The "crap in the registry" thing is the BIGGEST myth in the world. I'd argue that a few leftover files and settings from old apps is inconsequential in the vast majority of cases too - with WinSxS technology in Vista and Win7, DLL hell is basically solved now too.
When would I reinstall? If I got infected, and a leading tool like Malwarebytes didn't nuke the malware on the first shot. Actually, for my own machines, I'd probably reinstall anyways, but for neighbors machines, if MalwareBytes gets it first shot, no reinstall.
Otherwise, you're wasting your time watching progress bars. Worry about a reinstall when the next version of Windows comes out, which means a reinstall every 3-4 years or so.
There is no way the registry or a few extra DLL's or ini files or anything else are causing any substantial, observable performance hit in day to day use.
Edit: take the time you'd waste on a reinstall to develop a proper backup and restore strategy that allows you to quickly get back to a known good state. Maybe you want to use Acronis, or Windows Backup, or whatever. But put together a kit with the discs you need, the external drives or other hardware, and a plan to keep your backup and recovery tools current. That's time FAR BETTER spent that doing yet another reinstall.
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-Scott
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