How often do you format?

[PLaYaHaTeD]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Okay, to everyone here that takes pride in NOT reformatting your computers after years and years of use, get off your ass plug. What exactly do you do with your computer? Word documents every day? No internet access? Haven't installed a piece of software since 1942? (And i dont mean the game)

Seriously, just because you use your computer about as conservatively as a nun in a porno store doesn't mean that you are using computers the "right way". I keep my system as clean as possible. I know what is installed on my machine. However, I don't restrict installed programs to microsoft word and acrobat reader (by the way, ver 6.0 is bloated). My suite of software evolves slightly every few months.

And you know what? Sometimes performance slows down a bit. And that's okay, because it's a great excuse to go on a download fest, and install a whole bunch of programs to see if i like them. Once i know exactly what i like, i line them up for a reformat and clean install. I'm on the front of technology all the time and i know firsthand what software i like and what i dont like because i try it out.

Live a little.... Geezus

Let's just say I'm sure I have ALOT more apps installed on my machine than you do and I haven't reformatted in a looooong time. Your suite of software evolves slightly very few months? I'm usually installing, uninstalling or upgrading every few days. My primary drive is 80GB and I only have 17GB free. And it ONLY contains the OS and programs that are installed. Full apps, mp3, movies and other crap are stored on 2 other 120GB hard drives in my machine (first 120GB hard drive has 7GB free and the other 120GB drive has about 30GB free).

You guys missed the point. I'm talking to the people who think they are computing a "better way" than the reformatters. That kind of "higher than thou because i know what im doing and im special". I was refering to those people, not people who simply happen to reformat rarely because that is what works for them.

Live a little....quit wasting your time reformating and develope some troubleshooting skills.

how about you quit making yourself look bad and DEVELOP some spelling skills :disgust:

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Man, I don't know what the hell you guys are doing with your PCs. I'm running XP Pro on my machine with an 80GB drive (one big 80GB partition) and I have an ass load of apps installed (only 15GB free) and XP runs great. Just like the day I installed it, which was a long ass time ago (at least a year). I format ONCE per machine. When I install the OS and all the basic apps (very basic apps), I upload the image to my server. But I'd only use that image if something crazy happened to my PC, like a hard drive failure.

Three cheers for another enlightened user. I'm with you!

 

[sharkeeper]

Where's the option for more than twice a day?

-DAK-

 

[flexy]

Format == sign of computer illiteracy/incompetency

I format each HD exactly ONCE, that is before i install a new OS on a new bult.

I always shake my head when i see the advice of people "to format" if they have system trouble - because i do NOT think that the desirable system is how it comes out of the box from Microsoft - BUT how i set up and config a system. And this process can take days/weeks..all my apps, updates etc...

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Okay, to everyone here that takes pride in NOT reformatting your computers after years and years of use, get off your ass plug. What exactly do you do with your computer? Word documents every day? No internet access? Haven't installed a piece of software since 1942? (And i dont mean the game)

Seriously, just because you use your computer about as conservatively as a nun in a porno store

[ ... blah blah deleted ]

I used to run my PC(c) 24/7, doing everything possible from gaming, being online, downloading, coding, installing appz galore etc..etc..NAME IT and i bet i did it

Nevertheless, i STILL only format ONCE - before i install a new OS on a new built system.

ANd..btw. i am definetly one guy downloading every available latest and beta driver, just finished flashing my bios with a hacked Promise Rom, use hacked drivers and use about as good as any geeky/hacked/risky beta software out there if its new and exciting Not to mention that my PC is seriously overclocked, wayyyyyy out of specs

Still...i am not sitting on an ass-plug. maybe someone else has a plug in the brain and thinks formatting is the solution for everything - or should just look for another hobby instead of messing with PCs and teh Intarnet

 

[Sam1230]

Doesn't everyone reformat if they upgrade their computer, such as upgrading their motherboard?

 

[Murr]

Originally posted by: pelleplu
I don't have msconfig

What OS do you have? You just go to run and type msconfig.

