How Often Do You Re-Install Your System?

A

astrostu

macrumors 6502

Original poster

• Jul 27, 2007

• #1

Just curious. I think I do it once every 2-3 years, just to get rid of all those thousands of tiny files that were created from all those applications that I once used but never did again. And generally I do it with a major OS upgrade.

Oh, and this means a complete and total clean install, wiping the old system and starting anew (though copying back files and folders like work stuff, etc. is fine).

 

Xavier

macrumors 68030

• Jul 27, 2007

• #2

I have never done a "clean install."

The only time my OS gets a install of any kind is when there is a minor OS update, like 10.4.10, or a major OS update.

 

X

xparaparafreakx

macrumors 65816

• Jul 27, 2007

• #3

Brand New Computer, New OS, and every break I can get during the school year. I try to it once a year during the summer.

 

twoodcc

macrumors P6

• Jul 27, 2007

• #4

i'd probably say between 7 months and a year. but also whenever it needs it

 

mad jew

Moderator emeritus

• Jul 27, 2007

• #5

I reinstall whenever IJ Reilly tells me to. I also sneak in the odd reinstall for major upgrades such as Panther to Tiger.

 

S

S281

macrumors newbie

• Jul 27, 2007

• #6

Mine will only gets OS upgrades when more advanced OSs come out, or when bug fixes are released. I'm probably not going to do a major OS upgrade until I really need to though.

 

SmurfBoxMasta

macrumors 65816

• Jul 27, 2007

• #7

Only when a major release comes out ie...10.3... >> 10.4.0

I haven't done a complete wipe since 10.1, & only then because it was a beta release 😛

 

ghall

macrumors 68040

• Jul 27, 2007

• #8

Only when I'm having problems. Mainly I run Maintenance, about 2 times a month, and run iDefrag whenever I need to. I like keeping my system in top shape.

 

N

NorCalLights

macrumors 6502a

• Jul 27, 2007

• #9

My time is too valuable to be spent reinstalling my OS. That's why I have a Mac. If something catastrophic happens, I can restore from my backups... but I don't reinstall unless I absolutely must.

 

MacPossum

macrumors 6502

• Jul 27, 2007

• #10

My first Mac (G5 Tower) that I bought three years ago runs as fast as it did from day one and I have never done a compete reinstall. Oh how I love Macs😀

 

A

Alloye

macrumors 6502a

• Jul 27, 2007

• #11

Only major point updates for me (i.e. 10.4 -> 10.5). Other than that, OS X seems to hold up very well over time.

 

Sbrocket

macrumors 65816

• Jul 27, 2007

• #12

I have too much customized under the hood to bother reinstalling the system regularly. I doesn't need it (as long as you don't screw it up), and its a major waste of time and effort. Then I'd have to move over all my LaunchDaemons and scripts and all sorts of other stuff...way too much trouble.

 

yetanotherdave

macrumors 68000

• Jul 27, 2007

• #13

I've done a reinstall once. When I upgraded the harddrive in my MacBook from 80->160Gb.
Other than that, no real point.

 

Nermal

Moderator

Staff member

• Jul 27, 2007

• #14

mad jew said:

I reinstall whenever IJ Reilly tells me to. I also sneak in the odd reinstall for major upgrades such as Panther to Tiger.

Click to expand...

Heh. I plan to format when 10.5.1 comes out, otherwise I've never done it on this system (except when I changed the hard drive).

 

J

Jack Flash

macrumors 65816

• Jul 27, 2007

• #15

Really just whenever I get the opportunity to reinstall everything how I want. I'd say maybe every 8 or 9 months.

 

tutubibi

macrumors 6502a

• Jul 27, 2007

• #16

I never did re-install on any of my OS X (or Linux) machines.

Windows is a different story. I have to re-install it on my kids PCs every 3-6 months. But even that is more because it's kids PC (everything get's installed) not because it's Windows 😉