With Windows 11, as with all its predecessors, formatting is usually the solution to many problemssa is therefore the path chosen by many users who, for whatever reason, cannot fix them with minor measures. I remember a good friend many years ago, and with the nurturing care that PC gave to work, he eventually instituted a policy of short-cut formatting and reinstalling Windows every two or four weeks at the most. . Preventatively.

This is logical becauseormatear means removing all the “notches” we managed to make in the operating system while using it. Every time we install applications or devices, make configuration adjustments, apply updates, the system experiences a slight (although in some cases not so slight) degradation, which eventually becomes quite noticeable because it affects more than the obvious system performance.

Now reinstalling the operating system, although it is no longer such a long and tedious process as in the days of CDs and mechanical hard drives (not to mention those from floppy disks), Yes, it requires prior preparation., a backup copy of the content that we want to keep and, of course, the subsequent installation and configuration of applications that we regularly use. A process that is not always exempt from carelessness and forgetfulness that we realize too late.

To make the process less traumatic, Windows already has a system reset function, with which we can reinstall the operating system and remove applications and configuration settings, but keep our data. This can be very handy, but it still forces us to reinstall apps.

However, as we can read in Lilliputing, Microsoft is testing a format feature in Windows 11 that preserves files, apps and settings, that is, the only thing it will do is restore the Windows files (but not the configuration files that were changed) to their original state. This feature is currently being tested on the Insider Canary channel, so it’s still hard to say when it will reach the standard… if ever, that is.

An idea can be useful in a very specific type of circumstance, and that is one in which some operating system file has been corrupted but it still starts. However, if the Windows 11 installation problem is related to some installed application or some incorrect setting in the settings, this solution may not be able to solve the problem. However, when the time comes, it’s best to give it a try because we don’t lose anything and it’s possible that we’ll be surprised.