Re-install Windows or not? at DVinfo.net

David Banner · July 11th, 2021, 09:19 PM

My workstation was bought new in 2013.
It is still running Windows 7 64 Pro it came with in 2013.
I just upgraded the CPU today to a Xeon E1680v2
Earlier I upgraded the GPU to a Titan.
I was planning on doing a fresh install of Windows 7 64 Pro on a new SSD because after this many years I expect it has slowed down. In 2013 it had a 240GB SSD system drive. Over time I hardware cloned it to a 500GB and later to a 1GB SSD but I had to use Acronis Disk director to adjust the partition. I've always wondered if that adversely effects performance.

The system is working pretty good and a fresh windows install means re-intalling an incredible amount of software and dealing with all the license activations again so I really don't want to do it. But I do want the old workhorse to run as good as it can for a few more years.
Thoughts?

Andrew Smith · July 13th, 2021, 06:22 AM

First. Do a backup of the whole drive.

Second, use this backup to migrate to a new SSD, which in turn gives you a working proof that your backup is truly a useful one. (There are stories of people who never tested that they could do a restore from what they thought was a backup. Only then it was too late.)

Andrew

July 11th, 2021, 09:19 PM	#1
David Banner Major Player Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Bentonville, AR Posts: 239	Re-install Windows or not? My workstation was bought new in 2013. It is still running Windows 7 64 Pro it came with in 2013. I just upgraded the CPU today to a Xeon E1680v2 Earlier I upgraded the GPU to a Titan. I was planning on doing a fresh install of Windows 7 64 Pro on a new SSD because after this many years I expect it has slowed down. In 2013 it had a 240GB SSD system drive. Over time I hardware cloned it to a 500GB and later to a 1GB SSD but I had to use Acronis Disk director to adjust the partition. I've always wondered if that adversely effects performance. The system is working pretty good and a fresh windows install means re-intalling an incredible amount of software and dealing with all the license activations again so I really don't want to do it. But I do want the old workhorse to run as good as it can for a few more years. Thoughts?

July 13th, 2021, 06:22 AM	#2
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,064	Re: Re-install Windows or not? First. Do a backup of the whole drive. Second, use this backup to migrate to a new SSD, which in turn gives you a working proof that your backup is truly a useful one. (There are stories of people who never tested that they could do a restore from what they thought was a backup. Only then it was too late.) Andrew