 

[boyz]

I reinstall windows xp about every 2 months to get out the crap and useless folders left by some stupid program

 

[Murr]

I try to take good care of Windows. I try not to download programs unless I really need them, I run a firewall and antivirus, I use software cleaners, and I defrag all the time. But theres always some crap that gets by. Old remnants of removed programs, old patches and drivers, crap in the registry, etc. Basically a lot of little things. I'm sure I could go and find all the crap, but the amount of time I'd have to spend finding all that stuff is a lot more than backing up and reformatting.

 

[tcsenter]

Okay, to everyone here that takes pride in NOT reformatting your computers after years and years of use, get off your ass plug. What exactly do you do with your computer? Word documents every day? No internet access? Haven't installed a piece of software since 1942? (And i dont mean the game)

I think they're confusing "need" and "want". How many times have I "needed" to reformat my computer in the last three years? Maybe once.

How many times have I done it? Four times, perhaps five. Why? Because I wanted to. I like it.

Not hard to understand unless you're just lazy. Oh, wait, I think we have a winner:

And this process can take days/weeks..all my apps, updates etc...

Like I said, some people are too lazy. Therefore, to those people, the 'cost' of reformatting (time and effort) isn't worth the benefits because its too much work for them.

 

[JackBurton]

how about you quit making yourself look bad and DEVELOP some spelling skills

Well it looks like you are very qualified in spell checking. You can make at least $8/hr with those skills. Obviously you aren't that skilled in the PC department though. I bet your troubleshooting skills go something like this:
Hmmmm program not working. I guess it's time to format. That should take care of it.

My suite of software evolves slightly every few months.

HOLY COW, you live on the cutting edge.

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

how about you quit making yourself look bad and DEVELOP some spelling skills

Well it looks like you are very qualified in spell checking. You can make at least $8/hr with those skills. Obviously you aren't that skilled in the PC department though. I bet your troubleshooting skills go something like this:
Hmmmm program not working. I guess it's time to format. That should take care of it.

My suite of software evolves slightly every few months.

HOLY COW, you live on the cutting edge.

Great comeback. You are so right. My only skill is spellchecking. In fact Microsoft hired me for.... you guessed it, 8 dollars an hour to improve Word's spellchecker. They fired me afterwards because other than spelling, I'm worthless.

Don't be mad because you're all grown up but your grammar skills stayed in junior high.

 

[TheInvincibleMustard]

The PC I've currently got started with Win3.1 on a P166 ... it's now a PIII-933 with XP Pro.
I've had to format once, and that was just a couple months ago when my boot sector decided to have some ... issues ... with itself.
All in all, I've been through 5 hard drives, three motherboards, four operating systems, at least six video cards, and countless programs. I didn't reformat between upgrading the OS (just performed an "upgrade" instead of a "full install"). I never ghosted, never backed up, nothing, and had no problems aside from driver issues except for the boot sector mentioned above.

Building my new computer this summer is where I'll draw the line. This one's going to have a fresh, clean install of XP Pro, perform updates/upgrades for all the cards, and then ghost it. Install my games and applications, perform upgrades for that, and then ghost that.

After that? Probably not format again until something bad (like boot sector failure) happens that I can't get myself out of.

 

[JackBurton]

In fact Microsoft hired me for....

Microsoft hired you and you are one of the people that are so quick to format when a problem comes up? Let me guess, your position there is...sanitation engineer? Are you the the MCSE their? Microsoft Certified Sanition Engineer.

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

In fact Microsoft hired me for....

Microsoft hired you and you are one of the people that are so quick to format when a problem comes up? Let me guess, your position there is...sanitation engineer? Are you the the MCSE their? Microsoft Certified Sanition Engineer.

Did you really think that was funny? Honestly, you had time to read and review it before actually posting, and you still submitted it. :disgust:

 

[Sunner]

It's funny how people always claim Windows is so easy, and if something goes wrong, it's cause of crappy programs, and not cause Windows isn't exactly the best OS in the world when it comes to long term maintenance.
Like I said earlier, I reformat my Windows box every now and then(meaning maybe every 1½-2 years), cause it simply gets too slow, and trying to fix it will take far longer than reformatting will, much thanks to DLL hell and the registry(thank you very much for that Bill, great idea, really).

I've never reinstalled my Linux box OTOH, cause Linux is easy to maintain, when I install a program, I can see exactly what files went where, and when I uninstall, it will erase everything, rather than leaving lots of crapy in the registry(well if there was such a thing), etc.

