Often when calling Technical Support from a PC manufacturer such as Dell, Gateway or HP the solution provided is to reformat the hard disk drive and reinstall the Windows operating system. Common questions we receive is: "Will this fix my problem?" or "Is this the best solution?" or "Is there a downside to reinstalling?" While each situation is different, we offer the following to help you answer these questions for yourself and some considerations if you do perform a reinstallation of Windows.
  Our experience for us has been that reinstalling the Windows operating system should be the last choice is resolving issues. In some cases there is no other choice but to reinstall but this is rare. So why do companies like those mentioned above recommend reinstalling Windows? Because they are looking to spend the least amount of time supporting you! Most calls they receive are not from hardware failure which their warranties cover. They are from user generated (aka operator) error or software configuration issues often not caused by anything covered under their warranty. Essentially those calls are expensive for the companies to spend time on. By reinstalling Windows you are in effect setting everything back to original defaults. Theoretically then, the problem should be resolved and the system should function normally. If the problem reappears at a later date the technical support can state that the problem is not with the system they sold. Remember that normally these companies do not support or offer warranty service on software or system configuration. Also realize that except in rare instances we are not talking about reinstalling only Windows but an entire system. Your software Applications, hardware drivers, service packs/updates, desktop customizations, system configurations/settings and anything else that was added, updated, changed or configured since the system was originally built.
  As an example, if the system does not appear to boot, the problem is often caused by the user applying an incorrect video setting or a bad driver was installed. Windows appears to start but the desktop and graphical interface never appear. Usually a reinstallation of Windows will fix this problem and you will once again be able to get to the Windows desktop. Of course if after you are done you make the same change you did before you will be back at the same problem. Booting into Windows safe mode will allow you to change the video settings and take only a minute. It takes less time for technical support to tell someone to reinstall Windows that it is to walk them through on the phone first figuring out what the problem actually is, rebooting to safe mode and walking them through the video settings.
 Before considering reinstallation of Windows you must look at the problem you currently have. We have dealt a number of times where Windows and all the applications were reinstalled but the problem persists. Again as an example, if the problem is caused by software say a driver conflict
or a specific application issue then reinstalling will not solve the problem. Often after spending hours reinstalling the entire system and still down they need to do what should have been done the first time. Diagnose and fix the actual problem. Even problems caused by configuration mistakes while initially resolved by reinstallation quickly reappear. That is because reinstallation was done before diagnosing the configuration mistake that caused the problem and 99% of the time the system will be reconfigured the same as it was the first time. Other common problems that will not be resolved by reinstallation include document issues, hardware failure, virus/worms, hardware failures, file rights issues, application configuration, file attributes set wrong, problems caused by windows service packs, insufficient resources (memory, disk space, processor utilization, etc.), network issues and many more. Also consider that some issues are fixed by applying service packs and application updates.
 When systems are infected with a computer virus, worm, spyware, etc., many people immediately format the drive and reinstall Windows trying to clean the system and resolve the issue. The main issue is how the system was infected to begin with. If that is not resolved you have still left your system vulnerable to being infected again. Systems should be scanned automatically or at least a regular basis. Scanning software must be updated as soon as they are available. Safe procedures must also be followed such as not opening email attachments from unknown senders, scanning diskettes/CD-ROMs before loading data from them, etc. Reinstallation will never fix these issues! It also may not actually remove the virus. Boot Sector viruses hide in a portion of the disk that is not erased or rewritten during a format. If the virus or worm is in data files you backed up then when you access the data again you will reinfect the system. You must find the virus and clean it or remove the file from the system entirely. If the virus infected a system file, the procedure we follow is to delete the infected file and replace only that file with an original.
 The downsides and considerations to reinstalling become apparent if you do not have any backups. Any data that is not backed up to another media such as documents, spreadsheets, databases, address books, pictures or even from applications like Quicken, MS Money, etc. and saved email messages or bookmarks (favorites) from your web browser all may be lost forever. We always recommend keeping these things backed up! Not only when reinstalling Windows. Once gone they are gone. Most technical support personnel will not even mention that you will lose data during the reinstallation procedure. It is not their responsibility it is yours. And you must choose between backing up your entire system or being able to decide what is important to backup and what you can afford to lose.
