How often do you reinstall Windows?

[tgm1024]

https://github.com/Sycnex/Windows10Debloater

??

Ok, we have a topic collision here. That's a debloater, not an auto-reinstaller of a list of needed/wanted apps.

I thought we were talking about the auto-installers. When you said this "There are a few guys that try to automate the bloat out of the box", I had thought you meant automating everything necessary for re-install with "out of the box" meaning at first install. (As in when you first buy something; It can be referred to as out of the box colloquially).

Any scripts for auto-reinstall that you are aware of that you particularly like?

 

[gpuerrilla]

Ok, we have a topic collision here. That's a debloater, not an auto-reinstaller of a list of needed/wanted apps.

I thought we were talking about the auto-installers. When you said this "There are a few guys that try to automate the bloat out of the box", I had thought you meant automating everything necessary for re-install with "out of the box" meaning at first install. (As in when you first buy something; It can be referred to as out of the box colloquially).

Any scripts for auto-reinstall that you are aware of that you particularly like?

We used to call it slipsteaming a while back. Im not sure what your on about, Windows has a built in 'refresh' tool to put it back into first buy something state, what is it you mean?

 

[MatteRB26]

Whenever I need to, if I change my OS drive I'll just reinstall to get a fresh start. I reinstalled as part of my cpu/mobo upgrade just to be on the safe side with the weird licensing from Windows. Plus I found out I had my drive interface set to te wrong thing and couldn't change it without a reinstall...

 

[Semple]

Used to probably every 12 months. Although i don't think i've done a fresh install for a good 4/5 years now.

 

[Ninco!]

My current PC is 3 years since purchase, only a recent update (2004) borked my PC. All my USB devices were dropping out at random.

Obviously a pain when an update nose dives, upon reflection, I had installed some rubbish over the years, so good to have a clear out. Did a fresh install last night and all is well again.

 

[andy_mk3]

Extremely rare I do so now. To the point where I have no intentions to ever do so.

Many years back was a different story in the days of XP/Vista/7 where I would probably do it every 4-6 months thanks to the good old HDD crawling to a halt once things got a bit messy on an install.

 

[tgm1024]

We used to call it slipsteaming a while back. Im not sure what your on about, Windows has a built in 'refresh' tool to put it back into first buy something state, what is it you mean?

No, lol, I think you're still misunderstanding my question. First, "slipstreaming" has to do installing an OS with all the patches and updates already combined. The OS. This is to keep you have having to wrangle with the auto-updater for a full-bore gazillion byte download every time through, say, windows updater. Nearly everyone remembers Windows XP SP2 slipstreams.....

I'm talking about the installing of various applications, games, etc., automatically. In any case, this is a bit of a dead-horse. It seems like the only truly solid way of doing all of this is to either:

1. Install them by hand (game delivery engines like Steam will automate the downloading, but not the configurations in a safe manner).

or 2. Hand-craft my own powershell script to do this for me (I'm a software engineer, it's not a problem). But at this point, due to the vagaries of each of the apps, I'll have already done more work than #1 above.

Ugh. Basically, the auto-installation routines and configuration shortcuts online are trying to solve a different problem: How IT does a /somewhat/ tailored install across an ocean of PCs, virtual or otherwise. I'm trying to find a way to decrease the pain in multiple reinstalls of all these games on one machine over time.

EVEN IF I have the bulk of the "must-have-OS-only" on a single "special" partition (I do this anyway, it's my NVMe drive, like many people do), and reload the "ghost" image of that partition, then I'm still stuck in all the other reinstalls, because even if they're on another drive entirely, Windows apps are notoriously picky about their assumptions in the registry.

It's not like Linux where nearly everything is based upon directories. At least there I can mostly just lift & plop everything perfectly into place.

Anyway, thanks everyone!! There is no solution yet for windows.

 

[Haze]

When it breaks...

 

[Akagi]

Every time I irreversibly break it by doing something stupid.

Couple of times a year.

 

[gpuerrilla]

No, lol, I think you're still misunderstanding my question. First, "slipstreaming" has to do installing an OS with all the patches and updates already combined. The OS. This is to keep you have having to wrangle with the auto-updater for a full-bore gazillion byte download every time through, say, windows updater. Nearly everyone remembers Windows XP SP2 slipstreams.....

Apologies if I got your target wrong. There are programs you speak of like ninite to manage and install in bulk from one click. I still need to grasp your automation angle as is it down to laziness or you have bulk machines that you want to churn out?

