How often do you reformat?

Usually after 6 months, but I will also reformat if I've fiddled with software and made changes to Windows that I don't usually like (making changes in the registry to get legacy software to run, different versions of Java or drivers etc.)

Sometimes I will make a Ghost image beforehand and then just revert back but I've done that maybe once in my life. Usually I just nuke the OS drive and start afresh
 
Only when a hard disk crashes..:)

Win 7 PC un-re-formatted since 2009. Actually want to clean the baffles a bit but it's such a schlepp I keep putting it off..
 
I remember back in the day we used Returnil to keep the machines running smooth.

We moved all the user data to a separate partition, then designated Returnil to activate on the OS partition. Upon reboot it would be like a brand new PC and any crapware that the users may have installed or downloaded was removed :)

This was before the days of actual proper GPO's when I was still starting out in my IT career:o
 
Whenever I need to put on a new OS. I ran Windows 7 from 2010 to about the end of 2015 without having to format - including cloning my existing install from an HDD to an SSD.
 
I've gone three years on a Windows 7 install once, and the only reason for the change was to move to a SSD with proper partitioning and alignment. Windows 8 to 8.1 was three years again. I took that same install across three different motherboards and even slapped it onto a drive for my netbook.

Windows 10 has only been reinstalled once. It's been ported between two boards, three different drives, and along with all the crap I put it through, it also gets regular updates on the Windows Insider Slow Ring.

Linux just doesn't care what I do to it. Same install can be used anywhere, which still blows my mind.
 
Never, my main windows pro install has been grinding along for 6 odd yrs, been through 3 totally different hardware platforms(use the migrate to different hardware feature of Acronis or similarl), 3 SSD hdd upgrades, an upgrade to Windows 10 from 7 and an insane amount of Reg hacking, dodgy software, more dodgy software and still flying totally glitch free.

Quite impressive actually, despite the many shortcoming of Windows and a few hiccups, since 7 it's been by and large bulletproof.
 
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Never.

Unless upgrading OS which never does well on Windows.

OSX I upgraded across numerous machines without ever clean installing.
 
Very, very regularly when I used XP, now and then with Windows 7 and almost never with Windows 8, 8.1, 10.
 
Loading crudware gums up the system. With tens of millions of crappy Win32 apps over >30 years, most users don't have a clue about what goes on underneath, and how lousy apps, drivers, thunked middleware, and lousy firmware in subsystems screw up the tubing.

Get control of your system and it should run pretty much without issue for years and years, especially since Vista (Win 7 is just a slightly tweaked Vista).

Msft has been trying for years to deprecate Win 32, because it's open and comes from the days before malware, so vulnerable to both badly-written apps and badware that can stomp over the system. But the market won't budge because of the millions of legacy Win32 apps. Between rock and hard place, and Windows always picks up the blame.
 
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Arthur said:
Loading crudware gums up the system. With tens of millions of crappy Win32 apps over >30 years, most users don't have a clue about what goes on underneath, and how lousy apps, drivers, thunked middleware, and lousy firmware in subsystems screw up the tubing.

Get control of your system and it should run pretty much without issue for years and years, especially since Vista (Win 7 is just a slightly tweaked Vista).

Msft has been trying for years to deprecate Win 32, because it's open and comes from the days before malware, so vulnerable to both badly-written apps and badware that can stomp over the system. But the market won't budge because of the millions of legacy Win32 apps. Between rock and hard place, and Windows always picks up the blame.
Click to expand...
With good reason. They keep trying again and fail miserably over promising and under delivering.
 
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