Re-formatting often = bad?

I never have Spyware or virus issues, I swear, not because I'm cool and have literally over 15 programs that take care of the job...

but because I enjoy reformatting my Sony every 2 weeks

I don't know why I love it, just do, and wondered: maybe doing it so much is bad for me?

 

ive ask that before and they said yea. they said its bad for HD

 

Hi can u explain to me by what reformatting means? and how to?
thanks in advance

 

I hope it's not bad, I reformat my hdd whenever I'm bored and never had any problems so far.

 

It pretty much means you delete everything from your hard drive including the OS. You can reformat using a windows cd or a program such as partition magic.

 

so its like recovering? deleting every single thing including the crap advertisements and demos?

 

how exactly does it damage the HD?

 

It's like recovering except without the actual re-installing the OS part. Once you have formatted a hard drive there's nothing on it and you have to re-install the OS to make a computer "work".

 

I doubt it really causes any harm to the hard drive. They are made to read, write and store information. Thats all you are doing when you reformat it, as long as you don't enjoy statically shocking your hard drive you should be fine

 

Its not bad IMO. I been doing so for the longest (10+ yrs) and haven't noticed any decrease in any of the HD's performance that I dealt with.

A more Technical Opinion or Professional test might say differ. But reality is what I'm mostly concerned about, so I say no it will most likely not hurt your HardDrive.

 

The mods said it causes damg. idunno why but thats wat they told me

 

Maybe excessive formatting can cause a premature death. But I think a format should be done every 6months. Or at least that about how often I format and reinstall. And sadly, not by choice, but because eventually things begin to pile up and its time to clean it out.

 

It causes no more damage than regular writing to the HD.
If you do a full format, it writes to every sector on the disk, but even that is... nothing special. Harddrives can be written to an insane number of times with no risk.

On a flash disk, I'd be much more wary of it. (since each sector there can only be written 1000-10,000 times typically)

 

Holy god! You guys format that much!?
I had my old desktop computer for 4 years. During those 4 years I formatted it 3 times.

I don't have any plans of formatting my laptop anytime soon!

I didn't think people did it that much (or did it for fun).


I don't see why you would need to format that often but I can't see any real harm in doing so.

 

I guess if you like having the feeling of wiping everything clean... improving OS and general performance doesn't seem like a bad idea

 

yikes... I can't imagine wanting to reinstall everything that often! I'll format every year or so and I loathe doing it... Windows performance can't suffer so badly that you actually need to format so often... periodically, sure, but not twice a month!

 

I agree!

I format when I notice a problem or I think my computer's in need of a full clean up.
I have an anti-virus, a run anti-spyware programs and I defrag my hard drive frequently. My computer runs fine and I don't notice a decrease in performance.

I guess some people need to clean more often than others!

 

I haven't reformatted my desktop in the almost 3 years I have owned it, primarily because it was not supplied with any type of recovery disc. In that respect XP is way better than any previous Windows, since none of those could go nearly that long without a reformat; however, this one is showing the typical random errors and slowdowns now.

Is it possible to obtain a normal install CD for XP home and install using the license key that is pasted on the case?

 

Reformatting is the lazy way of fixing a computer. If you actually know what's going on, you rarely, if ever, need to reformat.

And for a normal install CD for XP Home, it is probably not possible. You would need an XP Home OEM copy, as that uses a different set of license keys than the "normal" XP Home.

 

I wouldn't call it the lazy way or the easy way or anything. I've spent God knows how many hours amassing a set of programs to take care of cleanup so I can prolong my gaps between formatting without any hit to performance because I hate the hassle of wiping it clean then doing a full reinstall of every-fricken-thing. I've found a few programs that have no trouble with spyware, registry cleaning, cleaning out old unused files, defragging, etc for the express purpose of delaying the need to reformat.

All I need now is to find a decent anti-virus (and Kapersky looks like a winner at the moment) because I'm fed up with McAfee and it's eight trillion processes.

 

I format every 3 months, and my machines are just fine.

Even my cryix 233 that I built 10 years ago still works. The Hdd does!!

 

You will wear out your hard drive faster, since formatting generally involved FORMATTING the hard drive, and sometimes removing and adding partitions. It's a trade off for Windows people since they have to deal with poorly made product in the MS OS vs. burning out their hard drive faster...

 

I personally format one Partition alot because I test Linux Distros. Now running Ubuntu.

But I only format my Windows XP partition maybe once every four months or when I screw something up.

I doubt I will need to format my Vista Partition anytime soon.

I never format my storage partition. I keep all my music, vids and docs on it.
I also save all the programs I download and use to my storage partition so I don't have to look all over the web to find them after I reinstall windows. I even keep copies of all my acer drivers there too.


On another note ....I somehow managed to run Ubuntu without a swap partition. I think it might have to do with it being Ubuntu Ultimate Edition or GAG bootloader. If anybody can enlighten me as to why? that would be great. Having FULL use of a extra partition for an OS is SWEET, but now I'm scared to format or change anything until I know what happened. I would hate to lose a Partition to Swap.

