hard disk formatting...

[black_moon]

does frequent formatting of hard disk decreases its life span or even damage the disk?

[DavidR]

The question would be why the requirement for frequent formats and what sort of figures are classed as frequent ?

If you are talking about your recent formats you mentioned in earlier posts then I don't think so. Though I would have questioned the need to format in those circumstances. A format should be a last choice option.

Modern HDDs are pretty resilient so unless you are considering weekly/monthly formats I doubt it will effect the life of the HDD. You are more likely to replace your system before you come to the end of a HDD, though there are occasional HDD failures but I doubt these are as a result of over frequent formats.

[CharleyO]

***

I really do not understand all the reformatting of harddrives that people do. I understand that there are occasions or problems that require a reformatting but these should be rare occurances. Why are you having to reformat so often?   


***

[DavidR]

I would rather have root canal work than reformat, I guess that's why I bought a Disk Imaging software tool.

[Vladimyr]

I would rather have root canal work than reformat, I guess that's why I bought a Disk Imaging software tool.

Really depends on the dentist. I fell asleep twice during RCT sessions with one who is particularly skillful......but I digress.

Any/all HD use shortens its life to some extent but formatting and re-installing an OS on a healthy HD should be no worse than general use. It's likely to do more damage to your social life than to the disk . Just powering up and down are more likely to hasten failure.

[Lisandro]

I can't understand why formating a disk will shorten its life time...
Of course any usage reduces its life time as everything in life that has a life time.
Of course, I won't trust in a hard disk that I HAVE to format frequently...

[SpeedyPC]

Most people reformat their HD in case of a virus or trojans can be very hard to remove without successful, and this is why clone software call True Image, Norton Ghost and Drive Image to help us without hours and hours of reinstalling everything back to normal.

Sometimes silly people installed a software can harm your OS or most beta software version can do more harm if your not careful.

I reformat my HD in case I don't something wrong.

1. In case of a virus or trojans can be very hard to remove without successful.
2. If I made a mistake installing a crap software version.
3. Sometimes MS windows update patch can harm your OS.
4. In case I might delete something by mistake that belong to MS Operating System.
5. A healthy HD (I only reformat my HD every 8 to 12 months using True Image as my backup clone).

Reformatting is a normal thing to do in case something goes wrong.

[bob3160]

Reformatting is a normal thing to do in case something goes wrong.

Actually, Reformatting should be the last alternative and should only be used if nothing
else will correct the situation. IMHO

[CharleyO]

***

I agree with you, Bob. In fact, I have never had to reformat a hard drive, even though a couple of them have been infected with some very nasty things in the distant past ... thanks to Norton & McAfee!   

And like David, I think I would rather have root canel work done. Reformatting a hard drive should be a "last ditch" effort to save a hard drive.


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[roro]

I have read before that it is good to reformat your hard drive a couple of times a year to clean out all the uneeded stuff that may be slowing down your computer.  Has this advice been changed?
I have never had to reformat.  It is enough trouble to put in all my favorite programs if I upgrade my computer.  Since I only run my desktop computer for 6 months out of the year (I use my laptop when I am away for the Winter), therefore letting the harddrive rest for that time, is my desktops harddrive only half as old as the 5 years that I have had it, and can I expect it to last twice as long?

Ro Ro 

[DavidR]

For me if you keep on top of it there isn't going to be unneeded stuff to worry about. A format is a massive undertaking. Not just reinstalling an OS but all its security updates, in itself a monumental task. Then you have all the tweaks and settings you made in the time since you previously formatted.

Then you have all the programs to install, updates to download, tweaks and settings to apply. Setting up all Internet Connections, Network, registrations, user names, passwords, the list is endless and to me a real exercise of last resort.

This is also why I have hard disk imaging software, because on dial-up I would be just finishing off the security updates, etc. etc. when it would be time to format again, thanks but no thanks.

As to will your HDD last twice as long, perhaps not, inactivity may also have an impact on longevity if not stored in a stable environment, dust, dirt, heat, cold, etc.

[mbourne]

I find our Windows 98 PC starts getting very slow and unreliable (eg. sometimes crashing immediately on startup or logon) after a couple of years. A format and reinstall sorts it out, but does take a few weeks to get everything back to normal (since I have other things to do as well!) I think that was a common problem with Win9x, and at that time I frequently heard advice to reinstall Windows frequently - perhaps the advice roro has heard dates from then? I certainly knew people who would reinstall those OSs every 6 months or so. On the other hand, my Windows 2000 laptop went for 4 years without needing a reinstall (would probably have gone much longer if the hardware hadn't died). I think versions later than Win9x have been more stable, so don't actually need such frequent reinstalls.

[DavidR]

<snip>
I think versions later than Win9x have been more stable, so don't actually need such frequent reinstalls.

With the notable exception of winME which seemed to be a total lash up and probably less stable than win98.

I never reformatted and reinstalled from when I upgraded from win95 to win98 and then to win98SE and then to win XP Pro, they were all Upgrades in situ and that is probably the worst case scenario an upgrade over an existing OS installation often left remnants. But it was possible to keep your system trim ensuring the junk was removed and resources under control.

Even when I upgraded my system, built my next system using many of the components from my old one, primarily the HDDs (or copy a mirror of my dick onto the new HD), Optical drives, RAM and graphics, so I managed to get away without a format and install for well over 6 years.

[mbourne]

<snip>
I think versions later than Win9x have been more stable, so don't actually need such frequent reinstalls.

With the notable exception of winME which seemed to be a total lash up and probably less stable than win98.

Indeed. I'd originally said Win2k and later have been more stable, but changed the wording and forgot about WinME (isn't that the best thing to do with WinME anyway... forget it? )

[DavidR]

<snip>
I think versions later than Win9x have been more stable, so don't actually need such frequent reinstalls.

With the notable exception of winME which seemed to be a total lash up and probably less stable than win98.

Indeed. I'd originally said Win2k and later have been more stable, but changed the wording and forgot about WinME (isn't that the best thing to do with WinME anyway... forget it? )

Absolutely

Unfortunately there are many still soldiering on with it.