Be forewarned that I would personally back up your system before applying SP1. Several people I know had massive issues getting it installed and one had to do a system wipe and STILL couldn't get it installed. Some people, like myself, had no problems at all and I've installed it on 6 machines so far. YMMV.
I have a USB external drive connected and use True Image Home to create an OS recovery image (minus my data) and a separate data image that can be restored into any OS recovery image I have. (I have an XP and Vista image currently). The OS recovery images have the apps set up to use the data from my data backup without having to screw around with paths and stuff. Pretty sweet set up, actually.
this program works fantastic. I tested it on my internet computer I needed a bigger HD I swapped my Cdrive in 30 mins it was back up perfect. So I bought it. I will set it up on my HTPC like you to backup every night or once a week.
You won't be disappointed. Just remember to check every once in a while to make sure it's backing up. It's so easy to forget about it once you've set it up cause it generally just works and you never see it. However, I've had a couple times where it didn't run for various reasons and didn't know it. (None of those reasons were due to the program...completely my own fault so don't worry) But, just keep an eye on it once in a while and you'll have yourself a very reliable backup solution. Also, burn yourself a recovery disc before you need it. And put the ISO of the recovery disc AND the installer on the backup drive with your installation key. Little lessons I've learned over the years.
I have a USB external drive connected and use True Image Home to create an OS recovery image (minus my data) and a separate data image that can be restored into any OS recovery image I have. (I have an XP and Vista image currently). The OS recovery images have the apps set up to use the data from my data backup without having to screw around with paths and stuff. Pretty sweet set up, actually.