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View Full Version : [all variants] Wanting to install Ubuntu, again



Cam_B
July 25th, 2008, 08:15 PM
I am currently running openSUSE 11.0, and wanting to re-install Ubuntu because I am fed up with the fact that there are not a lot of apps that work with it, etc... and I miss the awesome support community.

But, this will be the 3rd time I have wiped my hard disk, and installed a new distro, not including the initial windows install. I have heard / read that re-installing an OS too many times can be detrimental to the HD. That makes sense, but just how many times will I have to wipe and re-install to start having noticeable effects, and what effects will those be?

tl;dr : I want to know the effects of wiping and re-installing an OS too many times on my HD, and how many times is to many.

Thank you in advance.

.nedberg
July 25th, 2008, 09:52 PM
Never heard of that, and I don't believe it to be true!

I have a laptop that I have installed various versions of Windows and Linux on for years. It is my "testing" laptop. I would say that I have installed a new OS on it at least 25 times. Can't say that I see any problem with it.

Herman
July 25th, 2008, 10:02 PM
just how many times will I have to wipe and re-install to start having noticeable effects, and what effects will those be?:) Hello Cam_B,
As you can see in my sig links, I have a website about how to install Ubuntu.

In order to keep my website up to date, I need to re-install Ubuntu several times for every new release and delete it again to test the installer out.
I takes several trial installs to explore various options, find out the best ways to do things and get all the illustrations right.
I have installed and deleted operating systems in my hard disks quite a lot, (more times than I can count), over the past three or four years.
My first version of Ubuntu was Warty Warthog 4.10, released in April 2004, but I didn't get it until a few months later.
I didn't start my website until about half way through Breezy Badger 5.10 I think.

So far the only hard disk failure I've had was the original old 6.0 GB laptop size hard drive that came in my old PC Chips Book PC.
(Here's an article about my old 'Book PC', for your entertainment in case you're interested, 'Book PC Gets New Power Supply (http://herman543.googlepages.com/bookpcgetsbigpowersupply2)').
The hard drive failure in the 6.0 GB drive looks like a bearing failure, (judging by the oily stain below the spindle), rather than a failure of the surfaces of the platters.
That old hard drive was second hand with the old 'Book PC', when I got it, and there's no telling what kind of punishment it had already been subjected to.
Also, the original 'Book PC's case was very small, and very hot, on hot days the ambient temperature where I live gets up to 47 degress Celcius, so I think the heat inside the tiny case was what killed the old hard drive, I remember it was a hot day when it died. Now I use a big case with better cooling, as you would see in the pictures in the link.

As of yet, I have not had any other hard disk drive problems at all, so I would guess that it's safe to install and delete and re-install as much as we like.
I know I certainly do. :)

I also monitor my hard disks with smartmontools and all of them are fine.

Don't worry about it, just have fun!

Regards, Herman :)