XP: to upgrade or start afresh?

[gholman]

Hi,

I'm considering upgrading my PC from W2K to XP and would be interested in anyones views on doing a straight upgrade or wiping and reformatting my OS partition first for a nice 'clean' install.

Traditionally I've always done the latter as this gives me the ideal chance to get rid of accumulated **** from my drive.

cheers
Grant

[gholman]

please note the '****' auto-removed form the previous posting was the word 'c-r-a-p' and NOT 'p-o-r-n'

I just wanted to clear that up :)

[lechumbl]

Hi Grant,

Boy that is a hard question.

I believe "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I normally don't reformat and clean install unless I am having problems on my home systems.

Unfortunately, I have data that I can not loose, so clean install is out for me, or at least as a last resort.

At work, I have 52 computers, and I have "clean install" images for all of them, and use them regularly.

There are progs (like EasyCleaner) that will clean out the junk and useless keys from your registry, and there are many progs that will scan and remove un-needed files and pointers, etc from your system. And they are shareware or free.

Check out this link..lots of good sites for progs: http://www.ripnet-uk.com/downloads.shtml .

Later

[JohnyX]

I've always been a fan of the clean install.

[Teleknesis]

I have never done a clean install in my life, but m uncle did, boy did my computer run faster after that..

[BigBen]

Hi,
I would go for a clean install but make sure you have all the relevant XP drivers downloaded

Regards

[jema]

I am in the same quandry myself as I'm due to get XP, the problem with a clean install is reinstalling bucket loads of thridy party software, that may have patches needing applying or registration processes that will need to be gone through.

I spent a number of days for example getting a working Ingres key.

I think the question to ask is, is your system mererly cluttered or is it broken?

In my case it is cluttered and so I will clone it to a new hard drive, declutter with what ever utils I can find and then upgrade.

I wonder if an XP upgrade would allow me to wipe my dual boot to windows 98? as I would no longer need this :confused:

jema

[Terminator]

I always start with a fresh install for a new OS, although XP is basically a updated Win2K, I just hate knowing there's loads of rubbish left on the drive :)

[Dave]

HI.

probably not what you want to hear but - it's gotta be the fresh install.

cheers

Dave

[mrv777]

Go with a clean install.

Doing an upgrade can sometimes leave things behind from the previous OS and cause problems or slow downs.

I did a clean install of XP and it works great.

[Berkswolf]

I too have always favoured the clean install route, just be sure to back up anything important.

Sound advice that from someone who forgot to back up his irreplaceble photos last time he done it :( :(

Lee, I haven't used easycleaner with XP. Will I need an updated version to my 1.7? and is it just as safe with XP as I always found it to be with 98SE?

Actually, I will just go look at their website. :D:D

[lechumbl]

Hi Berks,

I just got back from a mini-holiday of 4 days at Mt Rainier.

Lots of snow.........anyway, I use Easycleaner 1.7f on XP and have no problem.

If you don't have it, let me know, and I will send it to you at no charge.....actually it is on the web, but if you can't find it, I will send it to you.

Have a great day.

[gholman]

Hi, all. Went for the clean install in the end.

All seems (more or less) groovey and a lot of the games problems I had under W2K (Quake 2 and System Shock 2 were dodgy) are now sorted.

The new look is Ok(ish) - reminds me of some of the themes KDE and Gnome (both Linux) have had for ages.

I also didn't bother with several different partitions this time (e.g. OS, apps, games etc) and went for one 25Gb FAT32. This was after reading an article at www.anandtech.com about 1 partition vs many.

[lechumbl]

Hi gholman,

Two comments:

(1) You can change the GUI from Dr. Seuss look alike to Win2K look alike, if you don't like the default.
(2) The only problem is if you plan to do an image or a backup locally, you can not do it on one partition. You might think about putting in a much smaller second HD and using it for backup or image.

Good job on the clean install......Like I said earlier, I can't do a clean install, but I use Easycleaner 1.7f for cleaning out my Register of unwanted Register Keys, and another prog to remove pointers that are no longer valid.

Better than nothing, I guess.

[Berkswolf]

Hi Lee. Just came back for a look at this thread as last time I checked you hadn't replied to my queery. Obviously when you were away. I had already downloaded version 1.7F which is a later version than I had. Now it has received the lechumbl vote of confidence I shall install it and clear all the old dross out of my registry.

NOTE always back up your registry before making changes. :)

[lechumbl]

Hi Berks,

Don't know bout the vote of confidence or not, but it works for me.
There are a lot of progs out there that clean Registry and such, but I have found Easycleaner 1.7f to be the best for me.

By the way, sorry bout the SlotA dying. Time to go to the good Socket A now anyway.

Type at you later...........Take care!!