 Some people will save the entire file system and then copy it back to your drive after reinstallation often in a separate folder or drive letter. This can bring problems of its own. First you must be able to locate files in the directory (folder) structure. Normally you would open an application and the data it needs is found in its default folder location. If the data now resides elsewhere you must search for those files manually. Second this takes up a tremendous amount of disk space. If you copy everything this includes the old windows system and application files that will never be used again. If your disk was nearly full to begin with you may not have enough room to copy everything back. Third to use your old IE favorites, retain desktop settings, you must copy the directory structure to the proper current place. Those things are not useful to the system from another location. Lastly,  we must restate that if an application or data file is what caused the system problem to begin with, then copying back will make the same problem reappear. While it is better than no backup at all it can make things more complicated and cause many more support problems.
 Windows stores operating system, user and application configuration info in the Windows Registry. Therefore it is not backed up even if you save the entire file system. You can export the registry settings to a file to save them or if you use a full backup application. If the original problem was a configuration setting  using or restoring the registry will cause the problem again. While it can be a good idea to save the registry we do not suggest importing all of it it into the rebuilt system.
 From a full reinstallation you must reinstall all of your applications. That means having your original diskettes and license keys. Make sure they are available before starting the process. Many applications today are installed from the Internet. And if you only have a slower connection (such as dial-up) keep in mind it may take a very long time to download. You must find (if you did not save your bookmarks) the web sites they were downloaded from. You also must have copies of the license keys for some of them. Some applications are licensed at the time when downloaded and installed. You may have to repurchase the software to reinstall. When you purchase software and licenses online be sure to print and save any pages that confirmed the license purchase. Credit card statements rarely work to confirm those purchases. The company listed on your credit card statement (from on-line purchases) is normally a credit card processing firm and not the software company. If there was an email confirming the software purchase you should print it out at the time of purchase. If you have not backed up your email messages as above and you already started reinstallation or the computer problem includes not being able to read data you have just lost your confirmation!
 We must also mention about software licenses. If you can not prove ownership (license) of software installed then it is on your computer illegally. If you purchased software but can not locate a confirmation of the license or your own CD key, etc. then you do not have the right to install the software using someone else's license. If you can prove you purchased the software but do not have your own CD keys you should contact the software company and most will work with you for replacement CD keys.
 When doing a reinstallation of Windows you must have the original Windows disks and the license for Windows. You also will want to reinstall service packs and security updates. If you do not have a high speed link to the Internet downloading these will take a long time. If you do not have a connection to the Internet you will need to obtain them elsewhere. You can obtain Windows service packs on CD-ROM from Microsoft for a nominal charge for those situations. Before formatting the drive or starting the process we recommend that you make sure your Windows disks are readable. Also make sure you have in your possession any drivers for hardware that included with Windows.
 We have serviced a number of clients after Windows was reinstalled by themselves or others. Even if the original problem was resolved they needed configuration assistance to get back to where they were. Before the reinstallation the desktops were customized, applications were tweaked, other services not installed/setup by default are needed, file sharing/access needs to be set and general changes that existed before must be set up again. Think of the time and changes spent before to get everything working to that point. You will need it all done again.
  The first step is to analyze the problem and determine not if reinstalling Windows will fix the problem, but what is causing the problem. Even if reinstallation is quicker the problem may reappear later or you may lose data in the process. And while reinstalling Windows might be quicker, reinstalluing software applications, updates/service packs, configurations, restoring data, etc. may be extremly time consuming.  Fix the problem. After fixing the problem be sure to document what caused it. The same problem may appear on your other systems or at a later time. Often it is also a time to rethink what data you currently back up in the event of failure and where the items needed for reinstallation exist. And test that system occassionally! Often requests for information on backups are made after a disaster, too late for data they had. Your last choice in solving the problem is reinstalling Windows and the rest of your system.
  Realize that reinstallation of Windows can be a major undertaking. If all the system has is Windows and nothing else it can be simple. When you add data you can not afford to lose, reinstalling applications, finding drivers, reapplying patches/updates, configuring back to what you had before, setting file shares and security and everything else that existed before you will not only spend more time but find more potential for new problems to come up caused by the reinstallation itself. If you decide your only choice is reinstalling the entire system, then planning everything will be the key to success. If in the process, you can not find something it might mean the system being down an extended amount of time. Be sure everything is in place before you start. Also establish how much time will be needed for the entire process and add 20% to that estimate.
Computers are always subject to hardware failure, problems in software/operating system or from configuration problems. The goal is to have a productive system that supports your business requirements.
 
 
 
 
 

Website Copyright© 1998 - 2005 by: Paramount Network Systems. All Rights Reserved.