1) Start orb > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore Center > Backup your computer

2) Under "Backup files or your entire computer" press the "Back up computer" button (and answer the UAC security prompt)

3) First you choose "Where do you want to save the backup". Keep in mind this will be a very big file. Choose from "On a hard disk" where you can choose a removable drive from a drop-down list or choose "One or more DVDs" (most certainly more than one!) and select a DVD writable drive from the drop-down list. If you choose a removable drive, it must be formatted with NTFS

4) On the next screen you are advised to "Confirm your backup settings". If you chose the DVD option, you will see an estimate as to how many DVDs you may have to provide. Mine suggested it would take 10 to 18 DVDs. Ouch (but when checking my HD, it said it could be up to 80gb). Keep in mind this is a worst possible scenario-- the potential size is being displayed as that of your drive as it is now (uncompressed). In that you are trying to image the entire system, there is no option to exclude any files or folders in the process.

You'll likely decide it is a good idea to go back and do some cleanup here. Remove any large and unused programs, delete all those ISO files you have lying around and empty your recycle bin. Note that if you attach a drive to the system after you have started the backup wizard, you will need to exit and restart the program for it to be seen as an available selection.

If you want to go back and choose an alternate location, the "Back" button is an unlabeled arrow at the top left of the window.

I got my drive down to a lean 63.7gb and ignored the warning that there might not be enough space on my 60gb external hard drive. However, I saw an error that I did not have enough free space once the backup tried to begin. I cleaned off a few more gig and it was able to get the job done-- looks like a bug to me.

5) Press Next and the backup will begin. No restart is required which is a pretty big deal for those of you familiar with most drive imaging products.

Despite being very instant that I have my full hard drive's data worth of space available on my target media, the resulting image was nearly half the size of my actual drive contents: 52gb C drive = 29gb image backup. Naturally, it will depend completely on what types of files you have on your system: do they compress well like text files, or are they already compressed like cab or zip files. With so many files on your system, you can't know how much space will be needed until each file is analyzed.