Preventing reformattings...How?

[ken_shoti]

I reformatted our pc yesterday, it took me more than 4 hours, formatting, reinstalling, reconfiguring and everything (especailly in connecting it to network)... the pc now is in it's good working state.

I use this pc in downloading softwares, i like trying softwares (and i think it's the cause of unwanted errors). so how can i prevent another reformat and make this good working state longer (for 2-5 years?)

[paulq]

If you are going to be downloading many pieces of suspicious software consider virtualization software such as BufferZone. I have yet to try it out but I hear good things.

[Aradon]

I would suggest something like vmware or microsoft virtual machine if you want to try out software and prolong the use of your computer. That way if something messes up, it's only messing up the virtual machine.

The longest I've gone without a format is three years, and I could have gone longer had I wanted to, but I figured it was time to clean up the file system.

[TR_Twiggy]

I would suggest making a customized install of windows. I have done that to mine and I have it installing all my drivers and most of my programs that I normally use. I can go from start to finish in about 30-40 mins tops.

[ken_shoti]

How to make a customized one?