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I'm in the habit of doing this once a year and reinstalling required applications. I find that my PC works far more efficiently. Does anybody else do it?
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aka ChurchDude. I want that moniker back! Until then....
"Sometimes you have to let go to see if there was anything worth holding on to" ~ Anon -
Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
I've had to do it out of necessity. But I have been having problems lately so may have to do it again soon. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]
It is so time consuming. -
Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
I've never done that. Is it something I should consider? What are the benefits? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70402-thinking.gif[/img]Comment
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Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
Yeah I format and reinstall the OS about once a year on my dev/game box. In the old days (Win 95/98) you had to reformat and reinstall to keep the machine running right. I don't think XP is as bad but I still like to start fresh from time to time. I keep a 2nd hard drive in each of my computers so I simply back off important data and format the drive, reinstall OS, update and then reinstall data.
The garbage bits of code that lurk on your system after a year or two is amazing. Even though you uninstall a program and defrag your drive you can still have bits of those programs still on your pc. Over time you will see the computer slowing down or kicking out bsod (heh win98).
Before you try this folks you need to make sure you have an original windows CD that you can reinstall the OS from, and it also helps to have a boot disk for both Win98 and XP (note the XP bootup disk is 6 disks but you can install directly from the windows CD). I also suggest you double check you have all files you want saved off the drive before you format cause it WILL wipe the drive and delete everything there, so check then double check before you hit the format Y.
Regards,
-RebyComment
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Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
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I've never done that. Is it something I should consider? What are the benefits? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70402-thinking.gif[/img]
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It is good and could be bad. The drive itself is easy to reformat, but loading the operating system and re-installing the other software can be a whole day job.
Passwords, Drivers, Settings.
XP is a little better on the drivers side but if you had the latest, greatest devices you will still need drivers or @ least to configure after the drivers are loaded.Comment
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Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
I thought XP didn't need defragging?Comment
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Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
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I thought XP didn't need defragging?
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Yeah its still needed. All it really does is rearrange the data on the drive so there arent gaps, which means the pc can read the data faster. Without defrag you get gaps on your hard drive and the platter has to jump all over the place to load the requested program/data. Its fairly important when you install/uninstall large volumes of data, like games which now days are around 1 gb.
Overall you wont see a huge difference in performance but for ppl like gamers, every little bit helps.
-RebyComment
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Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
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I've never done that. Is it something I should consider? What are the benefits? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70402-thinking.gif[/img]
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It is good and could be bad. The drive itself is easy to reformat, but loading the operating system and re-installing the other software can be a whole day job.
Passwords, Drivers, Settings.
XP is a little better on the drivers side but if you had the latest, greatest devices you will still need drivers or @ least to configure after the drivers are loaded.
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I haven't had to do too much 3rd party driver installation, but I agree it can be time consuming reinstalling apps. What I find though is that just about every time I reformat, I tend to reinstall less apps, especially if they are programs I haven't used in a while.aka ChurchDude. I want that moniker back! Until then....
"Sometimes you have to let go to see if there was anything worth holding on to" ~ AnonComment
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Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
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The garbage bits of code that lurk on your system after a year or two is amazing. Even though you uninstall a program and defrag your drive you can still have bits of those programs still on your pc. Over time you will see the computer slowing down or kicking out bsod (heh win98).
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Great points. I just happen to find my PCs seem far more efficient with the yearly makeover. Plus I tend to install / reinstall a fair bit of applications as I tend to try a number of them when looking for the ones that are most efficient. Image editing software comes readily to mind.aka ChurchDude. I want that moniker back! Until then....
"Sometimes you have to let go to see if there was anything worth holding on to" ~ AnonComment
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Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
Das funny, mi jus dun duh it pan Saturday. Only because, mi could nat badda fi keep pulling out mi hair trouble shooting di printer spooler error, an why it refused tuh start up. Soh mi jus sey, cho, an drop in mi "GHOST" image, typed ah few commands, an within minutes mi was back runing just like new. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70409-waytogo.gif[/img]Comment
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Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
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I thought XP didn't need defragging?
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Don't listen to that.
If you run a lot of database type programs, experimental programs that only barely comform to XP specs, you had better defrag.Comment
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Re: Reformatting Your Hard Drive...
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I haven't had to do too much 3rd party driver installation, but I agree it can be time consuming reinstalling apps. What I find though is that just about every time I reformat, I tend to reinstall less apps, especially if they are programs I haven't used in a while.
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Another thing if you had the time, money and know how you can image you drive so that you have one ot two carbon copies of your operating systems and files.Comment
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