, if you are looking to now partition part of it, should you reformat the hard drive? Considering putting an xp partition on my iMac fyi.

[Buff]

How often you re-format depends on the user(s). I have two PCs at home, neither have been reformatted. I will be soon re-formatting the older of the who, which I've owned for 6 years now, as I'm getting a new PC and I'll be donating the older PC.

My sister-in-law has her PC reformatted monthly. That's because she is stupid and only knows how to f-up her computer. Her re-formats are out of necessity because she downloads all the viruses, worms and spyware ever made. No amount of security software will save her computer from her. She doesn't deserve one.

[Professor Successor]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I had a re-formatting/partitioning question.

I don't know what happened with my windows7 OS but one day it just would get past the opening animation, nor could I access any of the safe modes. buying a second drive to use as my boot drive solved the problem of having to lose my data to a clean install.

But I was wondering if it would be wise to partition this drive and keep my windows files separate from my school/work files in case something like this happens again?

Because I'm a broke student I went back to a PC (which I don't mind at all. Are you allowed to be a MAC and PC fan at the same time?) but because of my years using a mac, I'm a little out of practice with all this stuff.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Professor Successor

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I had a re-formatting/partitioning question.

I don't know what happened with my windows7 OS but one day it just would get past the opening animation, nor could I access any of the safe modes. buying a second drive to use as my boot drive solved the problem of having to lose my data to a clean install.

But I was wondering if it would be wise to partition this drive and keep my windows files separate from my school/work files in case something like this happens again?

Because I'm a broke student I went back to a PC (which I don't mind at all. Are you allowed to be a MAC and PC fan at the same time?) but because of my years using a mac, I'm a little out of practice with all this stuff.

It is a wise idea to separate your data from your OS. In the event that your computer crashes you can reformat your OS partition and re-install it, and your data would be untouched.

... and for no good reason, I don't follow this practice

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I just formatted today. First time I've ever done it and I'm on a machine that is maybe 3-5 years old. It certainly meets all of my needs just fine, it just was running kinda low in HD space and was a little slow at times, especially on a start/restart.

I backed up all my music, movies, word files and a few other important things. Other than that I did a clean sweep - with the help of a friend who is more savvy at these types of things - and I have to say it is night and day.

#### is so much faster. I have about 100GB of extra space too. I used to be at 250/300GB used and now I'm at about 150/300GB used. Everything seems faster and it is so much better with much less clutter.

[GreenLantern]

I have always said I will, but then I don't want to lose my stuff.

I just bought a 2 TB drive to hook up and store stuff on so I can wipe, but now I can't get the new HD to work lol..

[TorqueDog]

I haven't reformatted in a while. Windows Vista and on didn't require a 'maintenance' format as I used to call them.

I might format my personal notebook shortly though, I'm thinking the Dell pre-install was a bit buggered.

[worth]

I really really really need to reformat. It's been a while since I last did it. This thing is just a mess and it is aggrivating me. Just need to find the block of time to sit down, back everything up and wipe it clean.

Try to do it once a year, but I think it's probably been a year and a half or more. I can't remember.

[Nammer403]

the only time ill reformat is if i cant rid of a virus