9 times out of 10 it is far more efficient to do a clean install rather than to waste hours troubleshooting. There is a reason large corporations image/clone workstations. If a problem arises and you cant resolve it within a reasonable time then just reimage the machine.
9 times over 10, if you cant fix a problem over a reasonable time, it's because you are not good enough to do that job. Simple as that. And btw a personal PC is not a corporate one. There, usually, you have nothing to loose. Every document is on a server, the programs needed are few, there isn't any personal setting worth to be retained, and so on. A personal PC is plenty of dozens, if not hundreds of sw, and personal files, often placed in odd positions, because a mistake or because the hurry, dozen of customizations, useful utilities and so on.. Make a new install that behaves like the old one is often matter of days of work. Especially for people who format instead of doing a plain clean installation. Clean install is matter of extreme laziness, extreme laziness you're going to pay in the following hours or days.
I had the sad experience of observing the evolution of this mentality at a major pharmaceutical company that I worked at as a data center manager. Initially the desktop techs actually knew how to troubleshoot and fix issues, but they started using certifications (meaningless) as the criteria for hiring and soon all they had was useless hacks with no actual experience, who's only skill was placing a dvd in the drive and re imaging the machine even when it was a hardware failure that was causing the problem. Starting off with a standard image makes sense in a corporate environment. Re imaging as the only method to fix a problem is just idiotic.
for example, I use KIS 2017, that uses the AC to send its update messages or threats are detected. If I unplug the AC, then the messages will not be. And this is bad.
Personally, I keep Windows 10, and my programs on my C drive. Everything else is on three other drives organized very well. I store my very important things not only on my hard drives, but on OneDrive for maximum safety. Also I have a 9+ GB portable folder that contains everything I need to install, and is always up-to-date. When I do a clean install which always involves reformatting, all I need do is run a batch file as administrator, and sit back and watch while all my programs are installed, and all my tweaks are made. All permissions, file, and registry are done automatically. After Windows is installed it only takes a very short time, and my system is set up exactly the way it used to be.
Is 14390 now the RTM?Oems need a version for install in the image all drivers and install it at the new pcs, oems need a version, mobile version can fix with store updates and desktop version with WU the last known issue, and i read version 14391 is too instable for a rtm build
Aside the cloud services, which personally I dislike, if not used trough something like clouddriive. That is helpful just to not loose the docs the images, and so on. What about the email the browsing history, the saved passwords and whatever else? Assuming that you have a valid reason to do a clean install, why add a further useless step like reformatting? Reformat if you have a FS problem, which is very unlikely unless you have a faulty disk, ram, whatever or if you got a though virus and you don't want to bother to properly remove it. Then, if you really want to, just do a clean install. Better if keeping the personal files, not just because the personal files, but because this way windows will retain your PW and UUID, making simple to re-import the old profile(s) of any program that relies on it, starting from any Chromium derivatives: Vivaldi, Opera 3x, Iron, Maxthon, and obviously also Chrome. That could be a good workaround. But workarounds are meant to solve a problem. A problem you don't have. And anyway, no your PC is not as it was before. It's a PC where you got lost mail, history, saved passwords and so on. Something you can get back quickly if you perform a proper clean install, but not if you format your HDD.
I use Google Chrome. Everything is saved. I also use gmail, so that is all saved, too. Possibly because I want to get rid of the previous Windows installation!
I assume that, if we talk of PCs, we are talking to use them as proper PCs not as a dumb terminals of some cloud services. Obviously, if you haven't any valuable data or program stored locally, you have nothing to loose. But, with that metric, what's the point of upgrading to W10 and care about its recent updates? Win XP (or a 10 years old Linux distro ) and a decent browser is everything you need... That said, a simple configuration is a reason more to not waste your time with a clean install. The more simple is your setup, the less probably you will face any upgrade problem. In short, no matter the POV, a clean install is a pointless waste of time.