[y2kerr]

As a Windows user, I typically reformat my OS partition every 6-12 months as Windows begins to sag under the weight of its own poor engineering and requires a fresh install. It's a ritual I expect to perform to regain decent performance from my PC, though something I'd rather avoid.

Since I'll be purchasing a Mac in the near future, I'm curious as to how often -- if ever -- you Mac users do this for performance reasons.

Mike

[DBvader]

well, drives do get fragmented. im a switcher and reformat probably more than i need to. I purchased my computer about a year ago, and have reformatted 2 times, becuase i felt the slow down.

overall, though, the computer doesnt become less stable over time...just a tad bit slower.

[Toyin]

When 10.1 came out for my Dualie (2 years ago?)

My PB just got a new HD so I reformatted that drive recently.

I think I may clean house for Panther, but my system is running faster than it ever has, and I have a ton of modifications and haxies running.

[JLL]

Originally posted by y2kerr:
As a Windows user, I typically reformat my OS partition every 6-12 months as Windows begins to sag under the weight of its own poor engineering and requires a fresh install. It's a ritual I expect to perform to regain decent performance from my PC, though something I'd rather avoid.

Since I'll be purchasing a Mac in the near future, I'm curious as to how often -- if ever -- you Mac users do this for performance reasons.

Mike

Never!

[lookmark]

Never.

[Powaqqatsi]

Originally posted by JLL:
Never!

Ditto

[Kenneth]

Normally "reformat" is my last thing to do unless there is something really gone wrong.

I just purchased DiskWarrior, I really like it. No fancy aqua look or icon (aka Micromat's TechTools series), it just works.

Just to remember to leave 10 to 20% of hard disk space for the boot volume.

Cocktail or Jaguar Cache Cleaning are some nice little apps to "refresh" the OS.

[ckohler]

Back when I used to own a PC I would format and reinstall Windows every few months. Now, the only time I format on my Mac is when installing a new version of OSX.

[pat++]

I reformat when I install a new major release of OS X (10.0, 10.1, 10.2...) because I prefer doing clean install.... That's about once every 12 months.

[Spheric Harlot]

Thinking...thinking...thinking...

about two, maybe three times in fourteen years.

Once in about 1991 when a hard drive ate itself and got FUBAR.

Then once about three weeks ago, when I turned the iMac into an Airport file server and repartitioned it in the process.

This ain't Winders.



-s*

[MacNStein]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Thinking...thinking...thinking...

about two, maybe three times in fourteen years.

Once in about 1991 when a hard drive ate itself and got FUBAR.

Then once about three weeks ago, when I turned the iMac into an Airport file server and repartitioned it in the process.

This ain't Winders.



-s*

I've never had the reinitialize (or format) a drive on any of my Macs, unless I'm installing a new drive. I had a drive die once on my old 6400 (it's now my X11 server), but I don't count that.

[alpha rays max]

Never had to, except when wiping the drive and reinstalling 10.2 to sell my old iBook to someone.

[TheIceMan]

As some have said, I reformat when I do a clean install of the new OS. So the next time will be when Panther is out, officially that is.

[rw]

Reformatting as a routine form of maintenance is strictly a Windows thing. I've never heard anyone say that it was good to just reinstall the OS on a Mac.

[Sarc]

haven't formatted since 6C115 (Jaguar GM)

[ASIMO]

You are going to miss the Windows ritual in Macdom. It will take several months to get used to it. Trust me.

Like all good Unix systems, do not expect ever increasing lethargy and instability with OS X that is commony expected and tolerated by the plebeian Windows users. Really, what choice do they have, right? At most, a reboot is all you will ever need to combat common slowdowns in OS X.

And I even like XP for work.

[Simon]

I reformat when

- I buy a new Mac
- I install a new hard drive
- I install a major new OS version (PB->10.0->10.1->10.2->etc.), have 14 days of vacation, don't have anything else to do and I feel like it.

Any other reformatting doesn't seem to be necessary.

This ain't Win ya know.

So you see another one of the countless benefits of not being an MS lemming.

Enjoy your Mac.

[dru]

Originally posted by y2kerr:
As a Windows user, I typically reformat my OS partition every 6-12 months as Windows begins to sag under the weight of its own poor engineering and requires a fresh install. It's a ritual I expect to perform to regain decent performance from my PC, though something I'd rather avoid.

Since I'll be purchasing a Mac in the near future, I'm curious as to how often -- if ever -- you Mac users do this for performance reasons.

Never.

