How often do you reinstall windows?

[Seedler]

I'm too lazy to manually clean up my comp, so I backup and reinstall windows every 2 months.

edit: sry for typo in thread title

[Yoga]

once every year and a half, sometimes more. Every 2 months seems too extreme :D

What do you use to backup?

[zapjb]

It's about 1x a year with XP. That is as far as need goes. But fooling around with nLite has increased that many times. But thats just for tweak sake not need.:)

[Skiz]

I've been running the same PC for almost 3 yrs now with no reinstall. :)

[Guillaume]

About twice a year, unless the computer has major hardware changes (new mobo, etc.)

[Aaron_T]

normally about once a year, the thing usually fucks up around that often.

[Seedler]

once every year and a half, sometimes more. Every 2 months seems too extreme :D

What do you use to backup?

I use nero 7 and backup with multisession dvds

[backlash]

I put never only because there was no option that suited my answer. I only reformat and install a clean OS when necessary. I don't mess my computer up and need to fix it. I'll probably do my computer in the new year, but we'll see what happens. It would only be done to give me something to do.

[tesco]

Used to a lot.
Then I stopped betwene last summer and feb 2005, then never after that until I got this comp (christmas).
Planning not to for another atleast 6 months :)

[Busyman]

Never

[twisterX]

when ever something goes wrong. I didnt do it for a long time becuase it would talk forever to install all my games back.

[Chewie]

I only install when the need arises - which is due to hardware changes, not software fuckups.
The current installation dates from the purchase of my 200GB HDD in May, and the previous one was for the mobo upgrade a couple of years ago.

I have a friends Samsung laptop here that I've fixed in two minutes without re-installing... he asked me to format/install because he bought it without knowing any user passwords, but that doesn't mean I gotta wipe anything at all. :)

[johno1977]

prob once or twice a yr...just too give a good clean up not cos of any major prob's

[Formula1]

on my pc, i've never had to reinstall window... even when i switched motherboards...

[Seedler]

on my pc, i've never had to reinstall window... even when i switched motherboards...

whoa? switch mobo and still no reinstall? whoa...:blink:

[Formula1]

yup, because my old dfi motherboard had nforce 3 and my new motherboard had nforce 4. so therefore all i had to do was remove my old ati drivers, using a program called drive cleaner..

[GepperRankins]

it used to be like every 2 or 3 months. now i have XP it's only when my hard-drive fries :01:


might have to re-install soon cause i get this wierd lag thingy every ten minutes :dabs:

[Cheese]

Every two months, coincides with me cleaning the hardware itself from dust and stuff.

[Seedler]

it used to be like every 2 or 3 months. now i have XP it's only when my hard-drive fries :01:


might have to re-install soon cause i get this wierd lag thingy every ten minutes :dabs:

Yah recently I've been getting that lag as well, especially when I'm playing that eggs games in arcades...pisses me off when I'm doing so good and suddenly a lag spike

[maebach]

6 months

[Tempestv]

I have my file system set up with partitions and such, so that it takes a 1/2 hour to reload, if it looks like i am going to spend more than that time trying to fix a problem, I start over. I got my computer three weeks ago, already loaded windows twice (once after building it, once after accedently corrupting the file system while overclocking), going to do it again tonight because I have some virus I have something using my connection that I can't seem to find. already spent two hours trying to track it down so that I know what it is if I ever see it again, not worth the trouble.

[Filliz]

When it crashes.

[Mr. Mulder]

Fairly often, I've been doing puter courses on and off for a couple of years now which often require you to arse about with OS's and formatting/partitioning etc. Only got the one machine up and running atm with just one HD installed.

Very lazy when it comes to backing stuff up so no end of stuff gets lost at random :ermm:

[zaphodiv]

Backups using drive imaging software and virtual machines save a lot of boring windows installs.

A few times a year I restore an image of a fresh windows install and try out lots of software that I'v downloaded or got on CD with a magazine. Sometimes it gets to the point that leaving it idle for ten minutes then moving the mouse results in three pop up adverts. I learned to be circumspect about installing stuff from magazine CD's about thirteen years ago. Even now installing everything from a magazine CD usually results in the computer not booting.

I sometimes unplug the machine from the net and click on email attachments to simulate giving a PC to an idiot. Needless to say I write zero's over the whole drive before plugging the network in.

[peat moss]

I like trying new software and run it to some problems so about once every two months , keeps me fresh . I have three children sharing this computer so thats probably why its more often than others. :cry:

[krapper]

My reinstalls depend on when I get unremoveable viruses...
Sometimes a year, sometimes 3 months.

[erRor67]

I reinstall Windows about twice/three times a year just to start over and have a clean system again. I keep my system pretty well maintained but its always good just to start from a clean slate again..

I use nLite as well as other tools to create a custom XP SP2 install disk. :)

[cigar]

everyone 6 months

[Afronaut]

About 6 month seems to be the limit,
but thats with runnin as Admin and installing/uninstalling stuff alot,
tweaking etc.

Use to be more often but running a "TestPC" in software like VMWare (http://www.vmware.com/) helps a lot.

:)

[woodyuk]

about once a month. nice to end up with a fresh clean machine. like taking a shower :-)

[clocker]

I voted "monthly" but that's just an average really.
I like tweaking software and overclocking...a potentially fatal combination.
Toss in a RAID array and Windows can become pretty um, fragile.

My 64 bit Pro demo is almost expired and I've committed to a real version (meaning I actually purchased the damn thing), which hopefully I'll leave alone for a while.

[graemek]

Usually every 3 months for me, Most times you can only fix so much by cleaning up and then you've no choice but to reinstall

[limpingjaret]

haven't reinstalled my windows in months

[worldpease]

Used to be every six months, but I don;t think its gonna be like that this time,
the fraking thing just won't do anything wrong, it's been a long time like this, no single problem at all.

[Hairbautt]

about once a month. nice to end up with a fresh clean machine. like taking a shower :-)
Ditto. ;)

[graemek]

Usually every 3 months for me, Most times you can only fix so much by cleaning up and then you've no choice but to reinstall

Saying that it has been well over 3 months since i done it this time more like
5 months, but everything still works ok, maybe i just know a bit more now, and know the tips on keeping it running sweet

[mEtho]

i started using Linux (Ubuntu) to aviod the windows installations!!! i was reinstalling windows ones in every two months because of the spyware, viruses and other crazy software problems etc.