BleepingComputer.com: uninstall/reinstall XP periodically?

Is it true that every year or 2 you should uninstall XP and reinstall it to keep it fresh, and stop it from getting bogged down with 'junk'?

Well...what's the source of that little tidbit?

If your system is running well...there is no reason to ever uninstall/reinstall anything on a computer...be it O/S, drivers, or programs, IMO.

Situations mandating an uninstall of the O/S include...failure to backup or clone the installation, some malware situations, damaged file system (NTFS/FAT), problems which can neither be solved within a reasonable amount of time or which mandate a reinstall because user lacks the proper tools/capability for attempting to troubleshoot, and a change of either the motherboard or the hard drive on a system.

Louis

Those of us who have a user history with older versions of Windows...periodically uninstalled/reinstalled...primarily due to a lack of the proper tools that are currently available to troubleshoot O/S issues. Many of those mysteries of yesterday...are now properly documeted and overcome by simple procedures.

This post has been edited by hamluis: 09 April 2011 - 11:17 AM

thanks!
i heard that tidbit from a friend...and saw some stuff on the internet, but thought i would check with a reliable source first!
thanks!

LOL...well, I don't know how "reliable" I am...but I've been using Windows since 1986 and have plenty of experience uninstalling/reinstalling it .

I can give you my view, but there are probably a number of users with a totally different perspective.

Bottom line...uninstalling/reinstalling does no harm...does good in the circumstances I previously described.

Louis

Its been my experience that those who advocate a fresh installation to regain performance are those who don't do the proper periodic maintenance of the operating system.

out4trout, on 09 April 2011 - 10:19 AM, said:

no

Thanks everyone!