Re: Reinstall or reformat?

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You had good reason to laugh at whomever told that "MS recommends reformat and reinstall every six months." Not only has Microsoft not published that advice, it's flat out ridiculous.

As it happens, my trusty Dell desktop is coming up on its 6th birthday. I've got a bit more juice than you (a 2.26GHz P4 and 1GB of RAM) but not so much that it makes a big difference between our systems. And like you, I have been conscientious in maintaining my computer and - I like to think - wise in how I use it.

The result is that my computer runs very well and quickly. I hardly ever have a problem with it and when I have had problems, they've never been serious.

Still, my PC is not as quick as it was when I first turned it on and there's a clear reason for that: Much of the software I now run places considerably higher demands on my system than the 6-year old software it originally shipped with.

The biggest robber-baron of speed is my security software. Threats to my security and privacy are substantially more advanced than they were 6 years ago, requiring substantially more complex security software that puts significantly greater demands on my hardware. On the other hand, my computer has never in its life been infected.

My PC arrived with the original version of Windows, which has grown significantly in size and complexity over the years, and that also contributes to slower performance, as does the general trend towards bloated software.

So what I'm saying is that there's a limit to how fast 6-year old hardware can perform with today's software. Still, I have a few tricks up my sleeve:

I'm not a heavy duty multi-tasker. Streaming a radio station while working on an Excel spread*** is about as far as I go.

I try to have as little running in the background as possible. Most people would laugh at how little starts with Windows on my PC.

I'm actually quite happy with the way my system performs. An extra few seconds of performance hit after 6 years is okay with me. I plan to keep my computer in service until the applications I rely on most increase their hardware requirements to beyond what my computer can support.

---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Kim wrote:
I have a 6 year old Gateway that I've tweaked and upgraded to keep it current. I'm running Windows XP (current with all patches), run antivirus, antispyware, empty the Temp directory often and defrag the drive regularly. It has a 1.7ghz with 750 MB RAM. I uninstall never used programs.

BUT........it's performance has really slowed down over the years. It works OK but there is a measurable time lag between key-click and noted action being taken.

Some tech support folks (not OEM) have told me that MS recommends reformat and reinstall every six months!! After I stopped laughing, I figured there was something I could do, a LOT less draconian. I have all the app CD's so I could do it --- but the thought of rebuilding the PC (and apps) from scratch would take my entire summer and probably would have untold issues.

Is there something I can try to figure out where the issue is and how to resolve it? I'm willing to do the work and research -- just trying to alleviate a long drawn out painful reformat and reinstall.

Thanks for you help,

Kim
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