Formatting??
 

How often do you format your HDD?
I seem to be formatting mine every 3/4 months, there always seems to be loads of crap on here, but when I look for things to delete I can never find anything to get rid of...lol

So I just wondered am I the only compulsive formatter here or are others the same?

i never do it unless a big crash, i just keep everything updated, make clean uninstallation and i had systems runnung more than 3 years under xp, the point is to have a good antispyware and antivirus

I format it like once a yr, that's all, or only when necessary.

Re
 

Same here, about once a year. Sometimes more often though.

I only format when something goes wrong.

I can manage what files I have in Windows, and if it's running slow I might defrag. Formattings always too much hassle - plus if you got XP pre-installed with your PC you can't.. (well, ligitimately anyway)

I dont use Defrag of Windows. It doesn't work properly and doesn't make speed any better also. I use Perfect Disk. It takes a bit longer than the Windows one, but it works real good.

Formatting
 

I have formatted my secondary machine many times, and machines for other people, but I have never had to reformat my own primary machine, a P-II 400 with W-98.

I do clean it out rather frequently, but I have never had a serious problem with tjhis machine. However, awhile back I installed COPERNIC DESKTOP SEARCH, then removed it because I did not like the Toolbar additions. However, I believe it was this program that left a small problem that will probably require a reinstall of Windows. When my system boots, I have 2 each instances of QuickLaunch and another Toolbar I use, and the problem is not in the registry.

I will probably just save the current registry backup, Deletree C:\Windows, Rename C:\Program Files then re-install Windows, put back the old registry, delete the new C:\Program Files, and then rename the "renamed" C:\Program Files back to C:\Program Files. It should save me a lot of reinstall time since I probably have 6 or 7 hundred programs and utilities installed in my primary system.

Until then I just delete the duplicate toolbars during bootup.

Teddy

I defrag every month, clear my cookies and temp files every night, run
a good antivirus and I haven't had any problems with my pc.

I defrag like almost every day. So it makes my startup spped quite similar.:)

I used to be a tits up only gal... now I reformat at least three times a year. I'm downloading stuff all the time, uninstalling, etc. I think it's best to start completely fresh.

I don't exactly enjoy reinstalling all my progs and settings, but, I'm always happy once the process is finished and my pc is running SO much better than it was previously.

no need
 

theres no need to ever format a drive
if its getting slow defrag it
if its being replaced formatting dosn't actually permantly delete the data, the easiest way is to simply smash the hard drive to peices, actual smithereens
ifits full of crap then delete the crap

Not really. When formatting all / most data will be erased.

Only reformatted once to get SP2 installed
 

I'm always running cleaners, and frequently use the Windows XP Recovery Console to fix any disk errors. Rarely have any major problems in the past 1 1/2 years since getting the hyperthreading CPU, except putting in SP2 was a real pain. Had to reformat to get it done.

First post. Nice forum. I like them clean, neat, and not noisy. Came across this one from a Sofotex newsletter.

formatted data can be recovered, i've had personal experience with this, and some of the tools available are quite good, i was able to recover over 80% of my drive. :D
There is a better way to 'format' a drive, if you wish to destroy all the data, known as a Zero Fill. Available in many ways, including the maxblast boot floppy.
There are occassions to format, defrag can definatly put this off for a long time, but eventually it can be a good idea to start fresh.

I must admit I format very often. Though I defrag and cleanup the system, there's nothing like a fresh and clean computer. Of course, I make a partition to backup my data since backing it up would make me reconsider it.

I've never done it, although I probably should have on occasion.

I am in the favor of reformatting only if it is really necessary whether the difference is of year two years or a month it doesn't matter. If my system works fine and I don't have any trouble I won't go for it