Thinkpads Forum

I am a big believer in a clean Pc, I reinstall windows about once every 2-3 weeks, I just lve it to be fresh and fast and cant stand it to slow down and feel cluttered.

Ive only used a T43 once and it was slow.

But i wanted to know how much of a clutter the IBM software, and if It slows the PC down in terms of performance.

vinny77 wrote:I reinstall windows about once every 2-3 weeks

That's way beyond fastidious and well into the compulsive zone!

yea thats insane! isnt there something else youd rather be doing?

i would think even every 2-3 months is a bit much...but much more reasonable. unless youre all over serial/keygen websites, i dont see why youd have to go to such measures.

vinny77 wrote:I am a big believer in a clean Pc, I reinstall windows about once every 2-3 weeks, I just lve it to be fresh and fast and cant stand it to slow down and feel cluttered.

Sorry Vinny, but the problem here seems to be the loose nut behind the keyboard . I have yet to reimage my desktop that I purchased nearly three years ago and it works fast and fine, and runs 24x7 non-stop. The only reason I reimaged my ThinkPad is that the hard drive failed (air bag problem). Otherwise, it is working fast and fine. If your machine is slowing down, take a look at what you are doing to it. The IBM software doesn't hinder anything except Access Connections takes a half minute to start.
... JD Hurst

I agree that all the IBM utilities and apps in toto seem excessive, particularly compared with a plain XP install using 1/2 the RAM ... but those utilities are serving real uses, not like IM and music streaming and end-user P2P apps. I used to be annoyed by "software add-ins" that came with laptops. But in the case of my T43, 90% of the utilities are really an extension of the hardware capabilities. The utilities control the hardware. I need 'em. I use 'em. A T40 I use at work (test box) without 'em is really hard to configure without 'em. (Interesting learning experience: seeing which utilities are really, really vital.)

Now .. 2-3 weeks? You must not use software. It'd take me > 8 hours just to reinstall all the applications I use. Now, I *have* done a wipe 'n reinstall of a desktop after 6 years use, but that was a case where I also wanted to repartition the drives (yes, "drives"). And it helped. But Windows doesn't become seriously degraded in 2-3 weeks unless you're doing some excessive loading of spyware and malware.

At least you're getting good use out of your install discs.

LOl you guys are crazy, It takes me maybe 10 Minutes to install everything I need on my desktop.

Ever hear of unattened installs. you guys also must not be power users, but I dont wnat to get hostile on this forum.

jdhurst wrote:

vinny77 wrote:I am a big believer in a clean Pc, I reinstall windows about once every 2-3 weeks, I just lve it to be fresh and fast and cant stand it to slow down and feel cluttered.

Sorry Vinny, but the problem here seems to be the loose nut behind the keyboard . I have yet to reimage my desktop that I purchased nearly three years ago and it works fast and fine, and runs 24x7 non-stop. The only reason I reimaged my ThinkPad is that the hard drive failed (air bag problem). Otherwise, it is working fast and fine. If your machine is slowing down, take a look at what you are doing to it. The IBM software doesn't hinder anything except Access Connections takes a half minute to start.
... JD Hurst

from what Ive seen on a friends T42 the software really slows down the pc.

hi Vinny, my name is Mike and I suffer from a similar affliction, although I was shocked to hear your 2-3 week time period, i have forced myself to go 2-3 months. It's kind of like obsessive compulsion. My issues are related to vendor software that I have to install on my PC to troubleshoot and update network devices. This constant installing and uninstalling of sometimes crappy programs has caused havoc in the past, now my paranoia has gotten the best of me. I have to use this software to troubleshoot things so if my pc is not working absolutely perfect it can cause a negative result for the customer. I keep such a low volume of fluff on my pc it is very easy to install everything in a very short time period.

I don't use much of the IBM/Lenovo networking apps, none of the rescue and recovery, my favorite way to install is just use my XPpro CD and download what I need with the software installer, so far I have not been real impressed with the System Updater, due to dropping connections to the server.

vinny77 wrote:LOl you guys are crazy, It takes me maybe 10 Minutes to install everything I need on my desktop.

Ever hear of unattened installs. you guys also must not be power users, but I dont wnat to get hostile on this forum.

Very true Vinny but you have to admit that unattended install can be quite difficult (for some progs) to set up and in the end, for the whole stuff, it takes days so everything is exactly as it should.
During this time of course you can't use your lappy

That being said, when you're done, life is ... beautiful

EDIt: I real power user would mod the image used on the restore partition to suit your needs. This is want you did, didn't you?

vinny77 wrote:you guys also must not be power users

I suspect you have no idea at all of what a real power user is.

Okay, Vinny, there have been several very good and informative threads in the T40 forum about what utilities do what and what you can do without. For my money, on a test machine, I have the FN key utility, Scroll Lock indicator, Thinkpad Configuration, ACPI driver and Power Manager. EasyEject is probably a must-have. That covers 90% of what I need on a bare minimum system.

vinny77 wrote:LOl you guys are crazy, It takes me maybe 10 Minutes to install everything I need on my desktop.

Ever hear of unattened installs. you guys also must not be power users, but I dont wnat to get hostile on this forum.

If all you need takes 10 minutes to install, good for you. Really. I've done 10 minutes installs, I also know ways of cleaning user profiles and registries so I don't need to reinstall regularly. Frankly, I'd use a ghosting program after your "Goldilocks" setup, PLUS apps and configuration, and restore that regularly. There's your 10 minutes. This is not the mark of a "power user." I used to do this on a near-daily basis in the IBM Director test lab.

As to your second point,..... (beckons to Mod) Oy, mate ... I think we're done here...?

davidspalding wrote:As to your second point,..... (beckons to Mod) Oy, mate ... I think we're done here...?

I agree...locked.

vinny77 wrote:<snip>
from what Ive seen on a friends T42 the software really slows down the pc.

That doesn't mean the software is at fault, merely that it was not set up properly. Also, you cannot take XP out of the box and expect it to work properly. Set up correctly, XP Pro is the best desktop system in the world. Set up out of the box, it is just about the worst. It eats CPU and memory like no tomorrow unless you corral it properly. ... JD Hurst

Somebody wrote in my private mailbox:
"Thats a tad bit of a big statement, dont ya think,. LOL. maybe the best desktop system in the world for somebody who does not know what they are doing."

No it is not a big statement. XP can run anything I want. MAC and Linux *cannot* run anything I want. It is the vast world of software that XP runs that makes it best. That doesn't mean MAC and Linux are not good or don't have their place, merely that they are more narrowly focused.

I did not get my feather in here because "I don't know what I am doing". It is precisely because I *do* know what I am doing that my systems run for years non-stop without any blue screens (ever) or any major problems. Further up in this thread there was also the insinuation that people who make XP work are not power users. I run two machines simultaneously and work in both at the same time. Most people cannot do this (dual-boot hardly counts here).