 

[tgm1024]

Apologies if I got your target wrong. There are programs you speak of like ninite to manage and install in bulk from one click. I still need to grasp your automation angle as is it down to laziness or you have bulk machines that you want to churn out?

Why would you pose this as a "laziness" (an insult) vs. bulk machines question as if it's that simple? Time is the most important thing that any of us has. Just one machine costs more in time maintenance over the years than I want to spend.

I'm trying to mitigate the time lost. This gaming machine I built is loaded to the gills. There are two themes in this thread simultaneously crisscrossing each other: Primary theme of needing to reinstall Windows 10, and a sub-theme how to recover the plethora of apps, along with each of their updates and settings squirreled away everywhere. You have to think in terms of a parent of two teenagers. I need to minimize the maintenance impact on me of that multi-colored multi-radiator multi-everything beast upstairs, along with keeping it safe from viruses, etc., etc.

Do you have kids? If so, then you already understand how time is not something you throw around lightly.

 

[DarrenM343]

Only do one if needed these days. Had a problem recently where invoking anything based around Chromium took an age so was forced to do a clean install then.
Still use an old Sony laptop (best laptop owned) that if I remember correctly has gone Windows 7 > 8 > 8.1 > 10 without having done any clean installs,unless done automatically as part of the upgrade process. Some of the original Sony apps under Win 7 that I didn't uninstall still work fine too. Still performs well considering it's now over 8 years old. It's one of the lightweight carbon fibre jobbies

 

[HeatSink]

Haven't done one in a year and a half. Just got an NVME SSD so I plan to reinstall Windows on it.

 

[Rikmeister]

And all of it is one PS script. So bar the initial install, I do nothing. I can't stand the thought of re-imaging, updating Windows, updating all the software versions then cloning again. What a yawn fest.

This is a great idea. Don't do Windows installs often enough to consider automating it but it's worth looking into.

 

[Django x2]

This is a great idea. Don't do Windows installs often enough to consider automating it but it's worth looking into.

Yep, best bit is the script never ages. Everything it does is latest version (apps wise)

 

[willhub]

Kind of a holy thread revival batman, but I didn't see the need to create a new thread.

I remember back in XP days it could easily be every month Windows needed re installing and had consistent BSODS, Windows Vista no better, 7 was improving, onto the newer Windows and it didn't seem an issue?

Had my installation of Windows 11 since May last year and see no need to re-install, doesn't seem any slower, conscious of all the build up of files in the background though, but wonder what's changed to make re-installing a think of the past in some ways?

 

[Akagi]

Kind of a holy thread revival batman, but I didn't see the need to create a new thread.

I remember back in XP days it could easily be every month Windows needed re installing and had consistent BSODS, Windows Vista no better, 7 was improving, onto the newer Windows and it didn't seem an issue?

Had my installation of Windows 11 since May last year and see no need to re-install, doesn't seem any slower, conscious of all the build up of files in the background though, but wonder what's changed to make re-installing a think of the past in some ways?

I currently have machines that still have their original install of Windows 98, Me, XP, etc. One even has its factory install of Windows 3.1, and that machine has never gone out of use since new!

Back then I don't remember having to re-install 95 or XP on either of the family computers we had either.

Maybe it was all that dodgy stuff you were downloading on limewire.

As for when I do re-install though, its either when I get a new computer, or when I break my OS horribly by getting a bunch of viruses while looking at weird internet porn. Whichever comes first.

 

[darael]

I reinstalled Windows 10 this June, mostly because I wanted to. I expect this install to remain on the drive until I upgrade my hardware, which will be Windows 11/12 compatible. But I'm more than happy to put off Windows 11+ as it's not an OS I agree with aesthetically.

 

[FatRakoon]

I have to confess, that my main PC has had W10 on it for a few years now.... I dont know how many and I could check, but Im lazy and the thing is, that while its almost definitely full of all kinds of crud, its still running flawlessly, and so, I have not bothered to reinstall.

I chucked Windows 11 onto my main laptop and thats sort of ok, it does the job and its staying there.

 

[ED209]

I re installed Windows 11 on the 4/6/23.

I know this has it was Diablo4 release date and when playing it would crash randomly after 20/30 mins. I tried to sort it but I kept loosing progress on every crash so in the end I just flattened and re installed the OS.

Nice and quick as I have my games on 1 partition and my OS on another so a quick re install and re create the shortcuts and its good to go again

Has been fine snice