Advice for a reinstall of Vista 64 - best Windows reinstall method?

[Steve(MS)]

I would like some direction on how to go about reinstalling OS.
My OS presently is on a 500 GB hard drive.
I just bought a new 500 GB hard drive for the OS to be installed on and have physically placed the hard drive in tower.
My OS is still in operating condition on the hard drive but have had this computer since early 2009.
It sometimes is sluggish about opening an app but I haven't had crashes with known solid designed programs.
Over this time, I have installed and uninstalled many programs so I think the registry is cluttered and I would rather reinstall instead of waiting for the hard drive to die.
I can still process video, even blu-ray so it is still in working order.
I am not too good at computer related stuff and have no experience doing an OS install.
To further complicate matters, I am on dialup.

OK so I need someone to sort of guide me or at least point me with internet links on how to do an install.

I suppose the first thing to do is format the new drive?
Do I put a partition for the OS?
I think I can at least format since I added a hard drive early last year and formatted it.

I read somewhere about saving driver info...some far I don't much about that.

Perhaps I would be better off paying someone to do this for me?
Or at least I could try to do it and if not successful, then pay someone?
Any advice will be appreciated.

[admin]

Paying somebody is easy. Everybody claims to be an expert fix-it service these days.
Getting quality service is what's hard. Lots of them are lazy, give up, and don't care two farts about losing your data.

Format the new drive, yes.
DO THIS CAREFULLY! Do not accidentally format your current drive. Pay attention, read what's on screen!

When you format it, it tends to ask you right away about making a new partition.

To be honest, I don't really suggest reinstalling the OS very often. It's not going to necessarily speed up your computer. That's a myth. In fact, it can just as easily slow it down, as it may not be as tweaked as the current install. The ideal thing to do would be to carefully clean out the registry, and uninstall anything you don't need. Use CCleaner for the registry clean-up, as well as extra software removal.

Not formatting removes the drivers issue, which can be a huge problem.

[Steve(MS)]

That's the thing though, I don't really know how to clean registry, I do use CCleaner.
I can see in registry program names no longer installed but I have no clue if those lines are shared or not.
Supposing I decide not to reinstall, how difficult would it be for me to make an image of the first drive
and then plug it in to the first drive's sata on mobo?

One issue, I have run out of sata power connectors, coming from the PSU.
I think when I decide to connect the new hard drive, I will disconnect my 2nd dvd drive and use its connectors.
I have plenty of 4 pin molex not connected, the 2 sata connectors coming from PSU are Yed so there are a total of 4.
Will 4 pin molex to sata power connector work? Or further Y one of the sata connectors?
Sata power connectors suppose to have 3 voltage lines while the 4 pin molex has the 2 voltage lines.
I don' know if hard drives or dvd drives use that 3rd voltage....

[admin]

Quote:

Supposing I decide not to reinstall, how difficult would it be for me to make an image of the first drive
and then plug it in to the first drive's sata on mobo?

This is very simple to do.

Paragon Drive Copy and Acronis True Image are my favorites. Both are payware, well worth the $50 or so they cost.
Acronis True Image is both a backup/restore and a drive clone software.

If you need a freeware, try the one by Easeus: http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy
I've not used that specific Easeus program, but I've used some of their other ones for quite a few years now.

Quote:

One issue, I have run out of sata power connectors, coming from the PSU. I think when I decide to connect the new hard drive, I will disconnect my 2nd dvd drive and use its connectors.

This would be best.

Quote:

Will 4 pin molex to sata power connector work?

Yes.

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Or further Y one of the sata connectors?

No.

[Steve(MS)]

Just an update, I used the easeus and was able to copy entire disc then unplug old hard drive then
plug new drive in its place.
It worked fine.
Thanks for your time and effort.
I am working at removing rarely used programs and am using as many no-install programs as I can.
Some programs can be made into no-install, I am doing that too.
New drive isn't hesitating like the original, I think it was dying so will put it aside in case something happens to new drive.

On a side note, I downloaded the easeus from download.cnet which used to be a good download site but this time there was their installer which wanted to load up tool bars and other junk along with the program. Too bad, I used to like that site but won't be using it if I can get a program elsewhere.

[kpmedia]

On Windows Servers, I only use portable apps for non-essential/non-server needs. (Example: Browsers, spreadsheets, etc.)

I've started to do that on my laptop, too.

Because some software is not very secure -- Filezilla, for example -- I lock away portable versions inside encrypted password-protected virtual drives that can be mounted/unmounted as needed. (Gizmo Drive is good for that.) Even if the computer does get compromised, fat chance on swiping data in the typical locations (because it doesn't exist there).

Google Chrome is a real nuisance, as far as I'm concerned, regarding where/how it gets installed. I advise others switch to portable Chrome. Same for Firefox. The only browsers I suggest "installing" are ones where current-version portable versions are unavailable, such as Pale Moon or Seamonkey.

I have a longstanding dislike of CNET from both an editorial and philosophical point of view. It's a crappy site. Your first stop should always be filehippo.com, which tends to have most software -- without faux installers, misleading ad spots, or other semi-malicious BS.