Registry Backups to Save your Time
Registry is the core part of the Windows OS. The registry stores all native and installed software settings, hardware settings, as well as user specific settings. In other words, it equals a catastrophe when you spoil the registry information by accident or corrupt it altogether. In fact even after few small changes in the registry you may end up with Windows not loading at all. Having a backup registry file in a secure place can help to easily roll back the system to its functional status.
It is not a bad idea at all to back up registry data for these rare situations when a PC goes weird. When it doesn't remember any settings and you need to tune everything anew: hardware, system, and 3rd-party software settings. This information is kept in the registry. Since the registry is just a small system file, it is not necessary to restore the whole system in case something goes wrong with computer. In most cases it is quite enough to restore a Windows registry backup.
Microsoft provides its users with a built-in utility for managing the registry - Reg Editor, but unless you are tech savvy there is a little chance you'll be able to back up the registry with this tool. Third-party software specially designed for this purpose may be a better idea. Backup registry process can be very simple when you do it with the help of backup software. A decent backup program that supports registry backup would usually allow for one click registry backup. Users are only required to pick "Registry" in the list of data types available for backing up.
The amount of time required to perform a registry restore is drastically less in comparison with system restoring. It most cases it is a matter of several minutes. The backup of registry itself takes even less, so it may prove a real time saver. Keeping multiple backup registry copies at several locations including online backup storage is a great way to secure your PC from minor problems that are quite frequent when you install conflicting applications.