Vista - How To Create System Builder Image?

Hi,

Can someone help me with what all software's do I need to create a system builder image?

I am interested in creating a system which works like everyday DELL's/HP's/SONY's etc where the HDD has a partition with an activate image of the OS. The boot menu lets you boot from the HDD by default but if the system needs to be cleaned (restored to factory defaults) it is as simple as choosing a option in the boot menu which simply installs the OS (activated i.e. no frequent activations) which still keeping almost every file I created personally.

Any help in this regards will be appreciated.

FYI, I am trying to build my own system using Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit and would like to keep an activated image of my system that can restored anytime I need to start all over again.

EDIT: I am only interested in going back to when the image was created. Ocassionally I would like to update the image when major service packs are released and tested.

-achugh

Not sure what exactly you are trying to achieve here...
I use and recommend Acronis True Image for my backups...
But if you need it to keep all files you would have to synchronise your images on a daily basis otherwise your restore would only take you back to the last image created...
Add more details to what it is you want and we'll go from there...

@patio,

I have edited my post above to answer your question.

In short I am not interested in updating the image very often.

Best bet would be Acronis that patio mentioned (or some other imaging software of your choice. As easy as once you have everything set up the way you want you create an image of everything, and then schedule (or do manually as needed) an incremental backup.

@stormy13,

Can you point me towards some guides on how to create a system image that can be easily deployed irrespective of the HDD size i.e. lets say the image is created from a hdd capacity of 300GB but can be deployed to 1TB disk as well without issues?

Also while searching on this website I found this post What's the final verdict? Ghost 14 or True Image 2009?
Where Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download software is being mentioned. Anyone has any thoughts/tutorials/guides about it?

There is also a freeware Paragon Drive Backup 9.0 Express. It does what you wanted originally. It creates a "backup capsule" on a partition. When you boot a message is displayed such as "Press F3 to restore from Backup Image" or some such thing.

If you want to create a custom install disc for multiple machines then it sounds like you should check out Slipstreaming. You might check the BootLand Forums. That's most of what they do there.

I'm currently testing Macrium Reflect and will have more info in the next few days...
Initial test it wouldn't restore to a larger size drive/partition but i may have missed something.
More later.

@MilesAhead,
Thanks, I am checking BootLand Forums now. I will also look into the Paragon at the same time.

@Patio,
I will wait for your findings. Please post them here once you are done with your investigation.