Should I re-format my Windows 10 disk SSD? (or just "Refresh" my windows)?

[Ship69]

Hello

Should I re-format my Windows 10 disk SSD?
Or is there a something similar I can do toclean out my registry but leave my applications still installed?
e.g. What does "Refresh" do?

BACKGROUND
I have a fairly new PC with lots of free diskspace and 16GB of DDR4 3000MHz Memory.
Here's what happened:
1. MS Office 365 (Business) became extremely slow to open (15-30 seconds to open Excel).
2. So I called MS Support. After about 3 hours of re-installing Office there was no improvement.
3. Eventually they talked me into creating a new Windows profile.
4. This now opens Excel fast.
But there is a new problem: I am completely unable to change the default program for editing .TXT files.
Also the wheel on my wheel mouse no longer works.

And of course every single user setting within windows now need to be reset. This includes every setting for every application. So I feel like I might as well re-install windows!?

Given that Windows always seems to get slower and slower over time, (due presumably to the registry getting more and more bloated) should I actually format my entire hard disk?

Or is there some other way to "Refresh" windows without actually losing all my applications? And if so would that be just as effective at cleaning up my registry and speeding up my PC?

Cheers

J

 

[BigFeet]

You can reset the PC, leaving you're personal files (documents, pictures, downloads folders, etc.), but you'll have to reinstall your apps. Short of a clean install, this may be your best bet.

 

[Saltgrass]

I was wondering, did Microsoft run you through a Repair of the install of 365? Were there any folders they asked you to delete or move? Do you keep your files on line with Office or OneDrive.

If Office was slow opening, I was thinking one of your pervious files was giving it problems. Creating a new profile might have bypassed that issue, if it were to have been the case.

Did you try while offline to see if it made any difference?