I recently was forced to do a "reinstall" of WinXP due to a mysterious corruption in some of the more arcane built-in tools.

My original version was a pre-SP one, but I had ordered the CDs for SP1 and SP2, so I figured I was in pretty good shape.

I had previously "merged" the original and SP2 disks (which includes SP1) onto an "installation CD" so I didn't have to go through separate installation and update steps. (Creating the merged installation CD was about a 15 hour project, but I'd recommend it for those who want to be "efficient" if an emergency arises.)

After reinstalling at SP2 configuration, a visit to the update site found about 70MB of required updates, which with my dial-up connection was an 11 hour download. These are what you really do need (as of a month ago) after an "original" reinstall and SP2 update.

Your "recent backup" may have some or all of them, but don't forget to check with the update site. Get your AV installed and running before you make any connection to the web, of course.

In addition to the Ad-Aware SE and Spybot S&D, I'd recommend that you install HiJack This, run it once after your new setup is done, and save the report so you'll have a record of your new configuration. I don't recommend, for most people, attempting to use it for "editing" the configuration without expert hand-holding.

The Disk Cleanup that's built into WinXP will remove all the temp files, cookies, etc, if you tell it to, so add-on programs are, IMO, rather a waste of perfectly good machine resources. There are a few that some people may find helpful - in lieu of an RTFM - and most of them are relatively harmless, even if unnecessary. "Utilities" that you see in pop-up/insert adds on the web, however, are a common source of spyware; so get recommendations from people you trust, and be sure you don't get sucked in by "simulations" with similar names when you go to get any that you decide you want.

John