Does Windows rot over time?

[Alaric]

Got my first computer around 2006 and learned from scratch with XP. After a year or so of repairs and reinstalls (steep learning curve) my OS was stable enough that I never turned the computer off except the occasional update-mandated reboot. It once ran 24/7 for 6 months with no problems. I only turn this computer off to play with the hardware. Otherwise it also runs 24/7. I generally have zero real problems with Windows (other than I still don't like Win 8 very much).

 

[c627627]

Partition the hard drive and install the os on a relatively small partition. Install only small apps on the os partition. Set things the way you like them to be. Image the partition.

I reimage it back once a month or else things start falling apart on me. It is always a surprise to hear people running installs without reimaging for a long time. I could not do it.

 

[eskimochaos]

Partition the hard drive and install the os on a relatively small partition. Install only small apps on the os partition. Set things the way you like them to be. Image the partition.

I reimage it back once a month or else things start falling apart on me. It is always a surprise to hear people running installs without reimaging for a long time. I could not do it.

It all depends on what you do.

Holy thread revival.

 

[txus.palacios]

I voted, then realized the thread's age.

+1 to c627627

 

[wingman99]

It's good to see how things have changed from 2005.

 

[shadowdr]

I voted, then realized the thread's age.

+1 to c627627

Yeah, I voted on this thread seven years ago while XP was still my primary OS. I think that the results from the poll would be a lot different since Win7 has come out. I have seen nothing except a few MS updates and some bad drivers from AMD that have had any negative impact on performance or the registry rot that just seemed to happen with XP.

 

[txus.palacios]

I just had to say that most times, it's not the OS the culprit, but the user. They hand a computer to monkeys these days, it seems.

Not the first time I see someone copying things over and over again "for security purposes". OK, that's fine to have a lot of different copies for security purposes. But, at least, move them to another partition. I've seen a 500GB drive get filled with 60GB of data, and 400GB of copies of that same data. It was hilarious wiping data out of that drive. I even thought that was some kind of virus or something.

I've also seen desktop wallpapers behind a curtain of icons, guys saving icons to DVDs and thinking they've just copied the program, and people that think computer skills == cracker. Not the first, and it won't be the last time that they ask me "omg can you get this girl's Facebook password?", "ohai can you help me and hack my neighbour's wifi kkthx<333" or "heeey can you hack a bank like in the movies?". And when you answer a plain, polite "No, I can't, and even if I could, that would be ethically incorrect, I'm not a hacker, and if I were, I wouldn't be a black hat" they just say "OH YEAH? WELL BURN IN HELL "&"·%/(·$&!%"$·$%/!!".

It just amazes me.

 

[wagex]

I just had to say that most times, it's not the OS the culprit, but the user. They hand a computer to monkeys these days, it seems.

Not the first time I see someone copying things over and over again "for security purposes". OK, that's fine to have a lot of different copies for security purposes. But, at least, move them to another partition. I've seen a 500GB drive get filled with 60GB of data, and 400GB of copies of that same data. It was hilarious wiping data out of that drive. I even thought that was some kind of virus or something.

I've also seen desktop wallpapers behind a curtain of icons, guys saving icons to DVDs and thinking they've just copied the program, and people that think computer skills == cracker. Not the first, and it won't be the last time that they ask me "omg can you get this girl's Facebook password?", "ohai can you help me and hack my neighbour's wifi kkthx<333" or "heeey can you hack a bank like in the movies?". And when you answer a plain, polite "No, I can't, and even if I could, that would be ethically incorrect, I'm not a hacker, and if I were, I wouldn't be a black hat" they just say "OH YEAH? WELL BURN IN HELL "&"·%/(·$&!%"$·$%/!!".

It just amazes me.

i agree with you Partially thats the way it is now but xP i treated the same way i do 7 and the only time i have had to do a reinstall with 7 is when i changed hard drives, from 7's release and now im almost two years on that install, i dont do anything different still and i had to do a fresh install of xP every six months or so otherwise it got ungodly slow

 

[wagex]

just an update i guess since some one hit the poll, i just installled windows 7 for the third time since it released, why? because i switched to an SSD as a main boot drive

 

[c627627]

Partitioning the SSD under Windows Vista/7/8 (not partitioning under WinXP) then simply imaging WinXP and Win7 from mechanical to SSD is how I avoided reinstalling and doing what you did.

 

[wagex]

Partitioning the SSD under Windows Vista/7/8 (not partitioning under WinXP) then simply imaging WinXP and Win7 from mechanical to SSD is how I avoided reinstalling and doing what you did.

i dont have enough room to do that i have 300gb of stuff and only a 60gb SSD so i installed on the SSD and left the mechanical drive hooked up just booted off the SSD and will clean up the mechanical drive e.g. remove the windows folders and whatnot and link the addresses on the drive e.g. program files to the ssd.

 

[Culbrelai]

It's bloat, accumulation in the registry... lots of things.

I guarantee you if you just left a default computer on with nothing installed and never touched anything, installed anything, it'd be the same as it was when you first started it 4 years in the future.

It's largely the human element, installing, uninstalling, and shoddy registry management as said above...

 

[wagex]

yep i do concur.

 

[Noshei]

It's bloat, accumulation in the registry... lots of things.

I guarantee you if you just left a default computer on with nothing installed and never touched anything, installed anything, it'd be the same as it was when you first started it 4 years in the future.

It's largely the human element, installing, uninstalling, and shoddy registry management as said above...

don't forget crappy uninstallers that leave a ton of crap behind (not just registry)

 

[Culbrelai]

But its not completely the user's fault, computers are supposed to be used, especially Windows computers and its very disappointing and frustrating that they degrade over time so quickly, and you must lose everything and have to reinstall it all from the beginning.

Gonna start making images of my OS and all of the programs I install on it firstly when I build/get a new computer and keep restoring it to that point if it ever craps out on me...

 

[c627627]

Dual boot, Culbrelai, (both small partitions with large apps installed on a third partition), then image one OS from the other every month just before Windows update. Save a new image once a month to a third partition. Repeat monthly and in two minutes your OS is BRAND NEW every single month.

I don't know I would have done if I didn't do that since Windows 9x days.

Not the first, and it won't be the last time that they ask me "omg can you get this girl's Facebook password?", "ohai can you help me and hack my neighbour's wifi kkthx<333" or "heeey can you hack a bank like in the movies?". And when you answer a plain, polite "No, I can't, and even if I could, that would be ethically incorrect, I'm not a hacker, and if I were, I wouldn't be a black hat" they just say "OH YEAH? WELL BURN IN HELL "&"·%/(·$&!%"$·$%/!!".

It just amazes me.

Is that what you do? I just tell them come here you, put their head in a headlock and give them a noogie.

 

[wagex]

after this install i am going to copy the drive image to my server and have it on there in case i ever decided to install again, because i hate going back and installing all of my software again, will probably put a copy on the storage drive in my pc as well.

 

[madcratebuilder]

It's largely the human element, installing, uninstalling, and shoddy registry management as said above...

The most dangerous thing windoz faces is it's user. My XP box is eight years old, tons of software. I think I've had two or three issues over the years from **** caught off the net. Sure. it's slowed down a bit, but I only reboot two times a month at most. It's power on 24/7.

 

[SMOKEU]

I install only my day to day software and games on the host OS, and install everything else on a VM. It helps keep the host OS nice and clean.

 

[Wipeout]

I have a back-up image.Let windows rot away.A few clicks and I have a new fresh copy.Rinse and repeat when needed.