How often do you perform a clean install?

[djdelarosa25]

Title says it all.

[tp95112]

1.5 year. Or when I feel like its time for one

[Jade]

Every few months; usually when there's a major update (Creator's Update or Fall Creator's Update for example) or a Windows function seems to be misbehaving. Takes me like 60 minutes including installation thanks to my Boxstarter/Chocolatey script.

[Clockwork_princess]

Never unless windows breaks

[ARikozuM]

Every year. I also keep images of my system in case the OS dies and needs to be cloned back to working.

[JaegerB]

When my HDD is full of crap and I'm too lazy to clean it up  I just backup the important stuff and format away.

[Tsuki]

i only reinstall when i buy a new harddrive.

did it when i built the computer with the HDD, did it again when i upgraded to an ssd, again when i got a better ssd, and again when upgrading to m.2

[AtomicFrance]

Only when needed or installing a new HDD.

[strat guy]

Almost every year back on win XP, never needed to on Win 7, just shifted to 10 and hopefully will never have to. Clean installs are a nightmare, unless there is an easier way to reinstall all your games on a fresh OS install than redownloading all those 100s of gigs, is there ?

[Tsuki]

1 minute ago, strat guy said:

Almost every year back on win XP, never needed to on Win 7, just shifted to 10 and hopefully will never have to. Clean installs are a nightmare, unless there is an easier way to reinstall all your games on a fresh OS install than redownloading all those 100s of gigs, is there ?

keep all your games on a separate hdd. that way they dont get deleted when you clean install

[strat guy]

Just now, Tsuki said:

keep all your games on a separate hdd. that way they dont get deleted when you clean install

All are on a separate HDD but they won't work after a clean OS install because the registry gets wiped out too, right ?

[Enderman]

6-12 months on laptop, 12-24 months on desktop.

I would do it more often on my desktop if I had more free time.

 

My laptop has less than 5 programs on it, it is made to run as barebones as possible for the least chances of problems when running a live dj/lighting set.

Any programs I previously need to install for school get cleaned off this way, and I keep no data on the laptop except music files.

[ARikozuM]

1 minute ago, strat guy said:

All are on a separate HDD but they won't work after a clean OS install because the registry gets wiped out too, right ?

The program and Steam will remake all necessary edits.

[tp95112]

1 minute ago, strat guy said:

All are on a separate HDD but they won't work after a clean OS install because the registry gets wiped out too, right ?

They work, on steam you can change where games are installed. Bnet has the same thing as well. 

[Guest]

Used to be every year, but now not so much. On an as-needed basis.

[SquintyG33Rs]

16 minutes ago, djdelarosa25 said:

Title says it all.

never.

 

even if i change my whole system there is no need

[strat guy]

4 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

The program and Steam will remake all necessary edits.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Tsuki said:

just tell steam where the files are, and itll work perfectly.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Tsuki said:

just tell steam where the files are, and itll work perfectly.

 

 

 

 

I've noticed that most games will also create files and folders on the OS drive even if both Steam and all the actual games are on a different drive, stuff like save and config files. Saves are mostly backed up on cloud though.

 

But they'll all work just fine on a new install ? Man that's great to know. I'd ofter wondered how all these techtuber builders and benchmarke folk get new systems up and running so quickly. Hopefully wont be needing a clean install anytime soon, or hopefully ever. Still scarred by the old XP experience.

 

Thanks all.

 

 

[Eaglerino]

I haven't done one since I bought an SSD

[Prox1ma]

Usually when I do a full system upgrade (6-7 years) or if the OS is corrupted(very rarely).

[datamonger]

I used to do a clean install once a year, but since Windows 10 came out, usually whenever there's a major update released (Anniversary, Creator's, Fall Creator's, etc.)  With a Macintosh, whenever a new version of macOS is released.

[PianoPlayer88Key]

Preferred: Every 10-15 years, or longer.

 

Actual:  Probably every few years.

[kasugatei]

Only if Windows breaks. Setting up the whole environment is at least 2 days of work because I have rather specific setup so I am not fond of spending that much time without valid reason.

[MEC-777]

Still running off the same Windows 8.1 install since September 2013. Survived the upgrade to 10 and still running great. The key is regular maintenance. Run disk clean up every now and then, delete junk you don't need anymore and keep viruses/malware away with regular scans and smart browsing. 

 

I don't see why anyone should have to do a fresh install every year or two. Especially if you're on an SSD. 

[ARikozuM]

9 hours ago, strat guy said:

Thanks all.

I've got my OS [USERNAME] folders backed up to the WD Blue, so any save or config files move to the D: drive leaving the C: drive quite expendable. 

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

On Windows I normally do a fresh install every 6 months or so.  My Current Win7 install is from September 2016 though.

 

On Linux Whenever I feel like trying the latest version of Mint.  Went straight from 13 to 17.1, then to 17.3, currently on 18.1