Ok Im a newb... Reinstalling Windows XP

[Eelskraps]

hello all.

Ok Im gonna ask a question that I should have asked a long time ago.

I have been lurking on these boards (and learning alot) for a while and one of the recurring themes I seem to see is a recomendation for a fresh install of windows.

How necessary is this? Is this something that should be done every couple months or something? I run McAffee security suit, and run AdAware once every couple of weeks or so. And I try to stay away from wierd lookin sites and emails. (ALL of my stuff is paid for software). My wife however, goes to every cute little link some yahoo sends to her so theres no tellin what is on her machine.

Ok ok, im ramblin. In a nutshell, should I do a fresh install? And am I correct in thinking that I lose EVERYTHING on my machine? Programs, data etc???
I built this machine over a year ago and starting back to scratch just scares me, not to mention that I can guarantee losing a day with all the reinstalls and patches to my MMORPGs etc.

Anyone got a few thoughts of guidance on this?

[Erik]

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

My feeling is that as long as you have no problem there is nothing to gain from doing a fresh install every x amount of time. You know how your PC was running when new, if the performance has dropped significantly then there is a good chance a fresh install would help. But then again I would try doing a through scrubbing with anti-spyware, disk cleanup, disk defrag, etc. before going to a fresh install.

That is for NT based versions of Windows anyway (XP and 2000 for all intensive purposes). If you are still on 98 or ME then a fresh install regularly would help out improving the system in general.

[jlreich]

I agree most of the time a fresh install is not necessary. The best thing to do is a have good backup plan and implement it regularly. That way if something fishy is going on, or in the case of an oops I didn't mean to do that, you can restore the backup without even knowing what happened.

My personal favorite tool for backing up is BiNG (BootIt NG) and "Image for Windows". But there are other ways and other programs to do it.

Do a search on the forums and you will find oodles of info in backup strategies.

[PrntRhd]

Back when WIN98 was the OS most used, a reinstall after formatting was routine every year or so. XP is so much more stable than the older OSes that it does not need to be blown away and reinstalled on a routine basis.

[Sylvander]

My idea is that you should make regular image backups, especially of the system partition, but all the other partitions too.
Keep all the data off the system partition [C:], including all your personal data for things like emails, address book, favourites, My Documents [all your personal data that changes by the second].
Ideally you would have begun making backups right from the time you first installed Windows afresh.
Keep that special copy of the first image backup made after Windows has been installed and is working well.
Make [and store away safely] another backup made at the point where all programs have been installed and are working well.
Make a backup before making important changes [like installing a new program].

The idea is that as you move forward in time, with changes to your software taking place [sometimes not for the better], you leave behind a trail of "backup snapshots" of your software setup made when all was working well.
I make a new backup about every two weeks, keep a written log of all backups, restores, program installations [usually restore a backup made before an install rather than uninstall a program]. I delete any backups that seem redundant, keep those that [from reading the log] seem most useful.

Now you are in a position to not only move FORWARD, but also move BACKWARD [you now have the ability to reverse].

Think of it like during wartime [a metaphor]...
You are a soldier walking forward in a dangerous landscape...
Suddenly you find you have walked forward into a minefield...
But you have the ability to "jump back" out of the minefield to a known safe position.
That's the kind of ability these backups give you.
And they totally eliminate the need to routinely begin anew with a fresh install.
Like jlreich, if I so much as sniff something amiss I restore a backup.
So the system software tends to remain totally clean and orderly.
If something nasty creeps in so slowly that I don't notice, I can always jump back to one of the really early backups.
And I don't lose any valuable data: it all remains unchanged and up-to-the-second because it's on other partitions.