Originally Posted by
world888traveler
A full OS reload is necessary once a year to ensure that the computer is running properly. Not doing it would mean that the system will become slower every year, and files can become corrupt. If it's an OS X, then it's not necessary...but on a PC running any version of Windows, I would do this. And I'm speaking from experience because I work in this sector.
I've worked in software development for ages, and have used Windows since the 2.x days (ugh), so I have some experience, too. As long as you are not constantly adding and removing software (which can leave crud behind), it's really not necessary (and apps can leave crud on OS X, too).
I haven't done an OS reload in ages. And Mrs tomh009 ran the same Windows XP install on her trusty ThinkPad X31 from 2004 to 2010, when I managed to convince her to upgrade. Yes, I added memory and switched to a bigger, faster disk, but even there the disk was cloned, not rebuilt.
Sure, rebuilds can be done but you'll spend a lot of time rebuilding, reinstalling and reactivating applications.
