Look for paymyrent's token restore program. It will backup your activation only. Simply reinstall 7 then restore activation using this program after backing up your activation. It will only restore to your existing hardware.
same here, and remember if using Acronis set it up that at least once a week at a specific time it will automatically make a Backup of the HDD you will like. This way in case you did any changes or installing, it will back it up. I have always use this and is amazing. It will backup by itself on the background with no problem. Trust me you will love it.