Win7 reinstallation (on same PC) advice - SAVE SETTINGS, rules, etc.

What I need: to reinstall Windows 7 Ultimate on the same PC, using the same hardware. There are many good reasons, so we'll just call it 'maintenance'.

Previous experience: I have never reinstalled Win7 on the same computer / I have installed Win7 from scratch over XP twice / I have installed XP over XP (and previous versions going back to DOS ) 100's of times.

What scares me: I have never successfully retained or recaptured Outlook rules, e-mail settings, e-mail structure, internet (DSL) settings, network settings, scheduled tasks, Outlook (Office 2010) events (reminders), general tweaks etc. on any of my REinstalls. Because I run multiple home-based businesses I have 11 e-mail accounts and (at last count) something like 97 rules for routing e-mails in Outlook.

What I need: I REALLY would like to find a way to capture and save as many of these settings as possible to reduce the time needed to get back up and running on the new install. Windows backup and restore or some 3rd party utility? What would you suggest??

I would not use Easy Transfer to migrate your files as it reimports AppData settings that are also a corruption path into a fresh new install. Better to start fresh with new settings than risk that and defeat your purpose.

Therefore many of the steps you need to take are the same as for getting a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

Others may be able to specify better the specific Outlook items you need transferred. If not I find these on reinstalls easily by googling the question. You'll learn exactly which files to back up externally, whether and how they're exported and reimported.

"Therefore many of the steps you need to take are the same as for getting a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. "

wow- that's quite a comprehensive tutorial! I'll read through it a few times and see if I can make this happen this weekend. My problem is that I don't have the luxury of reinstalling programs slowly - I pretty much need 90% of them to fully functional all the time.

If that's the case you can consider doing your Clean Reinstall to another partition which is "Under Construction" until you have it up and running as you wish. Then we can help you remove the other Win7 or you can keep it hidden as a backup.

If you have any questions about setting up your partitioning or adjusting it later, post back a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Forums