How often do you reinstall windows?

[VibesJunk]

I am currently going to reinstall windows for the first time in hopes of fixing some issues that my computer has like audio issues, etc. since I just got a new motherboard. I have 2 ssds, one as my boot one and one that is larger which only has one game on it right now. I wanted to Reset my windows and I was wondering what steps I should take to do this since I do not want to lose my files on my primary SSD. Thanks.

[Samtell]

if you have audio issues it's not the windows' problem

[VerticalDiscussions]

I wont consider that option unless my computer is stuttering quite oftenly, freezes on a common basis or presents any signs of performance degradation, excessive temperatures with consequently excessive performance usage or any other uncomfortable symptom, usually boot times that are +1 minute on an SSD.

[dalekphalm]

26 minutes ago, Samtell said:

if you have audio issues it's not the windows' problem

That's not inherently correct. Audio issues can be caused by many problems. A borked Windows install could definitely cause problems with audio.

 

Driver issue most likely, but sometimes a driver uninstall/reinstall isn't enough, and you need to format the system and reinstall everything.

[VibesJunk]

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

That's not inherently correct. Audio issues can be caused by many problems. A borked Windows install could definitely cause problems with audio.

 

Driver issue most likely, but sometimes a driver uninstall/reinstall isn't enough, and you need to format the system and reinstall everything.

Yes, I heard that since I got a new motherboard the new drivers can conflict with the old ones. 

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, VibesJunk said:

Yes, I heard that since I got a new motherboard the new drivers can conflict with the old ones. 

Certainly possible. In that case, uninstalling the old drivers and then reinstalling the new ones may be enough to resolve the audio issues.

 

But I personally would do a fresh format after a new motherboard anyway. But that's personal preference.

[VibesJunk]

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

Certainly possible. In that case, uninstalling the old drivers and then reinstalling the new ones may be enough to resolve the audio issues.

 

But I personally would do a fresh format after a new motherboard anyway. But that's personal preference.

I was planning to do the first method, however not really certain which are the old ones and which are the new ones

[dalekphalm]

7 minutes ago, VibesJunk said:

I was planning to do the first method, however not really certain which are the old ones and which are the new ones

Well you could just uninstall all of the drivers that show up in Programs & Features, and then reinstall all the drivers for the new motherboard.

 

But if you're unsure which is which, doing a fresh install of Windows certainly makes things less ambiguous.

[VibesJunk]

7 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Well you could just uninstall all of the drivers that show up in Programs & Features, and then reinstall all the drivers for the new motherboard.

 

But if you're unsure which is which, doing a fresh install of Windows certainly makes things less ambiguous.

yes, btw any idea how to backup my data first?

[dalekphalm]

21 minutes ago, VibesJunk said:

yes, btw any idea how to backup my data first?

Well for stuff like your documents and pictures, just copy it onto another drive (USB drive, external HDD, network share, etc).

[VibesJunk]

17 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Well for stuff like your documents and pictures, just copy it onto another drive (USB drive, external HDD, network share, etc).

what about programs I downloaded like Sony Vegas, games, etc

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, VibesJunk said:

what about programs I downloaded like Sony Vegas, games, etc

Those you'll have to reinstall. You need to ensure you have all of your license keys ahead of time. Games from Steam and Origin can be backed up. You can find specific instructions online (With steam, backup the SteamApps folder). And then when you reinstall Steam after formatting the computer, you copy the SteamApps folder back, and "redownload" each game (it should just verify the local files and only download things it's missing). Not sure how the process works with Origin.

 

Games from GOG.com will have to be reinstalled from the installer.

[EPENEX]

Answering the question in the title; only when I mess up the registry enough that it requires a reset.

[VibesJunk]

5 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Those you'll have to reinstall. You need to ensure you have all of your license keys ahead of time. Games from Steam and Origin can be backed up. You can find specific instructions online (With steam, backup the SteamApps folder). And then when you reinstall Steam after formatting the computer, you copy the SteamApps folder back, and "redownload" each game (it should just verify the local files and only download things it's missing). Not sure how the process works with Origin.

 

Games from GOG.com will have to be reinstalled from the installer.

Can I clone my ssd to a larger one? and then reset the ssd that has windows on it?

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, VibesJunk said:

Can I clone my ssd to a larger one? and then reset the ssd that has windows on it?

