Suggest me a recovery program

Hi all,

Now that I have my Windows 7 up and running and as how I would like, I suppose I'd better make an image of the disc in case of total disaster. It's been suggested that this might be a good idea!

So any suggestions as to which software to use? I tried to use Gigabytes Smart Recovery, but can't get it to load properly. I was also given a copy of Acronis Echo which I also can't get to load.

Is the utility that's included in Win 7 good enough? Or should I use a 3rd party programme. I have an 80Gb spare disc in my rig. Should I use that or my external 500Gb?

Thanks.

The Windows one is fine. I personally use Paragon Drive Backup and have done for years.

windows backup can take a drive image, job done imho. set to once a week, my NAS powers up 8am saturday morning and the backup starts 9am.

Cheers as always for the advice. Just started the Windows Backup. Looks like this may take some time.......