How often should you reinstall your operating system?

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Ink

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Reinstall if;
  • Unbootable
  • Unstable (ie. Application crashing, Explorer.exe freezing, BSOD)
  • Noticeable loss in performance during simple tasks (ie. Booting OS, Opening Task Man)
  • After an OS upgrade (especially Windows)
  • Noticeable post-malware removal damage

If you want to reinstall every month, to save time you can chose to create a custom Windows 10 image or restoring using a system image.
 

MiguelPratas819

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Jul 8, 2015
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I guess that depends from person to person and also depends how you use your computer. If it is working fine there is no need to reinstall anything. I only do it when, unluckyly, I was infected and want to make sure everything is clean or when major Upgrades to the operating system comes out (example windows 10 November update and Anniversary update soon to come out). If you are using that system for 5 years and you had no problem at all just keep using it.
Sorry bad english.
 
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shmu26

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Reinstall if;
  • Unbootable
  • Unstable (ie. Application crashing, Explorer.exe freezing, BSOD)
  • Noticeable loss in performance during simple tasks (ie. Booting OS, Opening Task Man)
  • After an OS upgrade (especially Windows)
  • Noticeable post-malware removal damage

If you want to reinstall every month, to save time you can chose to create a custom Windows 10 image or restoring using a system image.
would you recommend doing a fresh install for the upcoming Anniversary Update, or just let Windows update itself automatically?
 

Logethica

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I reinstall my OS from scratch every couple of months.....I enjoy it:D
I like to Clean my Laptop Keyboard & Screen,and Reinstall the OS at the same time..It makes me feel like I have a new Laptop each time ;).........
I will do so again once the Anniversary Update has been out for 2 or 3 weeks...(which I will delay installation of)
I am maybe one of the few people that is dreading the update.My guess is that in the days that follow there will be a larger than normal number of people on forums complaining that it borked on their system/ Didn't play well with certain 3rd party software/ & created more issues than it fixed..:rolleyes:
Once the smoke clears I will reinstall the OS and find out whether M$ has embedded Edge / Cortana /Remote support /Bing / & other avenues of Telemetry even deeper into the system.......And then I will Remove/Kill /Block those changes.:D
 

shmu26

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I reinstall my OS from scratch every couple of months.....I enjoy it:D
I like to Clean my Laptop Keyboard & Screen,and Reinstall the OS at the same time..It makes me feel like I have a new Laptop each time ;).........
I will do so again once the Anniversary Update has been out for 2 or 3 weeks...(which I will delay installation of)
I am maybe one of the few people that is dreading the update.My guess is that in the days that follow there will be a larger than normal number of people on forums complaining that it borked on their system/ Didn't play well with certain 3rd party software/ & created more issues than it fixed..:rolleyes:
Once the smoke clears I will reinstall the OS and find out whether M$ has embedded Edge / Cortana /Remote support /Bing / & other avenues of Telemetry even deeper into the system.......And then I will Remove/Kill /Block those changes.:D
sounds like a plan.
 

Der.Reisende

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Only did a fresh install in the last time (>1 y ago) due to:
-a problem with an AV, which came up with testing some malware packs, which made the system very laggy somehow (I don't know what the technical issue was, probably early Win10 related (AV not ready 100%), the AV was indeed very good).
-OS upgrades (like Win 8.1 -> Win 10)
-if the system is very laggy, due to some buggy software tried it (now use my ShadowDefender equipped laptop to test off new software).

Almost the same @Huracan said, though I had not a super impact by Malware (but would reinstall, too).
 

Quassar

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My old windows 7 was reinstaled only 2 times whole 7 years.. only becasue i changed MOBO and cpu..

All time i have 2 image:
- Fresh installed system + drivers and +update this day when was clone
- All programs which i gonna use in future WinRAR TC UltraISO etc..

but i Recovery backup rare time probably 1-2 times on year when i want check some lates drivers.
My system is all time fresh.. Shadow Defender do what he should do :)
 

DardiM

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I have made a fresh reinstall of Windows 10 Pro several days ago in anticipation of the July,29 : only the "minimum" :p (SD+Av+anti malware tools+Browsers+anti-telemetry tools+Programming tools+analyzing tools+Password Manager-True Image 2016..) and after some windows updates : System backup.
 
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Atlas147

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I reinstall my OS from scratch every couple of months.....I enjoy it:D
I like to Clean my Laptop Keyboard & Screen,and Reinstall the OS at the same time..It makes me feel like I have a new Laptop each time ;).........
I will do so again once the Anniversary Update has been out for 2 or 3 weeks...(which I will delay installation of)
I am maybe one of the few people that is dreading the update.My guess is that in the days that follow there will be a larger than normal number of people on forums complaining that it borked on their system/ Didn't play well with certain 3rd party software/ & created more issues than it fixed..:rolleyes:
Once the smoke clears I will reinstall the OS and find out whether M$ has embedded Edge / Cortana /Remote support /Bing / & other avenues of Telemetry even deeper into the system.......And then I will Remove/Kill /Block those changes.:D

I've actually been looking for a way to do a reinstall, but I'm actually not very familiar with the process and I'm kinda afraid I'll mess it up :p
 
H

hjlbx

Reinstall if;
  • Unbootable
  • Unstable (ie. Application crashing, Explorer.exe freezing, BSOD)
  • Noticeable loss in performance during simple tasks (ie. Booting OS, Opening Task Man)
  • After an OS upgrade (especially Windows)
  • Noticeable post-malware removal damage

If you want to reinstall every month, to save time you can chose to create a custom Windows 10 image or restoring using a system image.

The above is sound advice.

Alternatively, you can learn how to use a product like Rollback Rx Home or Drive Vaccine Rx (both freeware) and make a clean snapshot your baseline. You can always return to that clean baseline on a schedule, manually or at every system reboot - dependent upon your chosen settings in those softs.

The whole concept of using a snapshot soft is to save the user time, effort, aggravation, frustration, etc. The limitation to using such softs is that you should uninstall them prior to any major Windows updates - the ones that modify the MBR = cumulative updates. In my experience it is a quick and painless procedure.

There is no "right" or "wrong" way to do it... just recommended "best practices."
 
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XhenEd

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With Windows 10, I reinstalled the OS once due to OS corruption probably made by RollBack Rx Pro. I wasn't educated enough that time about using RollBack Rx. :D

@hjlbx
On my laptop, uninstallation of RollBack Rx isn't "quick... procedure". I have to wait for around 30 minutes before it prompts me that it is uninstalled. I wish it could uninstall faster, just like how fast it is when doing a rollback, which is almost as quick as a system restart. :)
 
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