how often do you reinstall / restore your computer's OS

Like, never...

Last time I re-installed Ubuntu is because of my stupidity. I wanted to try KDE so I installed that. When I removed KDE it apparently just removed about everything with it.

Other than that, none. My father uses Windows XP and although slow (Centrino Duo, 1GB RAM), it didn't BSoD for a long time now. Although I leave System Restore to ON. Cause.

Some people do this: Buy a powerful machine, install a bare-bones OS, install some form of Virtual Machine and use their OS within the box. They say it's safer.

Rarely. 

 

Only when my computer is fully loaded with software (i never use), and it uses lots or resources (ram)

Not that i can remember, probably never

Only when I first assemble a new PC. 

If you keep your PC in good shape (defragging, clean ups, frequent malware scans, etc.) there is probably no need to reinstall your OS.

^ X2. There should never be a need to reload an OS unless you've done something really really dumb that can't be repaired.

Never, neither installing nor re-installing. That's how Mac works.

Never.

The last time I installed an OS was on my MacBook. I had filled up its 80GB drive and installed a 320GB drive. Decided to do a clean install and then pulled everything off the old drive. But it wasn't like OS X was malfunctioning. My next reinstall should be when 10.7 rolls out. I haven't had to reinstall iOS, either. I've had an iPhone and iPad since they came out, as well.

My other machine is still running Fedora Core 4. That's not a typo. It runs and does what I need. I've been meaning to upgrade one of these days, probably with a new motherboard, etc. in the case. But I've been lazy and haven't done it yet. It'll probably happen when the hardware breaks. I doubt Linux will.

Last night I did this on my mac

 

Then I reset the PRAM, because it had been acting sluggishly... not any more.

 

The last time I had to reinstall the OS was on my last MacBook Pro, when the sound output died. Took it to an Apple store to be repaired even though it was out of warranty for over a year. They weren't able to fix it as the sound card was part of the mother board. So they replaced it with a brand new one for free, which I'm using now.

 

 The next time I will do a reinstall is when I put a SSD drive in it.

Edited by MrQ - 3/13/11 at 3:12pm

I prefer not to.

With the use of cleaning tools, it's not necessary IMO (Windows XP user).

Only time I ever reinstall is if I'm upgrading my OS to a newer or better version. I never reinstall just to get that "new computer" feel. For that, I regularly use defragmenters and cleaners such as Crap Cleaner. Win7 Ultimate x64 here.

 

 

 

never. been running windows 7 since january 2010. i do cleanups and defragments every once in a while. and it's solid.