how often do you format?

[Nothinman]

I'm not nearly as good with nix and have had to reinstall a couple of times because I made a mess of things while trying to install new video drivers or whatnot

It took me quite a few tries to get to the point whre I am now, I've definately trashed my share of Linux installs =)

Out of curiosity what distro are you running that you've had up for 4 years?

Debian. The third link in my sig =)

 

[Spyro]

I reformat my windows 98 boxes every 6 months. I haven't formatted my Linux box since I played around with /dev/null too much about 3 years ago.

 

[NumbaJuan]

Originally posted by: wizardLRU
I reformat my windows 98 boxes every 6 months. I haven't formatted my Linux box since I played around with /dev/null too much about 3 years ago.

windows 98 :Q

 

[x1v]

2x a year

 

[toant103]

once a year

 

[NumbaJuan]

Originally posted by: toant103
once a year

do you have the os on the same partition as the apps and progys..???

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: NumbaJuan

Originally posted by: toant103
once a year

do you have the os on the same partition as the apps and progys..???

No. I have apps on separate partition. Ditto data. In fact, I'm multibooting 3 OS's and I have more than one data partition on the same HD. Having apps and data and OS separate makes it easier to maintain and backup. Ghost the OS partition after any major change (or before, same thing). If something goes wrong you can just Ghost back and the problem's gone. Done it a lot of times and I'm sure it's one reason my OS install's lasted as long as it has. I don't Ghost the apps partition nearly as often. I Ghost the data infrequently but backup data that changes and that I care about frequently - just a straight copy to a different HD or a CDR.

 

[Ph33zy]

how do you find the original install date using system info. I couldnt find it anywhere....

 

[NumbaJuan]

Originally posted by: Ph33zy
how do you find the original install date using system info. I couldnt find it anywhere....

what OS are you using?

 

[Booter]

how often do you format?

Never, and i i use windows xp as well as linux rh8 (dualboot).

 

[ShoNuff]

 

[dlaw]

Depends, I try to keep minimal applications on my productive computer, so reformating doesn't happen too often, but on the gaming and testing kinda computers, reformation can be few times a year, or even a month.

 

[fingerprints]

I reformat about once every six months to keep clean and fresh. I'm like a pro now I've done it so much, doesn't take me very long at all to get it all back the way I like it after formatting.

 

[VBboy]

NEVER.

Smart people delete the OS files and the Program Files dir, while keeping their backups, documents, and other data intact. Then, they install the desired OS.

Am I the only one who knows this?

 

[Ph33zy]

im using windows xp

 

[johnlog]

Booter,

>Never, and i i use windows xp as well as linux rh8 (dualboot). <<<

I FDISK and formatted last time about three years ago. For those who FDISK and reformat on a monthly basis is due mainly to user error. That is they screw up their computers so badly they have no other recourse but to reformat. (Means they really do not know what they are doing.)

 

[NumbaJuan]

Originally posted by: johnlog
Booter,

>Never, and i i use windows xp as well as linux rh8 (dualboot). <<<

I FDISK and formatted last time about three years ago. For those who FDISK and reformat on a monthly basis is due mainly to user error. That is they screw up their computers so badly they have no other recourse but to reformat. (Means they really do not know what they are doing.)

i think a monthly basis could be a little obsessive. however, when things get a little out of whack or a mistake is made(how else do you learn except by your mistakes) sometimes its fairly painless to format and reinstall...provided you have those backups

 

[NumbaJuan]

Originally posted by: Ph33zy
im using windows xp

can't seem to find that info in XP

 

[johnlog]

>i think a monthly basis could be a little obsessive. however, when things get a little out of whack or a mistake is made(how else do you learn except by your mistakes) sometimes its fairly painless to format and reinstall...provided you have those backups <<<

Yep, those backups can save your butt everytime. When you know you are going to experiment with a possiblity of destroying your OS and losing all your work it is best to back up to another bootable hard drive. What I do and that is the only way.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: NumbaJuan

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: NumbaJuan

Originally posted by: Muse
My last install of Win2000 Pro was in March 2002, and I'm overdue. Ghosting and restoring has allowed me to survive longer without a reformat but I have issues now that won't go away without a reinstall = reformat. I might try restoring an early Ghost image instead of installing from the CD, though.

hmmm...i was just wondering if a fresh ghost image was pretty much the same as a clean install..??

I'm definitely going to Ghost back one of my early configurations. Very basic but has drivers and sees my other OS's and is set up such that all OS's use the same paging file on my C: partition. That'll save me a lot of work. First thing I'll do then is install SP3, which I can't even do now without terrible results. Then I'll run Windows Update and start installing things.

which program do you prefer..norton ghost, or maybe drive image by power quest? the 2003 norton has a very handy usb support! i kinda lean towards norton.

I'm using Ghost 2001 which came with my Norton Systemworks 2001 CD. Works for me. The 2002 version has a feature where you have to enter your serial number whenever you restore an image. I think that's absolutely loony and I don't need THAT! Never used DriveImage. Ghost works for me.

 

[Muse]

i think a monthly basis could be a little obsessive. however, when things get a little out of whack or a mistake is made(how else do you learn except by your mistakes) sometimes its fairly painless to format and reinstall...provided you have those backups

"...how else do you learn except by your mistakes..." By OTHER people's mistakes. Then we don't have to make them ourselves!

 

[Dreadogg]

since I have installed XP I have not felt the need to reformatt this partition at all, but i will be soon when the price of the 333 mhz AMD chips fall to a decent price.

 

[Mucman]

My install of FreeBSD has been going for over a year... don't see any reason why I would need to re-install right now.

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Year and 3 months on my last box with WinXP without formatting.. Just built a new box, so the race to see how long that lasts is on..

 

[NumbaJuan]

Originally posted by: johnlog
>i think a monthly basis could be a little obsessive. however, when things get a little out of whack or a mistake is made(how else do you learn except by your mistakes) sometimes its fairly painless to format and reinstall...provided you have those backups <<<

Yep, those backups can save your butt everytime. When you know you are going to experiment with a possiblity of destroying your OS and losing all your work it is best to back up to another bootable hard drive. What I do and that is the only way.

the cost of external drives and enclosures are so inexpensive nowadays i think they are a good choice for a backup plan...heck, you can unplug the those little puppys, take it over to grandmas house and backup her system..!!