Reinstaling XP

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:50:25 -0600, "Xandros"
<arron.neus*remove*@gmailcom> wrote:

>
> "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake RemoveThis @this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
> news:dte5u358rvuld17g83bk16n87csjr4ekb9@4ax.com...


> > That's a very short time, and I think very few people have a system so
> > simple that they could get it accomplished that quickly and easily.
> > Speaking for myself, if I started from scratch it would take me
> > several days of work to put my system back the way it was. There's a
> > lot to install and a lot to configure.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> > Please Reply to the Newsgroup
>
> Actually Ken most people likely do have relatively simple systems. And do
> not need to spend days reinstalling.


Quite true. I don't claim that everyone's system is the same as mine,
or that it would take most people as long as it would take me.


> A standard install of XP takes about 45
> minutes. Applying Windows UPdates is the horror story bit that can be done
> in about 1 hours with a fast connection. Reinstalling programs will take
> about 1 hour. Tweaking will take an additional 1 hour. So a setup from start
> to finish is around 4 hours.


For *some* people. And for many others, even those with simpler
systems than mine, it could take substantially longer.


> On the other hand trying to read HiJackThis
> logs, spending time online trying to get answers, then trying to fix
> problems related to spyware, viruses etc. could take many many days.


It depends. Depending on what the problem turns out to be, it take
several days, or it could take several minutes. As I said, I've seen
people reinstall because their Task Bar had moved to the top of the
screen. If someone with that "problem" would ask for help here, he
would get in fixed in a very few minutes.

To me the most significant point here is that if you are not willing
to invest some time and effort to solve problems, you will never find
out what caused them, and as a result, likely repeat the error you've
made and quickly find yourself back in the same situation. Even if
you're right that the time it takes is as little as four hours, it may
not just be four hours, but four hours again and again.



> Unless
> you are a person who, like me and like you, has made computers a hobby one
> should reinstall and save, time, effort and money.
>
>
> --
>
> Xandros
>

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup