Drive Image/Restore software...

[Zazoo]

Can anyone recommend free software that I can use to make a restorable image of my C: Drive?
I just restored my PC, reinstalled all updates and system drivers and I want to create an "image" of this drive in this state so that next time I restore this PC I don't have to reinstall all the updates/drivers again.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,
~Mike

[Autoload]

I've had decent results with:
http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm (Free)
 
In my personal experience, the most consistent successful images come from using Symantec Ghost ($69.95) (A little bit of bloatware though)
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost10

[Arátoeldar]

I used to be a big fan of what used to PowerQuest before Symantec (bloatware) bought them out. Now I use the Acronis products.

[MindlessOath]

i use just norton ghost.

[Aramis]

If you go with some of the older versions of ghost you get a lot less bloatware. We use 7.5 and 8 in the office quite frequently and they're very stable.

[Autoload]

Aramis.. do you have any SID issues when using the lower versions of ghost when not in a domain?

[Aramis]

Have to admit I didn't know what a SID is- I had to look it up. Guess my geek quotient just went down. However, we always add them to the domain after they're imaged (either manually or through sysprep) and haven't really had issues there. The usual process is to create the image, set up sysprep and then dump the image to a file. We then run ghost on the computers we want to image, then sysprep takes over and adds the computers to the domain. I've yet to see it ask to be registered with MS.


Since we buy all our Dells with an OS, I'm pretty sure we're still in the clear as far as legality is concerned, if you're thinking about that at all.


Ok, I kind of rambled and I am not real familiar with the situation, but I hope that helped a little bit.

[Autoload]

You answered my question.  What you guys are doing is the correct procedure and there really isn't an issue when there is a domain involved since the Active Directory/Domain Controllers are issuing SID's to the domain members.
 
I was referring to small businesses that get a hold of or make a ghost image of one PC and then distribute it across the office without a domain controller.  All the PC's end up with the same SID as the imaged PC so network connectivity is a problem.

[Aramis]

Ah. Yeah I can see that being an issue since as far as MS is concerned they're all running on the same version of Windows.

I didn't really ever think about that before to be honest, so either way I learned something.