Sure but there wouldn't be much point. If you're running Windows 10, you could try a "safe reset", which will reset Windows but keep all your documents and files (Note, you'll still have to reinstall all your applications though):

http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/reset-windows-10-pc

 

Still, the best way is to backup all your files and then format the drive and install Windows fresh.

[RGProductions]

Whenever it's completely bricked. 
Usually happens every 5-6 months.

[VibesJunk]

33 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Sure but there wouldn't be much point. If you're running Windows 10, you could try a "safe reset", which will reset Windows but keep all your documents and files (Note, you'll still have to reinstall all your applications though):

http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/reset-windows-10-pc

 

Still, the best way is to backup all your files and then format the drive and install Windows fresh.

Yeah I'm not sure what to do at this point

[dalekphalm]

29 minutes ago, VibesJunk said:

Yeah I'm not sure what to do at this point

Well you should decide on what you'd like to do.

 

You could try and fix the issues on the computer first - if so, create a new thread in the Troubleshooting section.

 

Or you can backup all your data, etc, onto one of your SSD's, and then reformat the other one and reinstall Windows on it.

[Centurius]

Not really intentional but it usually happens once every year.

[VibesJunk]

5 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Well you should decide on what you'd like to do.

 

You could try and fix the issues on the computer first - if so, create a new thread in the Troubleshooting section.

 

Or you can backup all your data, etc, onto one of your SSD's, and then reformat the other one and reinstall Windows on it.

I just reinstalled and all the issues have gone away. Also, games are much smoother now than before. Thanks for the advice!

[LAwLz]

What kind of abuse do you people put your computers through when they need to be wiped and reinstalled every year or at even shorter intervals? 

[Monkey Dust]

I used to do it every couple of years in the XP days, probably more with ME. I think I reinstalled  7 once after 4 years.

[forgiv]

On 2/11/2017 at 7:40 PM, VibesJunk said:

I am currently going to reinstall windows for the first time in hopes of fixing some issues that my computer has like audio issues, etc. since I just got a new motherboard. I have 2 ssds, one as my boot one and one that is larger which only has one game on it right now. I wanted to Reset my windows and I was wondering what steps I should take to do this since I do not want to lose my files on my primary SSD. Thanks.

I reinstall windows once a month. Nothing beats the feeling of running a fresh windows install. My setup is 2 ssds in raid zero as my boot drive and a hdd as my storage drive. Nothing essential stays on the boot drive and the really important stuff on my storage is all encrypted and then backed up on the cloud. 

 

 

I'm running windows 10 so resetting is as easy as typing reset on my search bar and using the built in windows reset. For windows 8 I reset with the built in reset in the trouble shoot mode when you reboot while holding the shift key. Otherwise it's straight iso install. If you do a reinstall with a bootable drive, just make sure you do a custom install wipe the boot drive and install to it. The storage one will not be touched. 

[dalekphalm]

10 hours ago, forgiv said:

I reinstall windows once a month. Nothing beats the feeling of running a fresh windows install. My setup is 2 ssds in raid zero as my boot drive and a hdd as my storage drive. Nothing essential stays on the boot drive and the really important stuff on my storage is all encrypted and then backed up on the cloud. 

 

 

I'm running windows 10 so resetting is as easy as typing reset on my search bar and using the built in windows reset. For windows 8 I reset with the built in reset in the trouble shoot mode when you reboot while holding the shift key. Otherwise it's straight iso install. If you do a reinstall with a bootable drive, just make sure you do a custom install wipe the boot drive and install to it. The storage one will not be touched. 

Doing a "reset" is not quite the equivalent of doing a fresh install. It's certainly better then nothing, but there is a difference.

[forgiv]

On 2/13/2017 at 8:39 PM, dalekphalm said:

Doing a "reset" is not quite the equivalent of doing a fresh install. It's certainly better then nothing, but there is a difference.

That depends entirely on the type of reset you choose. I always choose `remove everything and reinstall windows` which completely reformats the partition that windows is on and reinstalls it, which is almost the exact same as doing a fresh install (the only difference being that a fresh install CAN reformat an entire drive while a reset only reformats the windows partition). BUT I also have my recovery partition on my storage drive meaning my boot drive is completely reformated which is EXACTLY the same as a fresh install.

 

What you're likely referring to is called a `refresh` which is definitely very different from a fresh install.