Re: Reinstall or reformat?

On Thu, 15 May 2008 10:32:39 -0400, Leonard Grey
<Leonard@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

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.


A very strong second to that statement.


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.



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 three machines
here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything
more than an occasional minor problem, and certainly no slowdown.


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.



Ditto!



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

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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