overwrite new install with clone to recover program
 

i have managed to delete/lose Image Capture which is an app that comes with the OS Tiger install. The only way i can find to get it back seems to be to reinstall the system but i really really don't want to start over. i have my system (alas also without that app) cloned on an external HD.

If i reinstall Tiger on my internal drive, then reboot from the clone, can i use "backup all files - copy different files" to recover the Image Capture app? I would be copying files FROM the clone in this case?

I would just try it and see, but this would be a time consuming experiment and i have alsi done myself enough damage here

You don't want to do that, no. You can certainly just do an archive-and-install to recover it. Another option: use something like Pacifist (see VersionTracker).