Why not just backup the whole (nt)user.dat, that is, HKEY_CURRENT_USER?
You should backup your registry regularly, but 12-ProfileCopy does more: 1) 12-ProfileCopy has been designed to be able to copy settings between Windows 95 and Windows NT and between different PCs. Many settings are different in Windows 95 and Windows NT. You can not copy the whole (nt)user.dat to another installation because it may render your system unusable. 2) 12-ProfileCopy also copies files referred to by registry keys, for example, your wallpaper bitmap or sound and cursor files. The keys and files are restored correctly on another machine, even if the Windows folder has another name. 3) The contents of system folders (Start Menu, Desktop, etc.) are copied from and restored to their respective paths. That is, their relative, not absolute, paths. 12-ProfileCopy uses %WinDir%, for example, not C:\Windows to restore files. 4) To transfer settings between PCs, the same applications need to be installed on both PCs. This is, however, usually not the case. You can add specific registr
