How often do you (re)install your OS?

[lexluthermiester]

windows installs are a pain heh!

Really? That makes me wonder what you're doing different from what I do. My installs are always very easy.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Well guess I get to put in another vote.... a friend/client was looking towards win10 expiring... and he hosed this install... so I installed win11 on it today.

Yeah, if it's a Windows 10 license, then 11 is legal-eagle, indeed.

 

[Launcestonian]

Only when changing boards. I'll be doing that tomorrow probably in one of my rigs.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Only when I have an issue or something goes royally tits up. My windows installs usually last 2-3 years before some driver thing rears its head and I go "screw it wheres the install drive".

I can have everything reinstalled and everything working again in 2-3 hours.

 

[eidairaman1]

Since 7, 'reinstalls' have been really only been to experiment with, then settle.
(Bad RAM/OC corrupting Windows, aside)

XP for me was way too much, I skipped Vista. 7 I only reinstalled once on my main, once on athlon xp and once on my dell xps gen 1 laptop.

 

[mouacyk]

Every time a bad RAM overclock corrupts it.

 

[Launcestonian]

Every time a bad RAM overclock corrupts it.

True, but that's completely avoidable if you boot into a pre windows environment like when using Memtest86 via a USB key.

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

I haven't had too. My FX rig started with win7 and has just been upgraded since and now its at Win11 24h2. Mt Ryzen rig started with win10 and now is at win11 24h2. Just upgrades no fresh installs.

 

[Vayra86]

When I build a new PC and as little as necessary in between. Necessary: a bug in the OS version; or unfixable Windows related behaviour, or malware.

Well, don't misunderstand me.

I'm not saying that suggesting it is bad. Nor is doing it because the issue is something that you otherwise can't figure out.

I just see it as the "nuclear" option, and I think some people are a little too happy to throw the suggestion around early and easily in any troubleshooting scenario.

I can only speak for myself, but a lot of the things I leave alone are precisely because because I've learned better. I installed Windows XP many handfuls of times. I don't have the willingness to waste that much time any more. If something may be beneficial, I'll either research it, or try it myself to see what the difference is. If I can't find an obvious reason for it one way or the other, I'll leave it at the default. Worst case scenario, I might be missing out on some small benefit by leaving something alone, which is generally better than breaking something (and "breaking something" can simply be a session crash or application crash as opposed to a broken operating system). It's worse when it comes to something like the page file, which often gets perpetuated specifically by enthusiasts and other people with more RAM than they use, so they get away with settings that might be restrictive, and so they push it on others who probably aren't in that "have more RAM than I touch" boat with justifications like "you totally have to manually define your page file or games won't work right". And if you try and tell them why recommendations like that could be harmful, or ask them to prove any of these things they say, they tend to bow out, or they give you the "it's worked fine for me for years/decades". I might be picky on this one because it's one I used to do, and then I learned better, and I often have to help people fix this when it causes them issues because they changed it because "someone advised them to".

And reinstalling the operating system is definitely faster, but that isn't the part that takes the most time and effort for me. Even back when we were installing from optical media to hard drives, it wasn't even close to the part that took up the most time. The time and effort part is getting the software environment set up the way I want. For some of us, that's a lot more than it is for others. Why waste that time if I don't too have to? "Windows is faster when fresh?" Okay, the time I'm potentially saving is more than lost with the extra time installing it fresh/setting it up, especially when it just slows back down again anyway. And my system starts up fast enough for me anyway; most of the time is spent in the BIOS/POST phase because of my RAM and storage configuration, so a fresh Windows install won't help there.

This community seems to skew a bit older in my impression? If so, I'd say the reason is perhaps because a lot of people have "been there, done that" and don't have the willingness to burn time for placebo or risks anymore. Time becomes more valuable as you get older.

One thing a reinstall does that an updated system does not is that it lacks a lot of individual KB-updates from MS and instead has those compiled in the build itself. Quite often KB updates are the cause of unexpected behavior. Thats an advantage because those updates are then tried and tested. Therefore a PC that has lived through years of updates and hotfixes in updates can definitely look different from one with a fresh install.

There are a lot more of these small advantages to fixing issues through fresh os installs. A big one, esp when you dont know what the user has done, is the fact its a reset button so you know what you are dealing with again. Its the same thing as 'run everything stock' and 'exclude things until you find the problem' in that sense. It massively helps further troubleshooting if the problem then persists, too.

But the best fix even today is still this one:

IT Crowd - Have You Tried Turning It Off And On Again?

 

[Morbius2021]

Roughly Twice Per year, its about every 9 months now that MS is releasing new versions once per year. It all depends on how much new software I try, especially utility stuff, it usually makes for a big mess so once in a while, its nice to have things stable again. I will say 24H2 has been a pleasant surprise compared to 23H2 of Win 11, its been one of the most problematic and unstable years I have ever endured.

My Thread ripper system really likes 24H2, had tons of crashes with 23H2 and windows 10 became completely unstable, especially with all the wonky VPN issues, I often connect to different systems sometimes multiple systems per day and windows 10 got so bad with VPN that I would have to restart after every connection to allow a new one. Windows 11 23H2 was almost as bad with every months update, ever since monthly updates starting in Jan 24 things really sucked.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Roughly Twice Per year, its about every 9 months now that MS is releasing new versions once per year. It all depends on how much new software I try, especially utility stuff, it usually makes for a big mess so once in a while, its nice to have things stable again. I will say 24H2 has been a pleasant surprise compared to 23H2 of Win 11, its been one of the most problematic and unstable years I have ever endured.

