It's always a sort of good idea to have a backup of your registry just as you should have a backup of your critical data files, just in case something goes wrong.

You don't need any extra programs to make a perfectly good backup.

Click Start, Run, type regedit, and hit enter. When regedit opens, make sure the top item is selected, click File | Export, pick a place to put the file and give it a name, preferably including the date so that you'll know when you did it. Regedit will automatically put a .reg file extension on it.

Anytime you need to "restore" the registry, just find the file (in Windows Explorer/File Manager) and double-click on it, and the file contents are automatically written back into the registry.

System Recovery makes automatic backups in later Win versions, and I believe Win98 did so as well, but keeps only the last few backups. With an automatic backup, there's always the possibility that a malware infection may be included in the backup, and you may restore it if you use a very recent one, so having one you made for yourself when you're sure the machine is "clean" is good practice - although seldom done by many people.

The is NO COMPELLING REASON for making a special backup to remove and reinstall a hardware device and its drivers. This is a routine maintenance sort of thing. Every time you boot, Windows looks for all the devices that are connected, and then looks to see if drivers are installed for all of them, and automagically installs any that are missing if any such are found. Just use the Device Manager/Hardware Manager in Control Panel as intended to remove the device. It should be found at the next boot, and Windows will automatically supply an "appropriate" driver, or will ask you if you have one you want to use.

Registry cleanup programs are plentifully available, and may actually do some good if your system has gotten really full of trash, but are seldom a real necessity. They satisfy the same need as the personal compulsion some people have for washing and waxing their personal vehicle, vs the others who figure it rains often enough to take care of it.

John