taking rebuilt store and updated DB live

I rebuilt my 1.3.9h live store on a wamp test site 1.5.4. I eliminated many mods, added new ones and a new template. On my test site I imported my live DB, purged remnants of old mods, and upgraded it to 1.5.4.through zc_install.

When I move the test site live, can I simply drop the existing live DB, delete my 1.3.9 files on the server, ftp the new files +new config files and import my updated DB, or do I need to do a fresh install on my server and then update DB and copy over new files.

Thank you.

Careful ... you don't want to delete the live database.

This article explains the flow:
http://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3-How-do-I-rebuild-my-site-on-the-new-version-instead-of-upgrading

Thank you. I read the article before posting but was unsure about the DB. Many of the old mods no longer exist, going back as far as 1.3.7 and/or don't have uninstall sql so I had manually gone through the DB stripping them out before adding new mods. I was concerned that I would have to re-do that purging and therefore be down longer. On the other hand I've spent a lot of time rebuilding the site and I don't want to screw it up by short cutting the update either ;o)