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Ask HN: How often do you make a fresh OS install?

22 points by kkotic ↗ HN
How often do you do it? For what reasons? Do you format the drive, keep your files, apps?

I think I make a fresh macOS with drive format install monthly, I'm kind of obsessed...

82 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 161 ms ] thread
thanatos519
Usually once, when I get the computer, because it probably doesn't have Linux on it.
Hankenstein2
And even if it does, probably not the version I want
curiousfab
Whenever I have new hardware.

Other than that, I didn't need a fresh new install (Debian, Ubuntu) for as long as I can remember.

joe-collins
What benefit do you believe you gain from such frequency?
kkotic
Absolutely nothing, I belive it's a hard obsession with making the things cleaner as possible.
nickelpro
"Making things clean" implies that reinstalling removes something that has built up. Computers are not broom closets, there's no dirt or grime that accumulates. Anything on the install is something you put there directly or indirectly, and can be removed just the same.
OJFord
Never, I version my dotfiles and use aconfmgr (Arch specific semi-declarative config manager) for system stuff. So (the goal is) a 'fresh OS install' would be the same anyway.
jbirer
Everytime I find a cool looking distro / derivative
tiebreaker_jr
On my main device almost never. Unless and until hard disk crashes and I am left in the dust. On my servers, every time I crash them accidentally.
phito
About once a year
dvh
Every other LTS, one year after it is released (usually after .1 is out)
hs86
Never. On my Windows PC, my last fresh install was on Vista, and since then, I have made in-place upgrades and image restores when switching to new system drives. On macOS, I also never needed to clean install.
thomastraum
whats your preferred way to make image archives on windows?
hs86
Initially Acronis, but then they dumped down their home version and started to make marginal paid upgrades every year. I am currently on Macrium Reflect, and so far, I have had no issues with it.
jholman
Yeah, same.

Back 20 years ago, I used to reinstall Windows every twelve to eighteen months. There's just no need any more.

Of course, I don't install warez any more, that probably helps. But mostly Windows just turned into a real operating system about 10 years ago.

I admit I've been starting to think about a reinstall, though. My WSL-1 install is so old that the instructions on how to upgrade to WSL-2 don't work, and I can't figure out how to make them work. So maybe a reinstall would do it.

julius_deane
Pfft, monthly is not bad but you could take advantage of the weekends and do them on a weekly basis. It's what I do and it has served me well for the last decade or so.
gpas
Never. Settled on arch almost ten years ago when I got the laptop I use every day since then. Never formatted, what are the benefits? I backup my data and dotfiles on an external drive.
kossTKR
Never unless something is corrupted or it's absolutely needed.

Why? Because it takes me weeks to months to get the system configured in the same way again - there's hundreds of points where you tweak, so many programs requiring all kinds of packages, files and customisations when you do full stack development and have a few hobbies.

I often see the advice "just do a clean install", even on the Apple forum when people have problems and it always makes me laugh - surely those people aren't professionals as "just reinstalling" is insanely expensive in terms of hours wasted on configuration, and you will often need to take care of problems half a year onwards especially with non app-store installs, kext files, packages installed via terminal, dot files but also just regular programs behaving differently.

elevaet
This is so true. Every time I get a new (used) laptop, I think "I should do a clean install". Then I start thinking about all the configuration, packages, applications, little scripts, .bashrc, etc. and retreat to cloning my last hard drive over. I think my system is going on 13 years now. It's collected some barnacles for sure, but the price of starting fresh is too high.
ASalazarMX
> Why? Because it takes me weeks to months to get the system configured in the same way again

Windows I agree, and I avoid reinstalls whenever I can. Linux, I could do one fresh install every six months (Ubuntu release cycle) because restoring my home directory and installing the software I need is extremely easy. I can do that from zero in a couple of hours. Anyway, I settled for Ubuntu LTS, so a fresh install is probably only every few years when I change computers, or the version upgrade fails.

ajb
Almost never. I try not to install anything outside of docker, either. I feel that the future is a completely defined dev environment, although with docker the experience isn't necessarily great, especially as regards giving access to hw devices.
Aeolun
On windows, about once a year. Now that I’m on PopOS! 1.5 years and counting.
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AbundantSalmon
Every year with windows, never since switching to macs.
fishtacos
Pretty sure I'm running a Windows 10 install (MBR, not even EUFI) from 2016 or so... making this the longest OS installation I've had. Not sure if OS swaps like Windows' new update mechanism likes to do count as a fresh install.

Once SSDs became the norm, Windows rot has practically disappeared. The difference between boot time now and initial install time has risen by seconds, not minutes, and usability is immediate when the desktop loads.

pjc50
Yes. Monthly reinstalls used to be somewhat necessary back in the Win95 era, and even into 7 there were some long-running corruption issues (Windows Update itself was a particular offender, as the list of updates grew it got less efficient), but 10 seems to have finally fixed this.
lordnacho
I do a new VM now and again to test things, but in terms of my daily driver OS, I never do a reinstall. No real issues that would require it.

Keep in mind fresh install normally means you don't quite know what's wrong. With some experience you figure this out and fix it instead of doing a fresh and not knowing if the problem will recur.

pacifika
There’s little need now with macOS as the system volume is readonly
aspenmayer
That’s a very good point, and relevant too! I wonder if that makes macOS development easier or harder due to this implementation.
mattrighetti
My friends say that I'm paranoid but every time a major macOS version comes out I do a full wipe installation.
abra_mixabra
Can elaborate your reasoning behind this? I look at the amount of customization made to my system over the years that never made it in a config control system and I quiver at the thought to start over every year or so.
mattrighetti
Mainly because of these:

1 - I had to install software as .pkg and I don't like that because I feel like I have no control of what's been installed and I don't trust software that can't be easily uninstalled

2 - I just like to keep things tidy and clean and after a year of use things can get messy when you run shitty/buggy scripts

3a - It's very easy for me to do (no struggle at all), I have a nice script and dotfiles that sets everything up for me, so in an hour my system is ready to use

3b - Everything that's worth keeping is stored either on my NAS or in the could, I don't have to worry about loosing stuff when I full wipe my machine

4 - Over the years I've noticed slightly better performances when clean installing macOS instead of just upgrading to the new version and potentially bring over buggy stuff

aspenmayer
I got in the habit of that back in the day after I was forced to do so after a failed in place upgrade. I stopped, as it seems to be more reliable lately, but I also learned to wait for at least one update after the initial release of new macOS versions before I make the jump.
claviska
I used to do a fresh Windows install once or twice a year for various reasons. I switched to Mac about 10 years ago and I rarely mess with the OS aside from the usual updates. I have done fresh installs on older MacBooks before I sell them, though.
MaikaDiHaika
I make a lot of VM sometimes to try them out. Resetting my main OS never but I think it's needed now as it runs slow af
shimonabi
Far less frequently then before. In the 90's I did a Windows reinstall at least once every 6 months. I've bough my most recent laptop about 3 years ago and only did one fresh install to upgrade the Home version to Pro. I never did any Windows upgrades from one major version to an another.

I'm also not planning to upgrade to Windows 11, because my laptop's Ryzen CPU is not supported by Microsoft.

testercl
... at work, once a year/PC's used by students and running Windows - faster and more reliable this way. PC's running Linux only when changing HDD. ... at home, almost never.