Do we ever need to format/install. . .

External Since: Jun 19, 2006 Posts: 1275

On Fri, 8 Aug 2008 18:13:54 -0400, "Ed H"
<edandsandy DeleteThis @NOSPAMcomcast.net> wrote:

> Thanks Ken, that's a great summary and makes a lot of sense.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

> "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake DeleteThis @this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
> news:b3no941pjahvkamcp0tubccdqq8van5mb4@4ax.com...
> > On Thu, 7 Aug 2008 21:48:52 -0400, "Ed H"
> > <edandsandy DeleteThis @NOSPAMcomcast.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Can we keep Vista healthy enough, after years of use, to keep running
> >> optimally by cleaning, defragging etc. without needing to
> >> format/re-install
> >> Vista?
> >
> >
> > Certainly.
> >
> >
> >> Seems that was the norm under Win 98 but is frowned upon in Xp and
> >> Vista. Trying to see if I'm reading ya'll correctly.
> >
> >
> > It was never the norm under Windows 98 either. It was done only by
> > people who erroneously thought it was necessary, or who maintained
> > their computer poorly.
> >
> > Here's my standard post on this subject:
> >
> > With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to reinstall
> > Windows (Vista or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG
> > 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and now
> > Windows Vista each for the period of time before the next version came
> > out, and each on two or more machines here. I never reinstalled any of
> > them, and I have never had anything more than an occasional minor
> > problem.
> >
> > It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical
> > support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost
> > any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and
> > reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the
> > phone quickly, it almost always works, and it doesn't require them to
> > do any real troubleshooting (a skill that most of them obviously don't
> > possess in any great degree).
> >
> > But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to
> > restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your
> > programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and application
> > updates,you have to locate and install all the needed drivers for your
> > system, you have to recustomize Windows and all your apps to work the
> > way you're comfortable with.
> >
> > Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may
> > have trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs?
> > Can you find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data
> > backups to restore? Do you even remember all the customizations and
> > tweaks you may have installed to make everything work the way you
> > like? Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve
> > that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and far
> > between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for
> > troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only after all
> > other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have failed.
> >
> > And perhaps most important: if you reformat and reinstall without
> > finding out what caused your problem, you will very likely repeat the
> > behavior that caused it, and quickly find your back in exactly the
> > same situation.
> >
> > --
> > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> > Please Reply to the Newsgroup

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

External Since: Nov 02, 2007 Posts: 251

"Ed H" <edandsandy DeleteThis @NOSPAMcomcast.net> wrote in message
news:u1CqqjP%23IHA.1184@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Can we keep Vista healthy enough, after years of use, to keep running
> optimally by cleaning, defragging etc. without needing to
> format/re-install Vista? Seems that was the norm under Win 98 but is
> frowned upon in Xp and Vista. Trying to see if I'm reading ya'll
> correctly.

There is no need to reinstall XP or Vista on a system that is not misused,
by which I mostly mean used as an install bed for any kind of questionable
software.

I personally have a number of XP systems that have run solidly for years,
some nearly 24x7, with no performance degradation. The 24x7 system only
got a reinstall because I needed to physically upgrade the drives (to larger
ones) and add new ones.

HTH
-pk