 

I don't have a notebook yet but I reformat my desktop once a month. Yes, you heard right, once a month. It's an excessive compulsive behavior of mine.

I only installed Windows XP Pro, latest drivers, Windows Updates, Antivirus, and World of Warcraft. The whole process takes me about 2 hours each time.

I have never had a problem with my hard drives when doing this (running 2 Raptors on raid 0). I have done this with all my PC builds since 1998 with no problems. In fact, I've only had one hard drive die on me since 1998.

 

You don't *need* a swap partition, especially since you have 2GB of RAM. When I was running 4 operating systems on my Inspiron 9300, I didn't have one for a while (eventually I used an Extended partition setup to get it, but I didn't really need it). Linux is incredibly memory-efficient; under typical usage, you'll never hit into the swap on 512MB of RAM, much less 2GB.

 

Therein lies the problem doesn't it? If I knew what was up, I wouldn't be about to reformat (stupid laptop thinks usb slots now usb1.1 when it started off as 2.0 fine). No need to advise me; believe me I've done everything short of reformatting

 

I don't reformat to "fix" my computer per se. I know how to solve problems. But when searching for a solution to a problem = 30 mins + testing it out = another 20 mins + realizing, maybe, something else needs to be done = 30 mins

it is just faster and more effective to reformat in many cases.

but honestly I do it for fun, out of boredom, for the joy of tweaking the notebook again, to getting new widgets, whatever, feeling it "new" again, etc etc.

i dunno im nuts.

 

Wound it not be easier to just create an image of the hard-drive after reformatting and restore that image whenever you need to fix something? I find acronis works perfectly. Also, deepfreeze is always an option when you are experimenting with "untested" stuff.

 

Formatting every two weeks? Whoa, thats a bit much.

I think it might harm the HDD in the long term, but probably something you wont notice.

I would suggest instead to reformatting a little less (Maybe once a month?)

 

The only times I ever reformat are when some program messes up system files that I can't fix.

That happened last when I uninstalled a program and it took out a bunch of critical icons with it... once every year maybe...



The only thing it can do to the drive is cause a little excess wear obviously because you're doing a lot of reading and writing in a short period of time, but nothing out of the ordinary

 

I think RedSensiStar said it best... Though I don't reformat nearly as often. I do appreciate the fun of tweaking a "new" computer, and changing how things look. It is also nice to get rid of all the crap that amasses when trying out new freeware programs. Eventually the registry gets bloated, and even with a reg cleaner or two, a reformat has a more fun result.

I guess it's just about the novelty in a new setup. I only do it maybe once every 4-5 months, maybe now that I'm done with school it'll be less.

 

Thanks for the Info, I never knew that. I always thought swap was needed.

 

Some people like their installs to be as lean as possible, or use tools such as nLite. To them, your method is the lazy, haphazard and incomplete way of fixing an install, and that you think formatting is (or can be) other than trivial indicates your own lack of knowledge.

 

Please don't say stupid things. Partitions are logical, and formatting the drive or altering the partition tables is no different to any other write operation.

 

When I was using Windows ME on a Dell desktop, I had two choices......

Either I delete tons of registry manually and trick stuborn files in deleting and rewriting itelf back on.

OR

Reformating and get rid off every single trace of junk.

I rather be so-called Lazy than deal with some of the BS spyware I dealt with.

The only thing I hated was that I had Dial up back then and downloading updates were a pain.

Glad I don't have to deal with any of these isses any more

 

You used Windows ME?



I used Windows 98 SE until XP came out.......

 

Yea it came with my Dell desktop. I learned alot about computers from dealing with so many crashes.

 

I loved ME. It was more stable than 98 at the time. And it was free for me so I used it, for almost 2 years. Then XP came out and I changed. Not because I had to, but because XP handled PPPOE better than ME did. Binding protocols to get pppoe to work sucked. But it was real easy back then to just format/install. I still only format 2 times a year. I dont run virus protection, I dont use system restore. I am just more computer savy now and dont download every free piece of software made available. Usually when I do a reinstall its because I have added so many files like pics and backups of backups that I just backup everything to my NAS, format and restore a saved image.

 

I used to format almost every week when I was gaming. When I feel my computer is running slightly slower than normal I'll reformat it. Now I really can't be bothered with it anymore. I try and not to format it and fix the problem.

But now I have lost count of how many computers I have at home so I really don't have time reformating all of them.

imho I think a full format does more harm than good since it rewrites all the sectors. But that is just my opinion, got no evidence to prove it.

 

Formatting and re-installing the os to clean up the hard drive or remove spyware/viruses and/or even for fun is just plain WRONG! I never have enjoyed this as it takes several hours for me to customize my environment. It should only be done as a last resort if your os has critical damage or your hard drive fails. I have had XP up on a desktop running 24/7 for over 4 years and have never needed to reinstall the os for "fixing" the hard drive or getting rid of spyware or viruses. I used only 3 software programs for virus and spyware protection plus a firewall. Unless you've got nothing but time on your hands and you like to do it, go for it as I don't see it damaging your drive but it's such a pain to install all the drivers etc.

