How Often Do You Re-Install Your System?

[astrostu]

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]

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.

 

[xparaparafreakx]

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]

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

 

[mad jew]

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

 

[S281]

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]

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]

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.

 

[NorCalLights]

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]

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

 

[Alloye]

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]

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]

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

 

[Nermal]

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

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).

 

[Jack Flash]

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

 

[tutubibi]

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