Ever do a complete OS reinstall just to tidy up your brain?

[MrFigg]

Sitting here itching to reset my PC to factory conditions and start fresh. Did it maybe 6 months ago, installed Reason and a couple of other essential programs (email, document writer etc.) then hand picked the REs, Refills and Plugins I wanted available and that was me all set. Since then I've downloaded all sorts of crap and installed and uninstalled and moved stuff about and deleted stuff and added stuff. The PC is working absolutely fine but somehow it's in my head to deauthorize everything...Reason, Rob Papen, NI, iZotope, Sonic Charge, iLok and a whole load of similar and do the whole fresh start thing again. Like doing that will somehow give me some sort of calm so I can set about the task of starting and finishing some music. Previous attempts using the same method tells me this won't happen but hope is triumphing over experience.
In any case...does anyone else get that urge to tidy up the virtual world and throw all the crap away?

[Heater]

It’s good because I only reinstall the plug-ins I really use. So much stuff I’ve bought over the years that I never use.

[MrFigg]

It’s good because I only reinstall the plug-ins I really use. So much stuff I’ve bought over the years that I never use.

Absolutely...but what will you do once you've bought more stuff and installed it and realise that they are also in the "never use" category?

[Heater]

It’s good because I only reinstall the plug-ins I really use. So much stuff I’ve bought over the years that I never use.

Absolutely...but what will you do once you've bought more stuff and installed it and realise that they are also in the "never use" category?

Rinse and repeat and tell myself that I won’t buy another plug in until I’ve fully exhausted my current plug ins. As if that ever works. Lol

[BRIGGS]

My setup would take days to get back to where I was.

I just delete stuff I don't use.

It's faster.

[Loque]

I would do this regulary, but with all that legal software and many, many installations, it would take me easily a week...So, no thanks.

[MrFigg]

I would do this regulary, but with all that legal software and many, many installations, it would take me easily a week...So, no thanks.

It’s exactly for that reason I’m hesitant. Fucking installers and authorizers and license numbers all over the place.

[Loque]

I would do this regulary, but with all that legal software and many, many installations, it would take me easily a week...So, no thanks.

It’s exactly for that reason I’m hesitant. Fucking installers and authorizers and license numbers all over the place.

And there is a 100% chance, you forgot something do deauthorize

[Rising Night Wave]

free and discount stuff are hell. lol. xD

about fresh installs of OS. i have Windows 10 Home x64 and i am doing fresh installs every two months. becouse Window OS is just not that good and all that apps i have. eh,... years ago i was able to fix all my pc's trouble - i was good at that... then i got tired of fixing constant problems of Windows Eco System and starting to do ... just/simple fresh installs. meh, i have no nerves and will to fight with that plague any more. just simple f.install. hehe. whatever and Windows Eco System. lol lamers. they are saying iOS of Apple is better and more stable and more reliable. perhaps. if i would have money for Mac Pro PC and iOS apps i would certainly move to Apple Eco System.

damn! i just - few moments ago - downloaded 6GB of free stuff. again! DAMN! this free stuff is just hell. but(t)! xD lol ... there is always but(t)! some free stuff is just GOOD! my few songs are in whole made out of these free .WAV samples i grabed from www. so... so-so. do it with feeling! do not just grab whatever you get.

[miscend]

I just did that. It took me a week to get everything setup. I'd only do it if you plenty of time.

[MrFigg]

I just did that. It took me a week to get everything setup. I'd only do it if you plenty of time.

I decided on another route. I uninstalled a whole load of crap then went through the folders on my c:drive and removed all the scrap and fallout which is inevitably left. . Tidy drive tidy mind .

[Aosta]

Doing a fresh reinstall would be an absolute ball ache for me, I'm still running windows 7 and I'm dreading when it finally becomes obsolete. I have no compulsion to install the later bloatware, activity gathering and monitoring later versions of the OS

[Kalm]

I do this when I've completed a big project or two. Since I save everything on external hard drives, I'll wipe the computer and install the new OS that comes out each time. So when I move to Big Sur, I'll be wiping my SSD, and reinstalling everything over again. Had my Mac mini since 2012

[jam-s]

With windows 10 there is not much use in doing a fresh install that often, as it does this by itself anyway on main feature updates.

[stillifegaijin]

Yes! Fresh installs all the time if only to clear the system and my brain and probably (hopefully) makes things run smoother. It used to take a couple days but in recent years I've gotten so good at it that it can be done in less than a day. Not using Pro Tools ever anymore certainly makes it go faster. I plan to do it again as soon as I finish the record I'm mixing.

[gullum]

A few time yes get rid of all crap only to get some crap you had removed that gets installed on a (clean) install

[Oquasec]

Resetting your machine becomes so smooth when you own cheap external storage

[stuk71]

I did it last week, and now I feel that all is set up how I want it to be... without files and samples banks all over the place. I only moved to a Mac this year and I found it a bit of a curve figuring out how the file system works... hence why I felt it was a bit of a mess... nothing wrong with a bit of life laundry

Also CleanMyMac deleted my plug-in directory and the plug-in installers (izotope portal etc) thought the VST was still installed and wouldn’t allow me to reinstall them.

A small panic and set up rules and folders that are ignored by CleanMyMac.

[Re8et]

Doing regular backup helps you, reset is a good practice when you lose track of stuff.
The better you are at reset, the faster you get back up.
Of course it would be better to never do mistakes, but that happens constantly.
I had to use a bank app today on my smartphone but it needed an update. ^6 hours completley screwed because I could't make it.
I wanted to put fire on my smartphone. The only way to do the update is to reset the phone each time, and re-install.
A true nightmare thanks to those lobbyst bankers that pretends you have a smartphone app for everything to work.
I hate it, but it's not an option, as in virtual, as in real life. At least for me.