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If your PC has a single hard disk, so all your user files are on the C: disk, then regular re-installation may require too much work to be worthwhile.
I got myself an M.2 system disk (when I bought the MB, M.2 was not widespread, but fortunately the MB has an M.2 socket where I could insert an M.2 last year!) which holds Windows itself, along with supplementary .sys files for paging, hibernation etc. User profiles are of course there, but I have made it a habit to never use 'My xxx' directories. Nor do I put any user data files on my desktop. I set up my Thunderbird profile to sort all incoming mail into various folders on another disk. I keep all my user files on other disks. I consider <userprofile>\Downloads a temporary location, sorting out the downloads to some final destination (on another disk) as soon as possible after downloading.
Some applications insist on storing data in my user profile. In my last job, I was responsible for a developing and maintaining an internal tool, an application installation wizard taking a list of applications to install. I actually use it event to copy all such files to a temporary directory on another disk before reinstalling Windows. After reinstallation, the job list given to the wizard for reinstalling all applications will also copy back these files saved from my user profile. I keep the Windows installer on a USB3 memory stick. All application installers, and the temporary directory for those user profile files to be preserved, are saved on an 'old' 3.5" flash disk.
So I first use the wizard to save those user profile files I have chosen to preserve. Copying the files from an M.2 to a flash disk is a fast operation.
Then comes running the Windows installer from an USB3 memory stick to an M.2, letting the installer reformat C:. On an M.2, that takes some time, not much. There are a few questions to be answered in the beginning of the operation - not that much.
Then I use the wizard to re-install all applications. A few of them cannot be run unattended; they insist on interactive input of a few things such as license codes. I've put those first in the install list, to get all of those done with as soon as possible, before I leave the PC to itself to install all the rest. The last job given to the wizard is a list of .log and .tmp files left by various installers (including the Windows installer), empty the C: recycle bin, and clean various cache files/directories.
After running the reinstallation, I might do a manual Windows Update. The image you download with the 'Media Creation Tool' is at least partially kept updated with these, so every now and then, I refresh my Windows installer memory stick, to reduce the amount of work that Windows Update has to do.
With a setup like mine, refreshing the PC every couple of months certainly is no big hassle. In one sweep, it cleans out a lot of garbage, from temporary files to garbage registry entries to utilities I have installed just to check them out (so they are not in the wizard's install list) to unwanted cookies to whathaveyou. If some malware has come into my machine, it is likely to be wiped out. I think it is a great way of keeping my PC reasonably clean most of the time.
I have had a setup like this since the days when everything was run on magnetic disks. Then it took a lot longer. Of course it has been refined over the years. In the early years, I had not yet discovered the locations of all the setting files of the various applications, so it happened that I had to re-specify my preferences after a cleanup. Nowadays, I believe that I catch it all. I do look over C: before I start reinstallation to see if I have left some files there that should be preserved, but I rarely find anything.
If your configuration resembles mine, with M.2 system disk, installers on USB3 / flash disk, you have a decent application install wizard, and keep all your user data files on other disks, then I would certainly recommend every now and then doing a cleanup like I do. If your PC has a single, magnetic C: disk, you have no USB3 stick for Windows, and you do not have a good application install wizard, then I am not so sure.
(To answer before you ask: Sorry, that wizard I am using is the property of my last employer. It is not available outside the company, so I can not provide it to you.)
Note: My PC is too old to run W11, so I am on W10. I see no reason why my setup could not be ported to W11.
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More or less the same as you but without wizard.
C: System (M.2 gen 4)
D: (min. other partition, better another disk) Data to work with (M2 gen 3)
E: Warehouse (Long time storage) normal HDD high capacity
F: IT Staff (SSD)
Macrium Images every now and then saved in F: (FIFO of 5 last versions) with all installers of software I like / I use
If I have problems I go to the last backup and restore + re-install not permanent software. If still problems, back to an older version.
Every 3 to 5 years a clean install from media tool stick, because there is a point where backups will get crap inside if you wish it or not.
Doing it almost everything manually, I fully restore wihtin 4 hours
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Every time they release a major update. Pretty sure that can be gleaned from the context.