And no, I don't wanna debate which is the better OS, Im just saying, depending on how you use your box, it may or may not be realistic/worthwhile to keep Windows running smooth after a while.

Either that, or Im just too computer illiterate to figure out how Windows works, in which case Im glad there are easier alternatives like Linux, Solaris, OpenBSD, MacOS, etc etc out there.

 

[pelleplu]

Originally posted by: Murr

Originally posted by: pelleplu
I don't have msconfig

What OS do you have? You just go to run and type msconfig.

I have Win2k and it doesn't come with msconfig so I didn't know that it existed. I have downloaded the XP version of msconfig however and installed it here, and it's a great program

 

[Lonyo]

Going to reinstall/reformat whatever tomorrow, because I can't run AoE2 smoothly, and my UT fps seem to be in the 45-50's rather than the 80's or thereabouts, so something seems to be up

 

[CraigRT]

probably ends up being something like every 6 months

but really it's when there is a problem i can't seem to fix.. or a terminal problem.

 

[billandopus]

Originally posted by: ozone13
I format every couple of months....not because I have to, but because I want to. I know the inner workings of a computer (I am a networking engineer), but prefer the "fresh" feel of a computer. What I do is build my base os, install my apps, updates, etc, ghost it, then every couple months take 10 minutes of my time and "revert" to that image. Update that image with all the latest patches and such, ghost it again, and that new ghost becomes my "base". Roughly two months later, I revert to that new "base", repeat.

It has nothing to do with "not knowing crap", but everything to do with personal preference.

Great idea.

What do you do with your current configuation though? I mean, what if you have some software installs that you want to keep - do you re-image that current config to another partition, re-image the base OS, update the base OS, Image and save to disk, then reimage the current config back to the original OS partition?

Additionally, i'm running xp pro and I find it relatively robust. I just do a couple of things to keep it running tip top.

- I don't load crap on the comp unless i'm willing to take a calculated, educated risk. Of course, no PrON dialers and all that nonsense.
- periodically run something like WinDoctor to keep things under control.
- use SpyBot once in awhile.
- clean caches, temp files etc ...
- make sure that I only have the programs I want running in the background - anything else is a waste of system resources.

It's all good.

 

[Mem]

Okay, to everyone here that takes pride in NOT reformatting your computers after years and years of use, get off your ass plug. What exactly do you do with your computer?

As I stated I only reformat when I change motherboards or upgrade OS(last reformat Nov 2001)I use mine everyday for gaming,Internet and general use,I like to clean out the registry now and then(good registry & file cleaner is useful) especially when I remove software programs,I don`t put a lot of free crap on my PC just programs I need,yes I always update all my drivers etc.


I`ve yet to have any OS related problems.

It`s not a question of NOT reformatting but only doing it when it NEEDS to be done,it`s not hard keeping an aging OS install running smooth,especially with 2K/XP.

 

[jose]

Jhu :

NCR Tower 600's running motorola 68020 running At&t Sys V

Then upgraded to a Pent 100 w/ SCO

Now running mostly Dell poweredge servers w/ RH 7.3

Regards,
Jose

 

[TheBoyBlunder]

I just formatted today. :/ Stupid ntldr is missing error...I couldn't fix it, but I could back everything up by plugging the drive into a different machine. Um, ordinarily I reformat about every 3 months. Something usually goes breaks about every 3 months, so that's how often I format.

 

[grant2]

Originally posted by: flexy
Format == sign of computer illiteracy/incompetency

Ok so we've finally summed up the attitude of the anal pedants. Can we move on?

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: flexy
Format == sign of computer illiteracy/incompetency

I format each HD exactly ONCE, that is before i install a new OS on a new bult.

I always shake my head when i see the advice of people "to format" if they have system trouble - because i do NOT think that the desirable system is how it comes out of the box from Microsoft - BUT how i set up and config a system. And this process can take days/weeks..all my apps, updates etc...

Exactly. I only reformat as a last resort. When it gets to that stage I usually know very well there's no alternative. If I can go two years or three, I'm doing great. As long as there are no signs that the OS is hopelessly tangled, I won't format. It takes too long to reinstall everything to do otherwise.