How many times do u re-format ur pc?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by sweater, Jan 15, 2007.

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  1. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    My experimental boxes (surf & media) get reformatted quite regularly on average every 9 months, but thats becuase I break them constantly with as much tweaking and trial software as I can get :D
    (Shell replacements, OS hacking, customization ect) Even then they arent reformatted just reimaged back to a known clean starting point.


    My main boxes go for years without a reformat, generally embarked on only when a complete hardware reconfiguration is done. I far more slowly introduce customizations and software to them. The longest a single hardware config lasted was something like 4 years.
     
  2. twl845

    twl845 Registered Member

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    After reading the Wilders forums for a while, and seeing how some people install and uninstall software like they're changing their shorts, it's no wonder that sooner or later their pc is going to get all screwed up and require a reformat. Tweek this and tweek that, after a while the pc can't spell Windows. A pc is a machine that was built to do a specific function. I hardly ever argue with mine. It's usually right. If I suspect a problem starting, I do a dskcheck, AS and AV scan, clean out the cache, temp files etc. Usually I figure out what the cause is and eliminate it. It's usually a software problem. I try to keep it lean and mean. If a new software is slowing it down, out it goes. I would have to read up to learn how to do a reformat. :isay:
     
  3. Cochise

    Cochise A missed friend

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    THREE CHEERS FOR YOU Bro'......A Man after my own heart.....couldn't have expressed it better.....:D :D :D

    Join the D.A.F.T. Federation........."Definitley Against Formatting Temptation"..:D


    Cochise.
     
  4. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    Your advisor probably meant that re-installing Wndows would have a performance impact.
    The act of formatting a drive doesn't do much in that area.
     
  5. Get

    Get Guest

    Last time I did a format/fresh windows-install was 1,5 year ago. I use images for when there's a problem which can't be fixed (fast) and my pc isn't getting noticeably slower.
     
  6. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    and stuff how it looks and acts down your throat

    these are of a half way tweaked W2K box Im currently customizing\building for a friend

    http://i11.tinypic.com/2cwpt8n.jpg
    click to enlarge

    http://i11.tinypic.com/2hwftxj.jpg
    click to enlarge

    next up linking commandline arguments (msc, cpl, exe, ect) to clickable custom icons\ meters in Samurize for the desktop
    the trick here is its a 1.2 GHz Tbird box and I need to maintain its performance
     
  7. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Hello,
    Ice - the word Linux is spelled all over you. For a tweaker fanatic like yourself, Linux is the tweaky tweaky paradise you dreamed of. And once you think you beat a distro - boom, there's a new one. Hundreds of flavors, thousands and tens of thousands of hacks, cheats, tweaks, twists, and so on.
    Mrk
     
  8. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    Im learning as fast as I can in the time allowed :D

    But as Ive mentioned before there is even stiffer resistance from my clients to switching
     
  9. Genady Prishnikov

    Genady Prishnikov Registered Member

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    I keep a "base image" that is nothing but a freshly formatted, newly installed XP with the latest updates. Why go through all the hassle of a format when I can just slap an image back on that is nothing more than - a newly formatted Windows XP? I talk to a lot of people at work about this and I'm surprised how few people really understand imaging.
     
  10. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    do the same but after the base software and security is installed and the rudimentary tweaks.
    Especially changing the default shell folder locations and application data paths to an isolated primary "data" partition
     
  11. strangequark

    strangequark Registered Member

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    Tweek till you can't tweek anymore, format till your usb ports bleed :)
     
  12. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    Do they think you are a spooky phreak? :D
     
  13. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    silly question :p

    http://i1.tinypic.com/4i21kch.jpg

    of course,
    but they thought that even before I started pushing NIX
     
  14. herbalist

    herbalist Guest

    DOS.
     
  15. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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    My personal laptop pretty much never gets formatted unless something goes horribly wrong. My other test system would get a format a few times a month.
     
  16. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    I've never reformmated a hard drive for any computer system of mine (IBM AT compatible, 486DX, Penitum II or 1.4GHz systems). I've only run ScanDisk and Defrag programs on them. I've never had a hard drive crash and expect the systems to become "useless" before that happens. The only thing that I have ever reformatted are those 3.5", 5.25" and 8" floppies.:D
     
  17. mango_salsa

    mango_salsa Registered Member

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    I reformat a couple times a year.

    Whenever I think I have too many programs installed (I cannot resist the siren song of freeware), I'll reformat and start all over again.
     
  18. EASTER.2010

    EASTER.2010 Guest

    I have formatted XP Pro i think only twice in 2 years and one of those was due to a Hard Drive failure. I don't recall formatting my 98SE but once in 2 years and also that OS runs circles around XP.

    I think it has to do with how well you maintenance your PC with various cleaners, defrag programs etc. in that manner, because you can really tell when files pile up on your PC that need dumping/wiping by a good eraser program then a Powerful Defragment app.

    Yeah though, if your PC really begins to BOG down on you and you're sure you've dumped & cleared out all areas of TEMPS and other safe files to remove, i would do a new format, but only as a last resort.

    Just my own personal preference.
     
  19. lucas1985

    lucas1985 Retired Moderator

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    LMAO :D :eek: :cool:
     
  20. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    well over the last few days my pc is working perfectly i might get a ram upgrade soon to get 1.5gb of ram or even 2gb lol.
    but i wont go off topic.
    i havent formated for two years on my main system.
    my test system has only had one format recently but it is windows ME so it does have its own problems without trying the betas:D
    its more like windows Me is the beta
    lodore
     
  21. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    A HA! I knew you had ulterior motives :p
     
  22. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    lol.
    today avp.exe randomly crashed but for a few days my pc wqas running perfectly so it still could be a slight ram problem.
    lodore
     
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