Windows Recovery and System Transfer

I haven't installed clean Windows for long over a decade. Each time I built a new PC, I cloned the disk(s) and migrated all my system and data files.In fact, my current main desktop system was upgraded from an originally clean installed Win98 system which was eventually upgraded to the original WinXP and then to SP1, SP2 and finally to SP3 one after one. During this time period, my PC hardware