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Installing new OS - do I need Win Easy Transfer??

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I have Acronis True Image Home 2012 installed with Vista 32 bit. I have ordered Win 7 professional and plan to do a clean install to my machine which is 64-bit capable, and will install in 64-bit mode. I'm aware that I'll need to reinstall programs. Instructions say that I need to backup my data files. Windows Easy Transfer is suggested.

Acronis is installed on my boot drive but saves to an external HDD. Can I reinstall my data files from Acronis from the external HDD after I get the new OS going?

Also, I plan to disconnect a second internal HDD and the backup external HDD during my clean install of Win 7 professional 64-bit. I'm assuming that I can reconnect the 2 drives after installing the new OS and they will be recognized as normal without any issues. Let me know if there is anything here that I should be aware of.

Once everything is working and I can see my programs and data files, I will reformat the external drive that I'm using for Acronis backups and start the backup process anew.

Forgive if these questions appear to be simple, but I've never done a clean install of an OS and I'm a little nervous about it. I'd rather be warned of potential problems now. I'm thinking that with Acronis the worst that can happen is that I will need to reinstall my old system and files from the backup drive.

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Yes, if you make a backup using True Image you will be able to restore, or just copy across, your user files. In fact, it would be prudent to do a full disk backup prior to beginning your clean install, so you can revert if disaster occurs.

Sure, you can reconnect those drives after installing Win7. However, you may have to "take ownership" of the files and folders. Win7 is more strict about enforcing user permissions on files/folders than previous Windows versions were. So, it's possible that you won't immediately be able to access files on those drives, but you'll just need to go through the well-publicized "take ownership" process.

You may want to read about Win7's User Account Control at MS and other sites. it's useful to learn how it works, and how to work with it. I recommend you do not do as many people imprudently advise and disable UAC. UAC is a valuable mechanism to help prevent viruses, trojans, etc. Win7's UAC is better behaved than it was in Vista, so you don't need to disable it.