Like you, after about 1991 I'd reformat and reinstall everything on the PCs about once per year or if I planned any major release upgrades (e.g. OS/2 2.1 -> 3.0 or lately W2K -> XP) to avoid carrying over registry problems and other junk.

I haven't found a reason to do this on the iMac FP (arrived 9 months ago). It hasn't slowed as long as I keep at least 1GB free on the HD. The move from 10.1.x to 10.2.0 (Jaguar) was uneventful just as it ought to be and has been through each minor update including 10.2.6.

Oh, and "Welcome to Macintosh."

[dragonbong]

hmm last time I formatted? Did it for my friend when he bought his used, mine, 2001 when my ibook had problems. My PB not once.

[chris v]

I blew up OS 10.2 on its second day of life, by trying to apply a 10.1 theme. I had already clone the install to another drive, so I wiped it and cloned it back in about 10 minutes flat. That machine's been fine, since.

On another machine 6 months later, my volume wrappers got screwed and I had a ton of overlapping files, and DiskWarrior was taking hours to find/fix them all, so I wiped/cloned from a backup again.

That would be about it for me since OS X, so two re-installs on 3 machines in 2 years. averages out to .33 per year, I think.

CV

[iRebound]

I reformat on every major OS upgrade just because it makes me feel like my system is cleaner plus i get to throw out all the junk files

[Gul Banana]

I have never reformatted a computer I've owned, except for a Windows laptop I had for a couple of years.

[rhogue islander]

I have never wiped my disk to perform a clean install under OS X

I don't feel the need to do this under WinXP Pro either. Although I make major hardware upgrades to my PC's on a fairly regular basis, I use the repair install option on the WinXP cd to write a new windows directory without altering my user settings or program installs. Saves alot of time and trouble.

[rogerb]

Think it was late OS 7 - early OS 8. Or...... was it mid OS 8? Nope! Definitely late OS 7. Yep! Definitely! Pretty much a non-issue for me since.

Roger

[gorgonzola]

I have never reformatted this iBook and I've owned it for three years.

I mean, sometimes it's nice to low-level the drive, just because it feels really clean and fast when you reinstall everything, but it's hardly necessary. Half of that is placebo anyway. I certainly haven't bothered doing it...takes too long.

[danengel]

Never, except when I tried Yellow Dog Linux on my clamshell iBook -> never ever do that, it sucks.

[york28]

Once, when I bought a new drive for my Dual USB iBook and had to re-partition it to install Yellow Dog Linux (Which went perfectly fine, I think that model is supported much better the the earlier ones).

In all the time since I've had Macs (my first was a IIx), I don't think I've ever reformatted just to install an OS update. That's the beauty of Macs; the OS is so independent of the apps. At work I had to reinstall Windows (didn't even format) and it killed about ninety percent of my programs. I may as well have wiped the disk at that point and started over.

[euphras]

I own a 6100 PPC (mid 1994). It still runs it´s FIRST install of OS 7.5.1. (stable). My Tibook 667/DVI runs 10.1.X since 15 months without a hassle. It will be wiped when "Panther" gets installed.

Like others said: This ain´t WinWorld

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by Toyin:
When 10.1 came out for my Dualie (2 years ago?)

My PB just got a new HD so I reformatted that drive recently.

I think I may clean house for Panther, but my system is running faster than it ever has, and I have a ton of modifications and haxies running.

I originally had 10.1 on my system (a G4 quicksilver) and simply upgraded to 10.2, but when Panther (10.3) comes out, I'm going to purchase a new drive and have the older (slower) ones sitting around as backup devices.

It's been about 2 years for me... I guess I should try to squeak a little more speed out of the system, but I have it JUST the way I like it... I don't want to install all that software AGAIN!!! And all those updates...

[Eriamjh]

I had to reformat OSX 10.2 when a security update rendered my email and most browsers un-runnable (everything would "suddenly quit" at first attempt to run). I deleted plists, preferences, etc. and could not make it work. I probably could have fixed it had I posted here and asked, but I reformatted instead (two hours later...).

Otherwise, I like to reformat with every major release. I have read that it "works better" for the new OS to not have older files, but I really don't know if it is necessary. I have not experienced an "OS slowdown" due to use over time and I do not have any defrag programs. I don't trust norton and I think it's probably wasting more time defragging than letting them be fragmented and continuing use.

I've never been forced to reinstall OS8 or 9.

Windows is a different story!

[mike one]

never, for macosx.

i only reformat when i'm installing or re-partioning a new system (i.e. linux).

for macOSX only if you really hose your system will you ever need to reformat. i haven't noticed any slow downs with my current install and i have about 1GB of X11 stuff installed, in addition to ~100 non-apple applications.