I learned over the years to regularly back up my music/video/picture files on an external USB drive, and also keep a folder with all the ZIP files containing full installation files or isos for all the programs/games I intent to keep.
And also I backup my windows mail settings and received/sent messages.
Of course I also keep a backup of my Firefox favorites links and passwords.
Therefore I'm not afraid of a fresh install. Besides, when you spend a little time reinstalling your stuff and during the process, you realize that you don't even need half of the crap and you end up with a much more clean and garbage free PC experience.
QUOTEI have Win 7 RC on my system, and after a few months I couldn't imagine going back to XP ( I skipped Vista altogether ) .
Problem is, in a few months RC will expire, and I'm already taking steps to make fresh install of the retail version as easy and painless as it can be.
But now I need a few words of advice myself:
My Dell XPS PC came with Vista ultimate edition with the included Option to have it downgraded to XP.
Which is fine.
I now have a dual booting system with XP and Win 7 RC.
I think soon or later I will have to purchase the retail version of Win 7, and I heard that I won't be able to buy the cheaper Upgrade package and install it over the RC.
But it's possible to upgrade Vista to Win 7 Home for something like $83 which is not as bad as the $ 200 price tag for the full version.
Technically , since my PC came with Vista Ultimate, I should be able to dig out my Dell OS DVD and put Vista on my PC and then upgrade to Win 7 cheaper and hassle free, but my question is, would I be able to perform a "clean" install using the Win 7 upgrade package (by running it from my legitimate copy of Vista of course ) ?
I'm not worried about having to reinstall everything, I'm used to that, is just that a clean install is a must for me.
