How often do you format your HD?

[hunky]

I usually format my computer every six months, you know, to clean it up from all the junk that the cleaning programs can´t do.
It is good, because the computer becomes faster.

 

[BrandonSBCA]

Yeah and it takes longer to install the programs that you once had on your system.

 

[Marbas]

^
That's sound good.

I usually end up restoring mine to the 'factory settings' then starting all over again from scratch with seemingly endless Windows updates, re-installation of all the programs I actually use, and then uninstallation of the bundled crap that I never use and don't actually even want on the computer.

It usually takes days to get it back to how I want it.

 

[Kins123]

Mac: Don't need to, it's as fast as the day I bought it.

PC: Usually every 4-6 months. I keep meaning to create a Ghost image but just never get around to it. I also want to try playing around with a network install, no idea how though.

 

[Jannus]

I usually format my computer every six months, you know, to clean it up from all the junk that the cleaning programs can´t do.
It is good, because the computer becomes faster.

Back when I used Win 98 and Win 2K, I used to do the same thing, hunky - reformat every six months. I thought WGA prevented you from reinstalling your old copy of Win XP, though. Don't they complain that your serial number of Windows XP has already been registered?

I thought that was the whole idea behind the system "restore" function built into Win XP. Since WGA won't let you reinstall (which was the previous way of recovering from Windows' accumulated junk), MS at least allowed you to roll back to a previous time, when there was less junk. (Obviously not as good a solution as reformatting, but better than nothing).

So, how do you get around WGA, hunky? Don't they make life miserable for you when you try to maintain your system?

 

[Jannus]

What's WGA?



That was broken the same week it came out

I have a special patch to get around WGA and all that mularkey.

WGA is one of the reasons I finally gave up on Windows. I now use ubuntu.

Is there not something terribly wrong with a product if you have to lie, cheat, and steal to get it to work properly? I'm tired of all the hassle. I just want my software to work.

 

[waves]

I practically never format my hard-drive. Actually, I don't even remember the last time I had to format it. I don't really notice any slowdowns or whatnot, so I never really had a reason to format.

That ghost image tool does sound very handy! I might take a look at it, you know, just in case my computer sometime in the future does slow down.

 

[FirePhoenix]

umm maybe a year.. more... no idea

 

[hunky]

Yeah and it takes longer to install the programs that you once had on your system.

Well, we usually spend much more time drinking and cruising for sex, right?

 

[hunky]

...

So, how do you get around WGA, hunky? Don't they make life miserable for you when you try to maintain your system?

I just have a original windows vista.

 

[Jannus]

^Thanks, I didn't realize WGA and SPP had been eliminated with Vista. That's good news!

 

[gvlatinboi]

I actually just reformatted my desktop 2 days ago for the first time since i bought it (2004) because it was sooo slow. Now it's running like a charm though

 

[SuperQueer]

i run mac's disk utility program every week - and every time i install new software.

 

[newspaper_love]

I format .. reinstall Windows.. when the PC dies... once every two yaers .. or I get a new HDD...or I'm feeling rather fruity....
about once every two yaers

 

[winterknight]

I haven't formatted mine since the day I built it... five years ago.

Of course, I run Linux

I do do a complete re-install of all the software about once a year. Since I build everything locally from the source code, this takes about three days (eight hours of which is spent on OpenOffice alone...)

 

[winterknight]

Of course you run Linux

So let me see...I can have my PC ghosted and up to date in less than two hours - I do that maybe twice a year - multiplied by five years equals...what? 20 hours?

But if I use Linux I only have to spend 72 hours every five years...mmm okay!

If you just want to make an image of the hard disk and re-install it, you can do that in under an hour.

This isn't a simple re-installation I'm talking about, it's a complete re-compile of the entire system from the source code. I have my reasons for doing it this way, but it's something that even 95% of linux users won't bother with