 

With a slipstreamed Windows install (nLite) and a folder or partition full of installers, this takes much less time than you're implying.

Plus, this is really a matter of opinion. Whatever floats peoples' boats. There is no wrong or right about it. Though I think doing it ever two weeks is a lot, more power to the people that do it.

It's a two hour job if you're good at it.

 

hehe..I really dont think so RedSensi

All your really doing is using the write/read head on the magnetic platter, as it always does.

The Hard Drive can soon get crammed up with unecessary junk slowing down your PC. This maybe unecessry files and programs reducing Hard Drive (HDD) space, or other, performance resource issues such as excessive programs and program services running in the background, hogging system resources. Junk programs also fill up the Operating System registies with junk registry keys so it takes longer for the RAM to find the exat registry key it needs, seriosuly slowing your PC down. There are programs such as Registry Cleaners but these somewhat "cover up" the junk rather than getting rid of it. Refomatting, wipes everything off, and you have to install the OS, drivers and NEEDED, NECESSARY progams, so that after formatting, your HD is nice and clean and all the files are where they are meant to be so that data can be accessed more rapidly.

 

I don't quite reformat my laptop every two weeks but I do it often enough. I usually reformat completely when I'm about to install something big (new word processing program, as I just recently installed Office 2007, or a new theme, etc.) or just when I "feel" like I've done something that may have messed up the registry or something like that.

I probably reformat once every 2 or so months, and that's with defragmenting the hard drive every day. I mainly do it so I feel, like you, that my computer is NEW and CLEAN and...pure? I'm very, very OCD about that.

Not only do I reformat, the reformatting process for me needs to be flawless (everything needs to install properly, no lagging or mess-ups during installation), otherwise I will immediately reformat again (my laptop also needs to be completely disconnected from any other hardware, printer, external hard drive, speakers, etc.).

Talk about OCD. But I do keep a copy of all the software and stuff I use on a separate external hard drive so installing isn't an issue. The longest part is the recovery process where I do a complete hard drive wipe and then I actually run the recovery program (takes about an hour) and then installing windows updates, tweaking the theme, etc.

 

Hi All, is System Restore will not clean up the registry? or is it the same as reformatting the HDD? Thanks

 

Not at all System restore just takes "snapshots" of your HDD, at regular periods. So if you got a virus and your HDD is screwed up, System restore can take your HDD back to the condition it was in at a previous restore. It may delete some information because your rolling back your HDD, but your not wiping everythign off the HDD.

To clean up the registy you need a registry cleaner, but be careful, some of those programs apparently cause harm by altering shared registries which it thinks are useless, and it can cause cause havoc on your OS.

 

Thanks for the explanation

 

when i reformat with XP, it only takes me 15-20 mins. but with Vista ultimate it takes like 30-40 mins

 

It's not the amount of time to format that is a problem, it's the reinstallation of windows and all the programs you'd lke to run.

I think there seems to be a lot of confusion in this thread. Reformatting the drive literally just clears all the demarcations on the magnetic disk and resets the file structure to being "empty". Technically there is still a lot of potentially retrievable information, but it is not available through conventional means.

Now, if you reformat the drive and simply use your restore disk to reinstall yuor system, you reset the computer back to it's original factory condition. Good, right? Wrong. First thing I had to do when I got my laptop was to uninstall all sorts of crappy bloatware. This already implies that the registry is messed up from these things. Secondly, my hard disk was BADLY in need of defragmenting right out of the box!!! This means that the image being reinstalled is certainly not very clean at all. Perhaps some are better than others, but I'll bet most of these restoration images occur after tons of playing around and tweaking before being imaged.

Basically, unless you have an OEM copy of windows to install after reformatting, there is no point to reformatting, period. Using your restoration disk is probably in most cases putting you in no better of a position. Your best options are to minimise the amount of junk software you throw on the computer, and to learn a few cleanup tricks. Reformatting should be a last resort either when the bloating gets out of hand or serious problems arise. Any damage to the hard drive is probably minimal and given the life of the notebook probably inconsequential.

 

Whew this thread makes me feel much better about myself...my housemates were starting to look at me weird for my sick enjoyment of wiping everything clean and starting fresh.

 

Been using my clean laptop for a few hours now... mostly spent re-installing programs Must say its great how everything is lean and mean now. Best thing yet, when I re-installed my Edirol sound card and tried it with Foobar again, the occasional cracks and pops have now gone! (No idea if it is due to reformat or changing priority to background services)

For anyone reading, if you can, use a DVD DL to burn restore discs. If you use 2xDVD like me, you have to stay up through the night with your laptop to change DVDs And guess what? You cannot burn another set!