Re: Best strategy for regular reinstall of XP?
- From: Ron Martell <ron.martell@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:40:41 -0800
"danielbaars" <danielbaars@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello,
To prevent my computer from slowing down to a crawl or experiencing all
sorts of weird/unpleasant crashes/freezes I would like to be able to
'start over' (formatting the main disk, reinstalling XP) on a regular
basis (once a month, every two months) without the whole process taking
a few days to complete.
The reason it takes that long for me is because for my job I have to
use a wide variety of software, ranging from big things like Adobe
Creative Suite to all sorts of small utilities. I also have to try out
new software on a regular basis which usually does not become part of
my 'essential software' set which doesn't help with keeping a clean and
reliable computer set-up.
I have been messing about with disc images of early installs but then
still have to spend a lot of time updating my applications, settings,
serial numbers etc. Ideally, I would only have to do a clean install of
XP, leaving all my (essential) installed software intact and throwing
out all the non-essential stuff. But I'm not sure this is possible.
I have already moved the My Documents folder to a different internal
drive so that is not affected but can I do the same with the Program
Files folder? Can I install one piece software on one disk and another
somewhere else? Will everything still work?
If anyone has advice on this it would be greatly appreciated.
The best reinstall strategy is "don't do it". There is seldom a need
to reinstall Windows XP unless hard drive has been totally mangled.
The last time I did a reformat and reinstall on my "production" system
was with MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11 sometime in 1993.
Since then I have upgraded the operating system to Windows 95 then
Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edtion, Windows Millennium Edition,
Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional without ever doing
a reformat. During this same period every hardware component with the
possible exception of the power cord has been replaced multiple times.
What antivirus and antispyware software do you have installed? You
need to have both, and also need to get an occasional "second opinion"
from one of the free online scanning sites.
You need to do some occasional housekeeping, such as deleting the
leftovers in the TEMP folder. Disk Cleanup in Accessories - System
Tools will do a reasonable job of this. Run it about once a month,
more often if you are doing a lot of software installs and/or updates.
And you need to montior and control what is being loaded at startup.
Get family with MSCONFIG, especially the Startup section. Every item
listed there has an origin and a purpose; and there are usually some
consequences associated with removing them from the startup. Sometimes
these consequences are insiginificant or even totally irrelevant and
often such startup items can be removed. There are many reference
sites available where you can check out in detail any item listed in
the Startup tab of MSCONFIG. My favorite is
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php
There are also many items listed in the Services tab of MSCONFIG which
can sometimes be adjusted so as to improve performance. Unfortunately
my favorite reference site for configuring services (Black Viper) is
no longer available and a mirrored copy of his data also cannot be
found any more.
One thing you need to avoid like the plague, in my opinion, is the use
of any Norton/Symantec products. These almost invariably have about
the same impact on computer performance that a 2 ton block of concrete
would have on your car.
Good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair
"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
.
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