ExtremeTech touts the benefits of keeping an up to date image of your usual OS installation and programs.  Instead of having to reinstall everything from scratch after a bad thing happens, just restore from the image.
“I like to benchmark different scenarios on systems that are set up for those types of users. That means the system and application software matrix for one user scenario will be different. Simply uninstalling stuff after I’m done isn’t always effective—some apps, even after uninstalling, litter your system and registry with unnecessary crap. Reinstalling the OS for every scenario is not a winner, either. For one thing, I’ve had benchmarks crash and take down the whole system, sometimes requiring a complete reformat and reinstall. The world of early release hardware isn’t always a pretty one. The obvious solution is image backup software. ”

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