Full reinstall (windows and all applications) whilst it is a bit of a pain does give you a clean start without any issues being carried across.

My way of thinking its your data that is the precious stuff.

I use cobian backup (free) and do a regular full back up to alternate drives, the oldest one then lives on the shelf next to the PC the newest lives in a case in the car (or sometimes at work). It takes a bit of research to find out where some of the more important stuff is stored in windows folders to make sure you have desktop, emails, address books, favourites etc


Martyn