If that’s too much trouble for you then you can automate most things. But there’s no need as a major update is once at year at most. I never upgrade and only have to reinstall every couple years.
You should know this…
Jeremy Falcon
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Major versions require a clean install. Thus, 2000 to XP, XP to Vista, Vista to 7, 7 to 8.x, 8.x to 10, and 10 to 11 should all be clean installs.
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100%... I'd add to that all major versions of 11 as well. Like 22H2 was a big update. But then again, I could be a masochist.
Jeremy Falcon
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And I thought it was just me....
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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Faithless - God Is a DJ[^]
Currently enjoying my two week Christmas break, but a legend passed away last week so I'm coming out of hibernation to pay my due respects.
Maxi Jazz, singer of Faithless, passed away due to illness.
God Is A DJ was my first Faithless song and probably their second most popular song (after Insomnia).
The crowd at Pinkpop 1999 in The Netherlands caused an earthquake when they all jumped to Faithless
Too bad an ex-coworker kind of ruined it for me when he said "This is my church, this is where I hurt my heels."
RIP legend Maxi Jazz.
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yes, sad news about Faithless ... and this is indeed a top track , upvoted ...
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…whilst honeymooning in Australia. Reports say he didn't suffer for too long as he'd only
been married 5 days.
If you can't laugh at yourself - ask me and I will do it for you.
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groan....
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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I was lucky enough to see them before they retired.
A very entertaining night and got to meet them after the show. They were selling their own merchandise and spent ages talking to them.
// TODO: Insert something here Top ten reasons why I'm lazy
1.
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most funny
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Must. Not. Laugh. (Herelf is sitting beside me)
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Highly recommended reading: Bill Bryson: In a sunburned country[^] (original/UK title: Down Under).
A handful of quotes:
"What about sharks?" I asked uneasily.
"Oh, there's hardly any sharks here. Glenn, how long has it been since someone was killed by a shark?"
"Oh, ages," Glenn said, considering, "Couple of months, at least."
That is what a crocodile attack is like, you see – swift, unexpected, extremely irreversible.
Then, furtively poking about on the bottom was a reef shark – only a couple of feet long but capable of giving you a jolly good nip.
"If you're out in the bush and a snake comes along, just stop dead and let it slide over your shoes."
This, I decided, was the least-likely-to-be-followed advice I had ever been given.
"And what does that mean exactly?"
"Pain beyond description followed shortly by muscular paralysis, respiratory depression, cardiac palpitations and a severe disinclination to boogie."
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He couldn't have been a lawyer - they don't eat their own kind do they? :P
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Actually, they do - so definitely not good news for the shark.
There is only one Vera Farmiga and Salma Hayek is her prophet!
Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.
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I laughed, sought out my wife, and told her, laughing all the while.
We always sleep separately anyway
Cheers,
Vikram.
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#Worldle #342 1/6 (100%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr
Easy one
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Davy Jones's locker on the monsoon. (6)
International CCC - 12/30/2022
Puzzles are eligible to be posted at 00:00 GMT
Clue remains available for 24 hours.
Winners may become Setters if they choose.
Davy Jones's locker = Seas
on = on
the monsoon = Definition
Season
modified 1-Jan-23 0:48am.
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Monkey ?
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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I wrote a Windows Form to download stock data using Web API, but the data provider stipulates that the connection is limited only to 5 minutes for a session to download data.
How can I continuously download the stock data for a large number of stock symbols?
diligent hands rule....
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You're going to have to have that discussion with whoever you're getting that information from.
...and you're probably going to have to pay for for it too.
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Southmountain wrote: I wrote a Windows Form to download stock data using Web API, but the data provider stipulates that the connection is limited only to 5 minutes for a session to download data.
How can I continuously download the stock data for a large number of stock symbols? I've had a similar problem problem before. Check if you can use RFC7233/RFC9110 range requests if the webserver supports it. Pause your download before the 5 minute mark. Take note of how many bytes you have downloaded and resume the download on a later connection beginning at that offset. You can use curl to test if the remote server supports range requests.
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