Reinstalling windows

imsirovic5

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 21, 2011
Messages
336
I was wondering if anyone has an opinion if there is any benefit to reinstalling windows after a new system build (mobo / cpu / gfx). Or if I should leave the current install of win 10 and save myself some hassle. In ancient times (win 95, 98, 2000, XP, 7 etc.) I used to reinstall windows at least once a year. But with windows 10 I have not been doing it at all. I am completely out of loop when it comes to best practices related to this, thanks for any input!
 
I think this is all on preference. If you want less work then you can just use the current OS. If you prefer to remove any bloatware and start fresh. Then a fresh install of Windows is always best in my opinion. Starting fresh would allow you to install only useful software and files you use. Keeping the original OS with to many bloatware and useless file this takes up system performance and hard drive space.
 
10 adapts wicked good. ive got a ssd at work with our edu license on it and it has been transplanted between at least 15 different types of systems without a single issue. if you have a retail key, the most likely worst-case-ontario is you have to reactivate it. chances are it will do the "configuring devices" dance at boot and then run totally fine after installing new drivers and rebooting a couple time.
 
I was wondering if anyone has an opinion if there is any benefit to reinstalling windows after a new system build (mobo / cpu / gfx). Or if I should leave the current install of win 10 and save myself some hassle. In ancient times (win 95, 98, 2000, XP, 7 etc.) I used to reinstall windows at least once a year. But with windows 10 I have not been doing it at all. I am completely out of loop when it comes to best practices related to this, thanks for any input!
Starting with Windows 8, Windows handled major hardware changes much better than previous versions. However, IMHO I would still do a reinstall if changing a motherboard. I think a GPU or CPU upgrade is safe to just install the new part. I just think about scenarios with some chipsets where people have trouble after even chipset driver updates (thinking AMD mostly) - let alone a major change like a new motherboard which would have to redetect and reinstall everything. You also have to deal with the possibility of losing activation etc.
 
Windows 10 is very tolerant of major hardware changes, but it's not perfect. If the systems are at least somewhat similar (e.g. moving from an older Intel system to a newer Intel system) then the change is generally pretty seamless. I have encountered some lingering issues however, especially when changing between drastically different chipsets. Trying to move my hard drive over from my older X99-based Intel system to my newer x570-based AMD system resulted in quite a few subtle quirks that were all resolved instantly upon doing a full re-install.
 
Windows 10 is very tolerant of major hardware changes, but it's not perfect. If the systems are at least somewhat similar (e.g. moving from an older Intel system to a newer Intel system) then the change is generally pretty seamless. I have encountered some lingering issues however, especially when changing between drastically different chipsets. Trying to move my hard drive over from my older X99-based Intel system to my newer x570-based AMD system resulted in quite a few subtle quirks that were all resolved instantly upon doing a full re-install.
might have been other "stuff" you had on it. the one i posted about was just windows and drivers, no other software installed. and it have transitioned flawlessly between amd and intel and 10yr to 2 yr old systems.
 
I just moved the wife's system from an old i5 2400 to an i5-8600 rig, went flawless, windows picks up most drivers now, added some for Intel chipset and vid card but has been perfectly smooth.
 
I just moved the wife's system from an old i5 2400 to an i5-8600 rig, went flawless, windows picks up most drivers now, added some for Intel chipset and vid card but has been perfectly smooth.
I moved the wife's system to another address. Went flawless. Picked up new co-drivers now 'n added some cologne and a sharp shirt and has been perfectly smooth :D

We're still friends though so I'm still her IT admin.
 
With a major hardware change I always do a reinstall. I don't want to have to factor in a repurposed OS installation into any troubleshooting I might have to do if any issues crop up.
 
Thank you all for the comments! So I just finished my build without reinstalling windows. In essence I went from 4790K (intel) to 5800x (AMD) (and new ram, PSU, GPU, M2 drive) - and everything went completely flawlessly (to my surprise). Windows picked up on it and automatically installed necessary drivers. I thought at the very least windows was going to give me registration issues given the new mobo / cpu - but it did not even prompt me for that.
 
wow, that's amazing to me , big difference between the 2 systems and win 10 correctly installed all
drivers etc.. ? .... be interesting to see when/if you run benchmarks , how they compair to
others that have similar setups as you...
 
wow, that's amazing to me , big difference between the 2 systems and win 10 correctly installed all
drivers etc.. ? .... be interesting to see when/if you run benchmarks , how they compair to
others that have similar setups as you...

Any suggestions on what type of benchmarks may uncover potential issues? I ran some gaming benchmarks and they look great - but gaming benchmarks may not be the best test.
 
I always reinstall the OS after a new build. Less variables in the event something goes wrong, but also gives me a chance to clean install with the latest build and make sure only the necessary, active drivers are loaded. Reinstalling is an easy process if you plan ahead. Some people make it sound far more complicated and time consuming than it really is.
 
I always reinstall the OS after a new build. Less variables in the event something goes wrong, but also gives me a chance to clean install with the latest build and make sure only the necessary, active drivers are loaded. Reinstalling is an easy process if you plan ahead. Some people make it sound far more complicated and time consuming than it really is.
I agree with this completely. This is such a non-issue these days as you can install win10 in 10 minutes. Its not the win98 days when you had to reinstall every few months. But, if you are making big changes its worth the little bit of time to get everything working just right.
 
I agree with this completely. This is such a non-issue these days as you can install win10 in 10 minutes. Its not the win98 days when you had to reinstall every few months. But, if you are making big changes its worth the little bit of time to get everything working just right.
i did a 20H2 reload yesterday, took 6 minutes from power button to sitting at the desktop. BUT, then i had another hour+ of updates and software install. if a person has a system with a bunch of stuff to reload and config, that could be hours and hours. transplanting is much quicker now that 10 adapts so well.
 
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