Windows 7: A really good backup strategy

Having tried many backup programs, but none is really reliable.
Particulary flaky appears Acronis 10: after a crash I selected only F: in files restore (backup medium = ext hdd P and it happily restored ALL partitions as folders in F: which did not really fit.
So I had to enlarge the partition first...!

My strategy is making a full c:\ image twice a week, and daily incremental backups to my external hdd.

Can anyone advise on a proggie that's:
- easy to use and automatic
- working in Windows 7
- supports "suspended file" backups (no restarting to DOS or whatever)
- really reliable

macrium reflect free version it takes a system image and it has the option to make a luinx rescuse cd so you can restore and get files it works for me.

I know you had problems with Acronis 10, but I'm using Acronis 2010 and it has worked perfectly for me. I've used the restore function 3 times now. Once to restore my boot C: drive and the other two times to restore my E: drive where I keep all my downloads.

Macrium Free works well but does not have some of the features I like in Acronis.

Only the paid version of Macrium Reflect have that featured "incremental backups".

Imaging with free Macrium Btw: I avoid incrementals because if you lose one in the chain, you lose them all. It is also difficult to delete individual restore points. Disk space is so cheap these days, it is not worth it.

I know you asked for a program and it doesnt sound like the built in backup is what you want.
I have been using Windows Home Server for some time and love it. There are some good prebuilts out there, but I built mine from an old asus mb and athlon I had and was not using.
There are other benefits to a home server as well, and setup with multiple win 7 machines is easy.

I use a couple of imaging tools.

My last install of Windows 7 I went on an imaging frenzy.

I installed Windows 7, and activated it. That's it. Imaged with the native Windows Image Backup so I have a vanilla install to fall back on just in case I update or change any of my current software.

Then I installed Paragon Drive Backup Pro(Which was being given away for free not long ago). Made another almost vanilla image, just in case I couldn't get the native Windows image to reload.

Then I installed Office 2010, made another image. Antivirus software was installed soon after, then another image was taken.

It might sound a little extreme, but I like multiple options to fall back on.

Besides all of the other Images I have stored, I let Paragon Pro do a daily image backup. Just so I have an image that's up to date and current.

So yeah, my strategy seems to be a little obsessive compulsive, but storage drives are cheap nowadays.

Haven't found ANY software that produced a recovery dvd that after booting recognized my e-sata drive.
Got sick of trying.
Bought a 500Gb internal in HDD and that works like a champ as backup medium.
Only a fire should not happen LOL.

That is really strange. If your eSata drive has a drive letter, the recovery DVD should be able to recognize it. Did you try Macrium?

Yes that's a hazard.
But enormous backups slow down the PC too much imo.
What I learned from my "trials":
Don't trust ANY backup software on its face (or commercial blabla) value.
I am now thinking of backing up up one partition per day as a full image.
I chucked my e-sata drive, none of the recovery dvd's I tried sees it after booting.
Bought a cheap 500Gb internal HDD for backups.
Makes no real risk difference: I never bothered to put the external in my safe box anyway (and it would probably be unreadable after a fire- only very sophisticated vaults can take extreme heat).