Just reinstalled windows after 3 years

Devrij · 8 Feb 2013 at 23:35

I ran windows 7 for 2 and a half years and upgraded to Win8 on top not long ago. I then put that onto a new mobo/cpu/gfx card and bodged new drivers on top. It had been getting sluggish for a while, but I started getting pretty frequent BSODs recently, so I thought the time had finally come.

I imaged off the install just in case I bottled it, and away I went. 5 hours later and I'm back up and running and a much happier chap

Things I will never forget to do in the future:

- make an image of my freshly arranged PC (I had to start from scratch this time)
- keep all my .exe files to reinstall all those little apps you pick up over time (mercifully, I've been doing this for ages)
- keep all my music/docs/videos on separate drives (got to love the "add to library" function of W7/8)

If you're on the borderline of doing the same, do it. No more crashes, higher stable overclock, snappier OS, loads of SSD space

HangTime · 9 Feb 2013 at 20:05

Devrij said:
- keep all my .exe files to reinstall all those little apps you pick up over time (mercifully, I've been doing this for ages)

I used to do this (I have apps, drivers, patches etc going back well over 10 years) but the speed things move at nowadays they get superseded pretty quickly and most people except me have reasonable internet connections now allowing them to download the latest versions in a matter of seconds. At least 90% of the stuff I have archived is effectively junk now.

swinnie · 9 Feb 2013 at 21:06

Devrij said:
If you're on the borderline of doing the same, do it. No more crashes, higher stable overclock, snappier OS, loads of SSD space

And for those using SSD's, disable hibernation and remove the hibernation file!

ince · 9 Feb 2013 at 21:56

i am impressed with windows 7. never had any problems with it.

gareth170 · 9 Feb 2013 at 22:11

swinnie said:
And for those using SSD's, disable hibernation and remove the hibernation file!

but that will disable fast startup in Windows 8.

Breach · 10 Feb 2013 at 20:33

Back in the days of Windows 95, 98 - a fresh install was needed quite often.
More than once a year was not unusual in order to keep a nice clean fast system for optimum performance with the latest games

It was also a lot more messing about back then.
It is childs play now

Devrij · 10 Feb 2013 at 22:04

Yeah, I just used the refresh feature in Win 8, so no need to dig out discs etc. I have to sday, the stability of a fresh install without all the junk that piles up is just great

teenwolf · 10 Feb 2013 at 22:05

i do a fresh install every few months

d_brennen · 10 Feb 2013 at 22:08

bunnox said:
i do a fresh install every few months

I used to, then life happened. I used to spend hours attaining the highest possible stable overclocks too, now I am just happy for things to work right

darael · 10 Feb 2013 at 23:38

bunnox said:
i do a fresh install every few months

With the likes of Windows 9x, this was common on my computer. Since XP, this need has much reduced, and more-so with Windows 7 - my favourite version of Windows to date.