Reformating HD

**wipeout140** · October 30, 2006, 12:40 PM

Well my main pc is not bad pc, not state of the art(for specs look at my sig) but its been same windows install since 2001 when windows XP came out. And it haves been came slower and slower recently, with some programs not working at all e.g. MSN Messanger (no spyware or virus) searched with AVG AntiVirus 7.5 and Anti spyware 7.5 with latest updates. And read on other online site that most people reformat there Hard disks every few months from only 2months to 1 year. And was thinking of reformatting the HD. Getting it back to clean windows XP SP2 Install, as over 5 years many programs have been installed and uninstalled.

What do you think??

How often do you reformat your HD???

**communisto** · October 30, 2006, 03:48 PM

it should be fine, just make sure you back up stuff you want somewhere, i usually reformat my HD once a month

**krazykarl** · October 30, 2006, 04:01 PM

i try to do a clean install annually.

**Spiff** · October 30, 2006, 04:05 PM

annually is sufficient i think, but if you keep your system clean and well looked after with regard to removing junk, keeping the number of processes down etc you shouldn't really have to format.

**wipeout140** · October 30, 2006, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by Spiff

annually is sufficient i think, but if you keep your system clean and well looked after with regard to removing junk, keeping the number of processes down etc you shouldn't really have to format.

Its defrag each week, and it haves 35 processes running normally, and i keep startup processor to min so only antivirus,antispyware,firewall start along with cachemen so get the most RAM back

**AlfonsoVIII** · October 30, 2006, 04:44 PM

I would reformat since it has been 5 years. I have seen drastic improvementby doing this on other computers. I reformat my drive on every upgrade, but I might do it now to prepare for M2TW. Who knows.

**Incinerate_IV** · October 30, 2006, 08:38 PM

There are always going to be crap reg cleaner/CCleaner/Spybot can't detect. I reformat once every 6 months to a year (Depends on when I upgrade my computer really), and everytime I've noticed a speed increase.

**Arakorn** · October 31, 2006, 05:03 AM

Umm, am I the only one who has never reformatted it?

I don't want to lose all my files, especially the modding! (Only have a 30GB iPod, but of course there are mainly games on my comp...)

**PrPete** · October 31, 2006, 05:47 AM

What's the deal with re formatting with xp? Surely if you have upgraded your machine in the past few years when you come to re register xp online it will not recognise your computer as the same computer and may not activate it. For example. I have significantly upgraded my pc over the last four years. Essentially it's a different computer now. If I was to re install xp now surely I wouldn't be able to register it? Am I wrong?

Also, whats the difference between retail xp and OEM xp for the homebulider? Apart from £100 in price that is!

PrPete

**Spiff** · October 31, 2006, 08:52 AM

As far as i know you can register using the same key 4 or 5 times before the registration software will ask you to phone microsoft and get a new one

**PrPete** · October 31, 2006, 09:30 AM

So, I can use a copy of XP that came with a dell computer on a new home build?

**Spiff** · October 31, 2006, 09:41 AM

well.. probably.. im not sure how legal that is though so i wouldn't immediately recommend it.

From microsoft:

If a reinstallation of the software is needed, must I purchase a new license?

In general, no. If the same version of the software is reinstalled on the same machine or is not concurrently installed on any other machine, no new license is required. Additional licenses are generally required for installations above and beyond those allowed by the product's EULA.

If a reinstallation of the software is needed, is reactivation required?

Not always. If the same version of the software is reinstalled on the same machine and the hard disk is not reformatted prior to reinstalling, the software will remain activated. Reactivation will be required if the hard disk is reformatted and the software is reinstalled. This is because the software's activation status is stored on the hard drive and reformatting the hard drive erases that status.

What happens when you try to install and activate on more PCs than the end user license agreement (EULA) allows?

Per the EULA, installing on more PCs than the EULA allows would be in violation of the EULA. Technically, product activation does not limit the number of PCs the software can be installed on. It would be possible technically to install the software on, for example, 100 PCs. Activation would fail though on 99 (98 for Office XP or Office 2003) of those 100 PCs thereby limiting the usefulness of the illegal installation. Outside of an activation attempt, Microsoft does not know how many PCs Windows XP, Office XP family product, or Office 2003 System product have been installed on.

http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation_faq.mspx