Should i reinstall??

KdjaCL

I just upgraded my PC from duron 800 /1024 ram (was 384 was last few weeks)

to 1700XP and 512 p133 SDRAM

Should i reinstall windows??
i know i should but dont want to ...LOL
Hoping someone will agree with me


Kdja

Samson

I think it's a good idea to reformat and re-install windows every now and then (even if you have not made any major changes to your hardware).
The amount of crap that collects on a windows based system is unreal, and when you install a new piece of hardware (eg. motherboard) the old drivers are usually lurking around somewhere, even if you (think that you) have deleted them.

TacT

Are you mad!

You've got it all wrong, upgrading a cpu and ram will make sfa difference to your OS, upgrade is an upgrade.
Upgrading say a video card is a different story unless your careful about it. Or a motherboard, there is more junk to clean up that can interfere with newer files for your new system (Way I see it if it's got a bios you reformat if it doesn't then no need to....

should we add some of this to the sticky's? How to clean up to avoid a reformat when upgrading? List devices that can be troublesome or can't be when upgrading.

Samson

True, but...
Although changing the CPU does not require installation of any drivers, I still think it's a good idea to reformat/reinstall.
Reason being: as windows is notorious for slowing down over time, he may not see the full potential of the processor upgrade.
At least with a clean start there will be (relatively) no crap bunging up his system, to make it seem as if it may have not made much difference.

Besides, as I said, it's a good idea to clear out the crap periodically on a windows system, whether any upgrades have been made or not.

Quigs Snr

If you're handy with a PC, there are lots of manual things you can do to cleanup the system, but you have to know what you're doing. You can also use a million and one utilities out there to fix up registries, delete the crap, defrag etc.... I personally like norton utils for this kind of thing.

I have an old celeron in the corner which hasn't been reformatted since the day it was bought and it runs as well now as it did then, despite huge usage. So in general I wouldn't do anything with the machine after updating the RAM and CPU, you simply don't need to.

What Samson is talking about is good housekeeping. You do need to do this. If you are not comfortable with registries and very familiar with the structure and workings of windows (and I do mean VERY familiar), then you are just as well off to as Samson does and reformat every 6 months or so. I however, prefer to do the cleaning up myself and that works just as well (I can tell it does through benchmarking the machine at regular intervals, monitoring disk usage etc......) Take your pick.

quozl

you can install the os, set it up as you like it. then take a disk image which you can burn to a bootable cd.

I do this because i use win98 for games, and its much easier to just boot from a cd, and take 6-7 minutes for a brand spanking new install, than to bother with the housekeeping that 98 requires.

It's also handy for after a lan or any other situation where lots of ppl have been messing with your pc and you're midly paranoid

Oh yeah, you can get free apps to do this, i use partition image for linux.
quozl

elexes

well considering the chip and mobo u allready have im guessing are totaly different to the one ur buying id reinstall . there bound to be probloms if you dont . its just better in the long run .

bugler

He doesn't say anything about a new mobo though. I think if he did then everyone here would be in agreement a reinstall would be needed.

TacT

Well I met him on Saturday to get hl off him and all he had purchased was a cpu and ram so he deffo don't need a reformat

Gerry

Yeah, if you changed mobo its a good idea to reinstall, however a chipset from the same manufacturer will probably work fine without a reinstall. I think its at least worth a try. If you are going to reinstall, for gods sake don't put win98 back on. After you sort out win2k, it doesn't slow down over time, unless you keep installing crap on it. My install was working for about a year until I wrecked it myself.

One thing you don't need to do is reformat. If you keep your files reasonably tidy, you won't have any need to. If reinstalling win98, boot to dos and deltree c:\win98. Win2k will delete the old install for you. I reformatted my 45 gig drive the other day, this was because I had cloned it onto my 80 gig. It was its first reformat in 2 years of use.

elexes

is there a xp mobo that can take a duron 800

bugler

Only around 6 dozen I'd imagine

KdjaCL

you are going to reinstall, for gods sake don't put win98 back on. After you sort out win2k,

I have Xp Pro ....

I left it for the moment havent got the time to reinstall ,ran windows update and got some new CPU drivers so assume i dont have to reinstall it ,if they come in windows update...

kdja