Tip #1

[Ramanuman]

All was going smooth : for almost a year now I'd never (or almost) seen my windows crash. After my experience with 98, I thought "damn this XP is stable" !

Now all of a sudden I'm getting total freezing about twice a day.

I must have installed something new that's causing the problem, you say. Or maybe I modified my registry one time too many ?
-Nope : Simply, I finally got around to visiting windowsupdate.com and applied some security updates.

 

[Ramanuman]

I know, of course.
Back when I used 98, I'd format every 1 or 2 months.

All I'm saying is I strongly suspect windows updates have a lot to do with this very sudden instability.
I'm even wondering if, had I not regularly updated the old 98, maybe it would have proved as stable as XP.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Seeing as you are talking format (if that's what you're saying) why not try & do a repair from bootup & see if it helps or not.
Or a system restore.

 

[Grandmaster]

a year? that's a long time dude

 

[Cosmin]

Originally posted by catch23
almost a year....it's time to format D

great ideea for a new topic ( poll ) catch ..

 

[WAM]

i actually noticed my system getting progressively worse with every update i put in....ive since reformatted etc and avoid updates like the plague...........not so many stability problems now.


As for sp1...i dont even wanna go there..!

 

[Friend of Bill]

I will install SP1 due to the fact that it replaces so many cumulative patches relating to the security of the OS. SP1 will replace all of these cumulative patches that have been issued by MS and should provide for a more stable OS.

 

[Ramanuman]

Originally posted by WAM
i actually noticed my system getting progressively worse with every update i put in....ive since reformatted etc and avoid updates like the plague...........not so many stability problems now.

Think I agree.
-My calculation lately has been that, if it works, I don't really need 'em.
In any case, I've been counting on a good firewall for protection, and on ghost images for quick backups if that's not enough.

 

[DrMetallica]

yeah back when i had 98 i installed IE6 and my whole internet stopped working so i had to format.

 

[Ramanuman]

Originally posted by DrMetallica
yeah back when i had 98 i installed IE6 and my whole internet stopped working so i had to format.

Same here. Except that's when I started using Mozilla instead.

 

[DrMetallica]

yeah it wasn't that IE6 wouldn't connect to the interenet it's that my internet wouldn't connect at all. I couldn't even go check my email with outlook or play a game with gamespy.

 

[Dogfighter]

I had load of trouble after using Windows Update and had to reformat twice. After the last time I installed them I had more trouble so this time I just installed XP over its self, kept all my settings and programs, it wrote over all the updates and I have been stable again for 8 weeks now. give it a try you wont loose anything and it might stop all your problams.

 

[Ramanuman]

Thanks Dogfighter.
-I've always re-formatted from scratch. That's because I tend to try out loads of programs which I end up not using.

But you're saying that, if I install XP over itself, all the installed progrs and settings will remain intact ?

 

[Dogfighter]

Yes all your progams and most of your tweaks will still be there but it will refresh the rest of XP. It not as good as reformating but sometimes it is all you need. Also using system Restore to a point before you used Windows update will get rid of the updates and thay are also in add remove programs, you can get rid of them there

 

[Ramanuman]

Well, I finally got tired of the mess and decided for a fresh install.
I was due anyway.

Thanks to all of you for the feddback.

 

[Vorpal]

Dudes....

"format"

are you guys insane?????


NORTON GHOST

Install XP fresh, load base drivers and applications and make an image.

Restore the image ever so often.

I've got almost everything installed or located on a second drive, so I can restore an image by only backing up two folders.

Even making a ghost image right after an installation finishs can save an hour!

 

[Geffy]

Ghosting thats what I would do. I am going to make one of my current system config, as it is OK, even with MS updates installed. I installed every single one it says. I have few problems. I think that if you get all of them then the total bombshell of a few is nullified

 

[brunsodj]

Cosmin...I set up a poll cause I was interested also.

http://www.xp-erience.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18591

~Dan

 

[Ramanuman]

Actually, Vorpal, ghost is what I meant.
But since ghost does format, I usually call it that way.

-I've got 2 sets of ghost (Norton's) disks :
One is XP as bare as possible,
the other has got the applications I can't foresee ever abandoning (Office, Photoshop, Nero, Reason, Etc...)

I keep the first set for when these will have become obsolete 'cause of newer versions.

-All in all, this time, formating ("ghosting") took me about 1 1/2 hrs. (30 min. if you don't count burning backup CDs of my current files on re-writable CDs).

Ghost is definitely a must !!!