Wanting to do a clean install

[helloadam]

I recently deleted my Windows partion seeing as I never use windows anymore (had it for a class at school, but the class is over), and I now have room to keep my music library on my laptop (~50GB), and maybe even my movie collection (unlikely seeing as i have about 70 .mp4 movies, not counting tv shows).

Currently my music and movie collection is all on my external, but its a slow bugger, which is fine for movies and such, it just takes an extra second to load. But the music has lag times and that just isn't cutting it for me. So i have to questions;

1. How would I go about reinstalling Mac OSX on my MBP while not losing any of my files/Applications? A link to a good guide will be fine, no need to type out a long process if there is a guide out there. I couldn't find one though. I just don't want to lose my programs and the school stuff I'm working on.

2. Is there a way I can tell itunes to organize my music and movies for me, but still keep my movies on my external and my music on my internal? I like the way iTunes organizes it for me, but i don't have enough room for all my movies and shows on my internal, and I want them all to still be compatible with FrontRow (I use it with my monitor for when I have friends over and the like). I don't really mind how that can be accomplished, I just want it to be able to do that.

Thank you in advance!

 

[maclover001]

Do a Time Machine backup, reinstall OS X, then drag your wanted files back.

 

[helloadam]

That would work, but I just looked at time machine and it says i need to reformat my external to do that, and I can't lose my movies/shows/music thats all on there, but there isn't enough room on my internal to hold all of it. I guess I can lose some of my shows I never watch anymore to save space.