Windows 7: Acronis Question

Hello everyone, I have a stupid question, but I want to be able to back up my current configuration to an external drive in case of a crash but also be able to migrate that same configuration to a new PC in the future. My question is, what software do I need to purchase from Acronis to accomplish both of those tasks? It seems like a lot of what some of their software does overlaps with other other Acronis Software, so I didn't want to buy more than I needed, just enough to accomplish those two tasks. Anyone familiar with this?

If your wanting to Image your entire HD, of your Windows installation and other personal DATA:
Acronis True Image 2010 will do just that very well and work very well under 7 64.

Others here at the forums recommend Paragon Back Up & Recovery, as it does the same job just as well.
Others more familiar with it may be able to give more details about it.

It doesn't have some features Acronis does, BUT, its free, and the core functions of back up and restore work just as well.

So its a matter of, are the extras Acronis offers worth the Premium to you?
Such as try and Decide Mode etc.

As far as copying that image to another PC, you'll have issues.

Drivers for one, depending how much hardware is different, could cause BSODS upon boot, not to mention your Windows 7 activation may begin showing its no longer Genuine.

Recovering DATA however, such as pictures,music, photos, and other types of personal DATA should be no issue.

This will be the case no matter what imaging software you choose.

To move the install to another machine, you need the Acronis Plus Pack for True Image Home 2010. It's another separate product and it's $30 I believe. I haven't ever used it and I would suspect issues with the hardware change...so I would just do a clean install if it were me.