I guess you mean backing up to cloud.
I back up by Windows partition to a separate internal hard disk (which I copy to an external hard disk regularly), so the restore process is really quick. I don't keep lots of personal data (pictures, videos, etc.) on the Windows drive to keep the size of backups smaller.
Whenever I install Windows for a friend or relative, I take a backup after installing drivers and essential applications in case they want to make a fresh start as you suggested. I don't have lots of applications installed on my PC, so I don't need to start over often but things may be different for others. I suppose if their computers get bloated with lots of useless applications, a fresh start may be the best way to go for them, in this case not only it isn't bad, it's almost imperative.