Should I Reinstall Windows Every Year

Many people have experienced frequent lags after using Windows over a period of time. Normally, people respond to this slowing down of their operating system by reinstalling Windows. And it obviously works. But, the question we are asking and on which we will be focusing in this article is this “Is it necessary to reinstall Windows regularly?” If yes then, how often is it necessary to reinstall Windows?

Nobody likes to reinstall Windows, as setting up a new computer is a cumbersome process. You will be required to create a backup of all your data, besides going through the entire process of installation of the OS, reinstallation of your favorite programs, and restoration of your backed-up data. All these steps are bound to eat up a good amount of your valuable time.

Why Does Windows Slow Down?

The primary reason people are tempted to reinstall Windows is the fact that it gets slower with time. Let us explore some of the reasons why this happens.

• Startup Programs: Any Windows system that has slowed down will inevitably have many superfluous startup programs eating up disk space and processor resources. These unnecessary programs increase the boot time, occupy system tray icon space, eat up CPU speed, memory, and other resources.

• Heavy Security Software and Suites: It is common knowledge that heavy software slows down your system. This is more pronounced in the case of Security suites like Norton, which often have very high disk and RAM requirements. They end up consuming a substantial amount of your computing resources. Such heavy security suites should be avoided, and you may want to replace them with a much lighter anti-virus software program.

• Personal Computer (PC) Cleaning Tools: Tools that offer PC cleaning services are simply untrustworthy. In the garb of cleaning your PC, they make it more cluttered, slowing it down drastically. There are some notorious PC cleaning software programs that may burden your system further by installing additional malware, spyware, and other junk applications on your PC. Experts recommend using CCleaner, but users may search for even better options.

• Additional Junk: Applications that are not written properly may fill your system with unnecessary DLL files and cramp your registry, thus making your system slow. Some applications are so bad that they do not get removed completely even after you remove them, leaving them permanently on your system.

• Browser Toolbars: Browser toolbars slow down the system, but the junk add-ons they bring can further impact your system in terms of speed. A case in point is the infamous ask.com browser add-on.

Hence, from the points above, we can see that the primary reason why a Windows system slows down over time is the installation of junk software on the system, intentionally or otherwise.

Ways To Prevent Windows From Slowing Down Over Time

If you want your system to have that lightning speed, normally seen when your PC is new, you need to learn how to maintain your PC. Here are some useful tips for you to take care of your PC.

1. Try installing only the necessary software which you need to use. Otherwise, heavy software will only throttle down your system speed. Have a preference for light software.
2. Be attentive when you are installing software, and strictly say no to installing browsers that come with useless extensions. This malware and spyware included can slow your system a lot.
3. Review your installed software frequently. Uninstall the ones you do not need by removing them from your computer.
4. Do not hesitate to use tools like Disk Cleanup to get rid of the temporary files sitting idly on your hard disk and eating up valuable speed. There’s absolutely no need to reinstall Windows to remove these
5. Learn to take proper care of your web browser since it’s usually the most frequently used application. Install minimum add-ons and plugins and only from trusted sources. Make it a habit to regularly delete unnecessary cache files from your browser. All these steps can help your browser, and therefore your system, run smoothly.
6. Be careful and choose only light security programs. Strictly avoid installing heavy security suites that slow your system and reduce its performance and speed. Windows 10 comes with an added feature called Windows Defender plus that adds a robust security blanket to your system.

So What Situation Necessitates a Windows Reinstall?

As a responsible Windows user, if you’re looking after your OS properly, there’s hardly a need for you to reinstall it again and again. However, an exception is when you are upgrading to a new Windows version. This would require you to reinstall Windows. You can directly choose to go to the clean install option without the upgrade install. This is because the upgrade install option can create a few issues that may hamper the performance of your Windows system.

Yet, for those users who have not benefited at all from the above steps in terms of improvement in Windows speed and performance, perhaps the only option left is to go for a complete reinstall of Windows. If your Windows computer has slowed down and isn’t speeding up after carrying out routine maintenance operations such as those described here, you should consider reinstalling Windows.

It has been found that reinstalling Windows is often the best way to remove any malware/spyware or junk that your system might have got infected with. In such situations, troubleshooting and repairing a specific problem may not actually help.

Hence, there’s absolutely no reason that you should reinstall your Windows every time it slows down. Save yourself precious time by following the pointers we have mentioned.