I was sitting here thinking on reformatting my PC. For reason, Corsair icue isn't able to recognize my ASUS MoBo for LED control and ASUS Aura isn't working. After uninstalling and reinstalling it. It's been a while since I have. And have added a new NVMe and extra Ram after the last install. So I was thinking. How often does the community reformat their PC's?
Never really. I am a stickler for file maintenance and making backups, as well as running SFC. If I observe an issue I can't readily resolve, out comes the Macrium boot drive.
System One in my specs below is running an OS that started life as Windows 7 on an older machine, got the free upgrade to Windows 10 in August 2015, then took every W10 upgrade up to 21H1. I then used Macrium Reflect to take a system image and restored that to a new machine, where it then got offered the upgrade to Windows 11.
With regular maintenance and monthly system images I've had no need for a clean install. On the (very) few occasions where problems could not easily be resolved I have restored a system image from a month or so before the problem started and avoided it the second time round.
1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
Internet Speed
50 Mbps
Browser
Edge, Firefox
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Latitude E4310
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-520M
Motherboard
0T6M8G
Memory
8GB
Graphics card(s)
(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
Screen Resolution
1366x768
Hard Drives
500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
Formating is an old thing I have not done for years now! maybe last time was when I used windows 95. Then came a life saver software, (Norton Ghost) and if a serious problem was present I would restore a backup. Today I restore with AOMEI.
Even when I want to isntal a new windows OS or start from scratch, then I boot from OS USB and delete partition and install on the unallocated part.
I like to install a new, fresh system several times a year. All my data is kept in OneDrive and all my app installs are online, so I'm up and running with a clean registry and clean OS very quickly. I have a nice brisk 700Mbps Internet connection.
Microsoft 365 subscription
Microsoft OneDrive 1TB Cloud
Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
Microsoft Sysinternals Suite
Microsoft BitLocker
Microsoft Copilot
Macrium Reflect X subscription
Dell Support Assist
Dell Command | Update
1Password Password Manager
Amazon Kindle for PC
Lightroom/Photoshop subscription
Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation
For iCUE apparently there are some issues with last couple of Nvidia driver updates interfering with iCUE's ability to recognise/ control some devices. Check the Nvidia forums for information and reported issues.
Like others here I go with never. Nearest I've done is a repair install but just for testing. When I mess up it's just a case of restoring the C partition.
Never. Last time I did a clean build was on W8.1 when my Sony laptop died.
Since then had two laptops and all have been updated through all versions of W10 and now W11. I event ported OS from Lenovo to Asus laptop so I did no clean install on latest.
If you maintain pcs properly, no need to for reinstalls. My pcs still idle at around 1% CPU after years of operation.
Even registry cleaners are largely a waste of time. I do use Soft Organiser to temove traces of uninstalled programs, but never do more than that.
Usually every couple of years, I did it in May 2021 (windows 10) but wanted a clean install of Windows 11 so did that 10 days ago. Probably won't do it again for a while. I take regular daily image backups so if I do something or there's a problem I can revert back to the most recent backup. I always make an extra backup before updating GPU drivers etc.
I tend to buy used machines. I will typically do a clean install when I first get them, but that's all.
For my old 'main machine' I did a factory reset of its OEM Win7 about a year before it was offered the Win10 upgrade. That's the machine's OS that I eventually migrated to my new Win11 compatible 'main machine' to get the upgrade to Win11.
I have a second Win11 supported device that I bought recently, that one got a clean install of Win11. To be honest, I cannot find any difference between a W10 to W11 upgrade and a clean install, they both run without issues.
1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
Internet Speed
50 Mbps
Browser
Edge, Firefox
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Latitude E4310
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-520M
Motherboard
0T6M8G
Memory
8GB
Graphics card(s)
(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
Screen Resolution
1366x768
Hard Drives
500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
I was sitting here thinking on reformatting my PC. For reason, Corsair icue isn't able to recognize my ASUS MoBo for LED control and ASUS Aura isn't working. After uninstalling and reinstalling it. It's been a while since I have. And have added a new NVMe and extra Ram after the last install. So I was thinking. How often does the community reformat their PC's?
