Pedro Parker

Hey guys, i'm due to reformat my machine pretty soon here. I've had it for 3 years but have never reformatted it yet. It's definitely time because it's slowed down ALOT and has many viruses i'm sure.

I was just wondering how often people have reformatted their computers, and what benefits does is give, aside from wiping out unwanted viruses.

Thanks.

musclebobbuffpants

Whenever I started windows over, it would read my hard drives better. I have 2 so sometimes it doesn't read my slave drive. The internet goes faster (probably because the viruses are gone) and that's about it.

Pedro Parker

I see, well it's definitely time to do it. I should get that thing cleaned on the inside too... 3 years would probably accumulate alot of crap.

vectorizor

I think it's a pretty good practice to reformat twice a year or so. Although some people see improvements in their computer's performance (probably from all the bloat/mal/spyware they've accumulated during their day to day use), it also reinforces the good habit of keeping up to date backups of critical data.

Pedro Parker

That's true, backing up i a good practice. But don't you think that reformatting so often kind of defeats the purpose of a big hard drvie if you're just going to keep wiping it clean? But I totally see the plus side, it keeps your comp clean and you back up your stuff more often.

Pedro Parker

Okay so I know HOW, to reformat now, but what other stuff do I have to install other than windows? Will I need to reinstall drivers for ALL my hardware?

VTMercutio

Windows should see some of the drivers, but depending on the hardware and the manufaturer you could have alot or only a little to do. Even if windows does install the drivers, IMHO its best practice to get the most updated copies of the drivers from the manufacturers of the hardware themselves. I tend to format roughly three to four times a year and it does keep the computer running more smooth and a good backup of everything important.

If this is your home computer don't forget to backup those favorites. I can't count the number of times I have formatted and have forgot to save my favorites...annoying to the tenth power.

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falco85

never reformatted it, and I'm experiencing slowdowns.. I should decide someday to do it!

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killingprod

keep reformating.... comp too much virus...... gonna smash my comp man...but found out using ghostfile to reformat comp and only take 10 min!!!

joeblow1e

For a slow machine, the steps I take is running registryfix...it will clean out all the unused registry files and gets rid of all the clutter. Definetley showed a quicker machine for me. Then I use XoftspySE (the most current is the best) and used that to clear out all the spyware and what not that had took over my pc. I also have mcafee virus and firewall to help for the most part. Anyway, if you need help reinstalling, i'd be more then happy to explain that if needed...Hope you resolve this! I know it can be a pain!