I can't say about the microsoft backup, but I'm using the Acronis True Image Home V11 (current version)  and it works well.  I've had to rebuild my hard drive a couple of weeks ago from a backup (fortunately it had been backed up the day before so I didn't lose anything) and went smooth.  The True Image will backup all the partitions on the hard drive, not just the "C" drive. 

 

 

STGCMTED,

If  you're using Vista Home Premium, the Vista backup for that edition only backs up certain files and/or folders (e.g. Music, Videos, Email, Documents,etc.). Acronis performs image backups of partitions. I use Acronis TI 10 and it works great. It backs up the entire partition and allows for restore of same or of individual files/folders. It even backs up your MBR. In my opinion, it's a much better backup solution with greater flexibility.

             I use Acronis True Image Home and love it. I've tried my fair share of backup software and this is the one I like the best. I lost a raid array due to a power failure last summer, and it was restored in 18 minutes with Acronis.  This is my choice, I wouldn't use anything else.

 

have a good day,

jd

Does the Acronis True Image work with networked drives?  I read a review on Amazon that said they had problems.  In fact, it disabled the network interface.  Just curious.

Yes, Acronis TI 10 works with networked drives. My wife's laptop backs up to my desktop over a wireless network. I have also performed image restores and file/folder restores over the network.