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Question

Clean install and May update

Jun 1, 2019 3:29PM PDT

I do all the maintenance on my sisters desktop PC. That said, I have never done a “clean install” on her PC. It’s over 5 years old. Done all the ‘major’ updates. Her computer is working fine. I have even done those sfc /scannow and chkdsk /f /r /x scans.

Would there be any benefit in doing a ‘clean’ install, reinstalling all her favorite programs and then, when the “May” update seems stable, doing that update.

Thanks in advance

Discussion is locked

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Answer
I advise avoiding clean installs.
Jun 1, 2019 4:16PM PDT

I find that folk are often surprised at having to hunt down a driver that Microsoft doesn't find for them. If it's working, use it.

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Answer
no real benefit
Jun 1, 2019 5:43PM PDT

I have been running windows since the beginning. never did a clean reinstall in order to do maintenance. too big of a pain. first you have to make sure you have all key and registry info. copies of all programs installed, drivers for all devices attached to the computer, then several spare days because five years of updates can take a long time. then you have computer manufacturer and software updates that need to be done. while doing all of this, there could be problems because sometimes updates from manufacturers, microsoft, and other software can be installed in the wrong order.

after a few days of updating, the computer will be slower while indexing and other background work. and that is not including all the different settings to get things back to normal.

unless there is a major reason to reinstall, don't do it.