This is a real serious problem for user. I went to Backup and ran create system image for drive C. I put the WindowsImageFile on drive M. It completed successfully. I went to Restore and it couldn't find backup. I installed the latest installed Service Pack 1 so my computer is up to date and my disk is fine. I did not want to set up Backup because I want to do the backups when I choose. What I have read is that the solution is to Setup Backup and run it from there. Well it should never allowed me to create a System image the other way - create system image - if Restore isn't going to become aware that an umage backup exists. It should be a simple thing to let me browse to the image if it can't find it. I don't want to dance thru the hoops to do something so simple. How can Microsoft allow such simple functionality to be dysfunctionally user friendly and force users to set backups for daily, weekly and monthly. The create system image should either be removed if from main screen if it isn't user friendly. Now I am going to have to run the Setup backup and go thru the entire process again. Hopefully it does work and my disk hasn't crashed before that. Even if work around is successful, this is still a MAJOR BUG because we are talking about something which should be simple and straight forward and very user friendly. Surely they have sat novices in front of their computers to verify that such confusions don't exist in such a fundamental function. One shouldn't have to be a Backup operator to operate the software. Disk crashes won't happen except on rare occasion so few will have familiarity with restore. The Microsoft Backup and Restore is very dissed around the internet.

this is my first official backup with backup utility nearly 4 hours into windows backup utility and only 19% done. do people at microsoft know how bad their backup utility is. their create system image command only took 3 hours although it seems unusable can someone enlighten me what to do besides wait another 16 hours ? if there is a momentary power outage ... YIKES any freeware programs to do the job

I'm using EASUS Todo Backup Freeware. Backup took 3.5 hours. Interface was clean. It even verified the backup. It also compressed file into smaller space. I backed up 636GB using WD 1TB black caviar and E6300. Won't really know if it will work until disaster happens but that is no difference than windows. I think Microsoft intentionally released badly written Backup and Restore software to general population because they have hidden agenda's and closely connected to the powers that be. Most of the spam and viruses get created and generated covertly by the powers that be to add inertia to the computer experience and sabotage communication. In earlier systems of Windows, they had much better backup and restore. The software in Windows 7 should frustrate the average person where many will just give up or just lose their data. The slow Backup will surely add to frustration. There really isn't any excuse given Microsoft access to talent and money for this.