I personally disagree. Problems that require a restore from backup are seldom enough that, Windows being what it is, having to restore a backup is probably as good a time as any to re-install the OS from scratch and start truly clean. Restoring a backup of the entire HD (including OS) is just going to restore any of the other nonsense that's built up over the months or years; it might even restore a virus that was inadvertently "backed up" with the OS and hasn't been detected.

No, if I really suffer a catastrophic incident that requires I restore everything from backup, I definitely take the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. Sure, I guess that means my "incident" will take me a day to recover from rather than an hour or two. But it's not like it happens on a regular basis so I still think it's a good opportunity to get a clean system. Let there at least be some benefit obtained from the incident.

Another problem with backing up the whole OS and just restoring it, bit by bit, is that (with Windows) that pretty much means you have to restore it to the same computer with the same peripherals. Even if Windows product activation is not an issue, the drivers from one computer will most likely be completely wrong for that of another. The last thing I would do is restore a bit-by-bit backup from a laptop to any other model laptop or a desktop. By just backing up my data I'm completely portable and can restore to any machine that has my required applications. In fact, I'd restore my data to another computer and be working on that computer while I rebuild my other machine in parallel.

So unless you buy two laptops every time you buy one (i.e. one to use and one as your backup to which you can restore to in an emergency), I don't see much benefit in backing up the whole OS and installed programs.

Regards,
Craig Steiner