Reinstalling OS

This is a follow up to a post I wrote in July 2020...with some random observations about reinstalling the operating system on your computer.

Reinstalling Operating Systems

I yesterday reinstalled the operating system on my main workstation. I was having an audio issue which I troubleshot for several days to no avail. Ultimately, I think the source of the issue was with my speakers and by the time I realized this I had already chosen to reinstall

William Max & Co. BlogMax Abramowitz

In that post there were 4 key points:

1. Take notes
2. You are going to be inconvenienced for a while
3. Have a spare computer and a blank USB drive handy
4. Use the cloud to store files

As of December 2023,

Taking Notes

Still valid.

I would like to acknowledge Harvey my co-worker at my 2nd job out of university. Harvey kept a notebook by the server and whenever we worked on the server Harvey insisted that we document it in the notebook. At the age of 23, I rolled my eyes and thought, "What a pain?".

Harvey was experienced and wise.

Good documentation is valuable.

Being inconvenienced

Still true, but not so much.

In July 2020, I wrote that when you chose to rebuild your computer that your life is going to suck for 24 hours.

In December 2023, you will still be inconvenienced and the time you will be inconvenienced is closer to 1 hour and your life is not going to suck.

Having a working computer and a USB drive

Still true, but only in edge cases.

If your computer is mostly working, then you can easily reset your (Windows) computer from a local recovery partition or the cloud.

It is still useful to have a spare working computer if only to watch YouTube when your computer is rebuilding.

Using the cloud to store files

More valid.

In July 2020, I wrote, "Get into the habit of storing your files in the cloud and not on your computer."

In December 2023, "get into the habit of storing files in the cloud" is now, "just store your files in the cloud."

Further..

Don't just use the cloud; Embrace it.

On Windows using Microsoft AzureAD login accounts (or whatever they are calling it this week) makes life so much easier.

It does mean giving some of your personal data to Microsoft, but you've already handed over  ALL your personal data to Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and a dozen or more other companies.

So don't bitch and moan about the lose of privacy. Drink the Kool-Aide and be happy.