How many have reinstalled Windows on old comp? (XP, drives)
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I have a computer that has seen a lot of action over the last 6 years with downloading music, thousands of files and pictures, missing extensions, registry errors, etc. It has gotten to the point where it was bogging down so badly that it would take 10 seconds to open a program, and there were so many programs running in the background, you could barely do anything. I would occasionally run disk defragmenter, CC cleaner, spyware programs, etc, and it wouldn't make a difference.
Normally, I would discard the computer and call it old. Instead, I saved all of my pictures and files to an external harddrive and reinstalled Windows with the original CD that came with the computer. This thing is like new with nothing lagging the computer! I have 4 icons on my desktop and a handful of icons in the Start menu. No bloated hardware that comes with new computers. I should have done this a long time ago! The only difficult part was getting my network adapter (Wifi antenna) to work, but I found the installation CD that comes with it and reinstalled the driver for it. I should have done this a year ago.
Thanks for sharing your experience. This is exactly what I need to do for this old computer. My router's manufacturer told me my PC is too slow and I need to BUY a package from their "partner" company to improve the speed and clear out unwanted files--. I did not want to do that at all. Problem is that my PC didn't come with a Windows 7 disk so I have to buy one--worth it to me.
Everyone that posts in this forum has done it... Yep, it's a great way to speed things up.
Sorry, not everyone. I have never done it. But I can see the advantages for those that ARE knowledgable. I still have trouble trying to save my files. LOL Much less trying to remember which files can be accessed by the newer OS's. Getting senile maybe.
Sorry, not everyone. I have never done it. But I can see the advantages for those that ARE knowledgable. I still have trouble trying to save my files. LOL Much less trying to remember which files can be accessed by the newer OS's. Getting senile maybe.
Ouch, must be slow moving!
I reinstall windows at least once to twice a year for good measure. After awhile I end up with files that are so cluttered and unorganized that I'm not even sure what to do with it all (on my C: at least).
Everything I save ends up on the NAS nicely organized.
Because I have a SSD as my primary boot drive and another SSD for my game drive, things keep on chugging nicely, but I like a clean OS install from time to time as well.
I used to 'wipe and reimage" all the time. Basically install a computer the way I want, create an image. And use that as my "baseline". Then I would reapply that image every so often, catch-up with all the patches etc., then that will be my new baseline. My personal files would be kept on a different partition, so the process doesn't really impact the data from that stand point.
These days, with VMs, I do the same thing with snapshots or just keep a copy of the original VM file. Even quicker. My main machine is a Mac, and I usually do a wipe/install with a new major release (e.g Mavericks).
I used to 'wipe and reimage" all the time. Basically install a computer the way I want, create an image. And use that as my "baseline". Then I would reapply that image every so often, catch-up with all the patches etc., then that will be my new baseline. My personal files would be kept on a different partition, so the process doesn't really impact the data from that stand point.
These days, with VMs, I do the same thing with snapshots or just keep a copy of the original VM file. Even quicker. My main machine is a Mac, and I usually do a wipe/install with a new major release (e.g Mavericks).
I used to use this and it was fantastic at preventing bad installations and bugs from coming about. Simply restart your machine and everything you did in your session is reversed lol
If you are confident with your changes, then you can unfreeze the computer and save.
Yes, I have a cheap Lenovo desktop that I bought around 2010-2011 that was still running Windows Vista. It has a dual core Intel CPU(don't remember which one), 8 gbs of RAM and 1 tb of hard drive space. Last year it was running terribly slow so I thought of buying a new one. Before doing that, I decided to install 64 bit Windows 8.1 on it. I booted from the Windows CD, reformatted the hard drive and ran the install. It was pretty quick and Windows installed default drivers for audio, video and Ethernet card. My machine probably became 40% faster so that was an easy win.
The main issue seems to be that printer/scanner support. I have an older multi function printer and the scanner program, Scanito Pro, dies periodically. Maybe it does not play well on the 64 bit OS... Anyone have similar issues?
I used to use this and it was fantastic at preventing bad installations and bugs from coming about. Simply restart your machine and everything you did in your session is reversed lol
If you are confident with your changes, then you can unfreeze the computer and save.
Have been told about it, but never used it. A VM snapshot sort of does the same thing (albeit snapshots do have overhead). I'm sure there are more capabilities with a full fledged product though.
I loaded all of my old documents and pictures on an external harddrive, and I'm not putting them back on the computer. I have a problem with saving pictures and WORD files and never deleting them or using them... they just add up. So far, the computer is working great and much faster.
Yes, I have a cheap Lenovo desktop that I bought around 2010-2011 that was still running Windows Vista. It has a dual core Intel CPU(don't remember which one), 8 gbs of RAM and 1 tb of hard drive space. Last year it was running terribly slow so I thought of buying a new one. Before doing that, I decided to install 64 bit Windows 8.1 on it. I booted from the Windows CD, reformatted the hard drive and ran the install. It was pretty quick and Windows installed default drivers for audio, video and Ethernet card. My machine probably became 40% faster so that was an easy win.
The main issue seems to be that printer/scanner support. I have an older multi function printer and the scanner program, Scanito Pro, dies periodically. Maybe it does not play well on the 64 bit OS... Anyone have similar issues?
Nov 2008 i7 920 build had Vista... Bringing it to the Philippines I install Win 8.1 Pro. Works ways faster and handles more web browsers open. Major upgrade effect with Win 8.1 Pro. I like Win 8.1 now way better than Win 7.
I had no problem using Win 8.1 Pro with my old 2008 Can MX 850 multifunction printer.
most of your problems seem to be fragmentation related.
windows ntfs allocates new files without additional padding.
so if you create a resume.odt then create a cover-letter.odt the file system will map it like
Quote:
resume.odt
cover-letter.odt
lets assume you open up the first file and add in your current work experience. after you save it it will look like this to the filesystem:
Quote:
resume.odt - 1st part
cover-letter.odt
resume.odt - 2nd part
after many months and thousands of files being updated (including automated logs) the filesystem begins to bottleneck (hard-drive chatter).
that why linux and mac os x dont benefit form disk defragger (they waste a few kilobytes whenever a new file is created -- not a big deal with 500 gb/ 1 tb hard drives).
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. I did not want to do that at all. Problem is that my PC didn't come with a Windows 7 disk so I have to buy one--worth it to me.
