Formatting the PC is one of the most common ways to perform a purge, erase all content and start from scratch. Whether the amount of garbage you have on your computer has gotten out of hand or if you just want to try to fix a problem or improve performance, it may be a possible solution.
However, you should not abuse the option to format your computer either. When should you do it and when not?
When is it advisable to format your PC and when not?
Formatting, reinstalling or restoring our operating system to factory settings will ensure that we have our computer again in practically the same conditions in which we released it.
There is no set deadline to perform a format. It does not have to become a periodic maintenance obligation , so do not worry because the deadline may have passed, which is not the ITV of the car.
The cases in which it would be better not to format are, for example, when the PC works at a low performance due to reasons such as having too many programs installed, little space on the disk and/or some other trojan bothering.
Before formatting, we could try other solutions that are not as radical as running a good antivirus on your PC to make sure that it does not have viruses or spyware, or any type of malware. Another solution is to do a manual cleanup, uninstall or delete anything you don’t normally use on your computer, or back up to the cloud on an external hard drive.
Finally, an action that can leave everything in good condition is to defragment the disk to improve performance , especially if you made the previous recommendation. When you delete a file, that space is left as a dead point and the new files created are not recorded in the disk space of that deleted file, but in new space. Defragmenting your drive can be a chore, but not nearly as heavy as formatting.
Once that’s done, your computer will most likely be as good as new and you won’t need to reformat and install Windows from scratch, reinstalling all programs, looking for drivers if you’re missing one, etc.
Is there a format limit?
Having explained when you should format and when not, let’s go to one of the great myths, which ensures that, if we format several times, the hard drive could end up being damaged and, therefore, there are a finite number of occasions in which you can do it.
It is not true that your PC suffers if we format it several times because it is a process that does not involve physical damage to the hardware . And if the reason for the drop in performance is precisely that there is a hardware problem, formatting is not going to solve it either, but rather it must be solved by opening the computer and repairing the damaged components.
As we have told you before, it is better to try other alternatives, but simply to better manage your time and not perform a format that you really did not need .