Clean Slate, Baby

[Lemur]

Well, my Windows XP install has gotten too weird, and no amount of anti-spyware probing and anti-virus running or registry-cleaning seems to be sorting it out. Something's up and I can't nail it down, so I'm going to do what Real Men do when their Windows install gets flaky:

CLEAN SLATE. That's right, I'm going to wipe my C: drive and start over. I'm downloading drivers as we speak, and making backups of my freeware apps (GIMP, Firefox, etc.).

You have exactly ten minutes to talk me out of this madness. Otherwise ... nuke the hard drive!

-edit-

Okay, one of my backups is taking a while, so you've got ... let's see ... 31 minutes and 2 seconds to talk me off the ledge.

[Gregoshi]

Go for it. You can be my guinea pig. I've been kickin' this around in the back of my mind too. My machine is six years old though and I'm not sure it could stand the shock.

Good luck!!

[Xiahou]

I keep telling myself that, one day, I'm going to do a clean install of my PC, install my favorite apps, and Ghost it....... one day.....

Until then, I hate reinstalling my OS- or rather, the OS is the easy part, it's getting everything else installed and configured how I like it that drives me nuts. The only time I install a new OS anymore is when I have a new PC to put it on.

[Lemur]

That's a very solid idea, Xiahou. When I've gotten through the pain and anguish of getting all of my apps and utilities working again, I will Ghost this li'l guy. Hmm, but then, by the time this new install gets flaky, I'll probably be ready to move to Windows 7. Decisions, decisions, decisions ...

-edit-

Why do I believe the honeyed lies of the progress bar? 16 minutes and 15 seconds, or so it whispers to me.

[Ramses II CP]

Burn it all down! Windows doesn't deserve to go on living. Kill it so you can raise it from the dead and make it serve you better.

Seriously though, I haven't left an OEM Windows install intact since my last HP desktop back in '98. You'll feel better for doing it, and your PC will appreciate the chance to shine free of years of behind the scenes clutter.

[Lemur]

Oh, I built this machine myself, so I can't blame Dell or Gateway for my problems. It's all on me. That said, I am a compulsive downloader of freeware and shareware and widgets and gadgets and open-sauce and everything shiny and new. I probably dug my own grave somewhere with one (or more) of my Free Trials.

Backing up ETW right now. I doubt Steam will be cool with a new OS install, even though it's on a different partition. And I really, truly don't want to DL Empire again.

-edit-

To make my conscience clear, I will only bill my client for a half-day today. That should keep me on the straight and narrow, and deliver me from temptation.

-edit of the edit-

Another nice thing about this painful process: All of my drivers will be really up-to-date, since I re-downloaded the latest versions from all of the relevant websites. What's up with Creative not updating their audio driver since early 2008? That's weak, man.

-yet another edit-

Why does Windows take a year and a day to format a blank drive to NTFS? This does not seem like it should take an hour. But it does.

[Lemur]

Typing from my minty-fresh XP install. Man, what a difference! Feels like a brand new machina. The weird lag I was getting when browsing, gone. The random CTDs, gone. Everything feels much faster. Yay! Now I just have a long night of re-installing apps and getting everything just so, and I'll be a brick of fried gold.

[Gregoshi]

You are an inspiration Lemur!

[Thermal]

Typing from my minty-fresh XP install. Man, what a difference! Feels like a brand new machina. The weird lag I was getting when browsing, gone. The random CTDs, gone. Everything feels much faster. Yay! Now I just have a long night of re-installing apps and getting everything just so, and I'll be a brick of fried gold.

You should have just defragmented it you baboon!