Acronis True Image 10 will take a complete snap-shot (or Image) of your Laptop or PC hard drive and copy it to an external drive. In the event of a disk failure or Windows meltdown, the entire drive can be brought back in a matter of an hour or so rather than having to rebuild your hard drive from scratch (Reinstall Windows, all programs and then your data which might be 5-8 hours).

This product also does a data backup which all users need anyway. So, by doing a full image of your laptop and a daily backup of your changed data, you can recover your PC any time. Approximate Cost: $50 or less.

Another Option is Norton Ghost 10