how to use backup & restore in Win 7 ?

I recently bought a 500gb wafer-thin external usb hdd and backed up everything on my pc using the Win 7 backup option-- for some reason it took 11 hours to complete !

Now I have decided to restore this backup, I am bit confused how I proceed.

There are 3 files shown on the external hdd :

MediaID.bin-- Windowsimagebackup, and Mike-Tosh. I selected the windowsimagebackup, which surprisingly took only a minute or two to complete.

But when I went back to my desktop, all my program icons were there, but clicking on any them resulted in a 'cannot find program' message.

I then took a look at the Mike-Tosh file and it contained dozens and dozens of zip files.

My problem is not knowing the how to properly restore a full backup ? can anyone tell me the correct procedure please ?

You have to use windows system image restore program to do it.

Boot the windows 7 dvd/recovery disc.

Select restore system image

System Image Recovery

Thanks, but I fear I am back to same position as before. i.e my shortcut desktop icons do not open any programs, I was hoping the 'restore' function would apply to the registry as well.

I selected folders C & D to restore, when this finishes should I also select 'recover your system settings' as well ?