My Thread ripper system really likes 24H2, had tons of crashes with 23H2 and windows 10 became completely unstable, especially with all the wonky VPN issues, I often connect to different systems sometimes multiple systems per day and windows 10 got so bad with VPN that I would have to restart after every connection to allow a new one. Windows 11 23H2 was almost as bad with every months update, ever since monthly updates starting in Jan 24 things really sucked.

24H2 seems to perform very well with Ryzen. It's getting tested with my Ryzen 7 3700X in the other room. Makes that pre-Vermeer Ryzen feel like brand new!

 

[yfn_ratchet]

I only start thinking about reinstalling when:

1. There's some weird scruple in my system causing issues,
2. I can't find a less invasive solution (uninstall/reinstall software, edit registry key, fix dependencies).

But that hasn't happened in a long while. Most of my 'reinstalls' have been due to moving things to a new drive in the last couple of years.

 

[Princess Garnet]

Whats the "widest" migration anyone has done? reading this thread I'm contemplating doing a W10 migration on my brothers PC instead of clean install. He's currently on i7-2600k but swapping to AM4 which will include cloning the OC off a SATA drive and onto an NVMe SSD

I've basically done the example you just gave (with the exception that both SSDs were SATA so there was no NVMe in the mix), but since it was by accident, I didn't test it too thoroughly.

I did my platform upgrade and Windows upgrade at the same time in early-middle 2020. Before, I had a 2500K with Windows 7 and was moving to AM4 (3700X) with Windows 10.

I had Windows 10 installed on a new SSD I had gotten and Windows 7 was still installed on the old one. At one point, I was switching hardware back to my original 2500K stuff for some last minute things or something (this was all done in the same case if you're wondering why the "switch"), and I left the SSD with the Windows 10 installation connected instead of the one with Windows 7.

So now my old hardware was booting the Windows 10 installation which was done on an entirely different platform around a decade newer. Surprisingly, it just started right up. There was a "Windows is installing your new devices" prompt or whatever it was, but other than that, it just started up and it seemed to go by without missing a beat. Now I didn't test it beyond this point to see how well it'd have worked since I had no reason to... but my impression is that it may have been just fine.

There are a lot more of these small advantages to fixing issues through fresh os installs. A big one, esp when you dont know what the user has done, is the fact its a reset button so you know what you are dealing with again. Its the same thing as 'run everything stock' and 'exclude things until you find the problem' in that sense. It massively helps further troubleshooting if the problem then persists, too.

I do agree, there's a time and place for trying to reinstall the OS when troubleshooting.

My only qualm is with how early and casual it can come out as a suggestion in some of those scenarios. Methods like "trying default settings" or "turning it off and on again" are pretty quick changes and can be reverted. Reinstalling the OS is a lengthier, one way thing, and there's sometimes a huge management and time effort that needs considered.

 

[AleXXX666]

Install is near instant, at least i use ADK to turn all OFF and it's like that, now to backup your stuff there is Synkback for files/folders, then the regitry is possible with SMA Registry, once file/folder listed and regitry list done, backup to reapply on fresh instal is instantly done too, except the Windows crappy boring to set settings, but now i uninstall WD so i'm good.

umm, that's the "another way" of "cloning", just you clone your "settings and apps", not the whole os, I can't see the difference, just for me it's easier to do it without reinstall or god sake the "ADK" usage like I have some hundred-pc park lol

 

[xtreemchaos]

I try to do a clean install about once a year don't ask me why I just do but i do like installing stuff, I live a shelter life .

 

[lexluthermiester]

I try to do a clean install about once a year don't ask me why I just do but i do like installing stuff, I live a shelter life .

There's no wrong answer. Everyone has their own jam.

 

[bonehead123]

OS ?

hummmm.....whahdatiz.....please explain..../s

j/k

On my main home pc, I've only reinstalled W10 pro once since the original install way back when, cause I keep it lean & clean, and have a secondary machine for janking around with low-level stuff like the registry & such... on that one, well I've reinstalled too many times to remember after borking something here or there

My work rig is managed by the IT guys, but AFAIK, they haven't reinstalled it's OS since late 22, but they stay on top of updates & maintenance, so there's that..

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

they haven't reinstalled it's OS since late 22

I could have been one of them, if I didn't get malvertised in early-2024. (I was good until very-early February, IIRC)

 

[natr0n]

constantly since I test different OS a lot

The longest I have had one OS drive untouched is maybe 3 years which is a win 8.1 drive

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

constantly since I test different OS a lot

The longest I have had one OS drive untouched is maybe 3 years which is a win 8.1 drive

Would last shorter for 8.1 and earlier, even more so for 7, due to its tendency to have Windows Update errors. It gotten to the point with 7, that I started to only for the most part, accept integrated updates.
Even when 8.1 Windows Update errors were more sporadic.

 

[damric]

Every time a bad RAM overclock corrupts it.

Yeah because of that pain, I generally keep my extreme OCing and benching on separate test benches in recent years, or at least separate drives that I don't mind getting corrupted and reimaged. I also figured out which drives can take lots of hard power offs without dying after losing so many ssds.

 

[AMF]

i havent had to reinstall os inovver 3 years since i stopped using google and gmail....

 

[natr0n]

Would last shorter for 8.1 and earlier, even more so for 7, due to its tendency to have Windows Update errors. It gotten to the point with 7, that I started to only for the most part, accept integrated updates.
Even when 8.1 Windows Update errors were more sporadic.

I turn off updates from the start,so never/rarely have issues. Once in a while I would get an updated build/iso.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Once every few months. Usually when it becomes too full of residual files and general crap, reinstalling is quicker.

 

[kilo]

I reinstall about once a year for my primary computer. My longest stretch with the same install was two and a half years on w10.