The built in Windows Backup tool in Windows 7 is pretty good. The XP product was workable but hard to use, Vista provided insufficient ability to specify a particular folder or exclude a particular folder, but Windows 7's backup tool is actually pretty good.
Combined with Previous Versions, and some batch files (.cmd files) that use 7zip to compress certain source code folders into nightly snapshots (I'm a programmer), plus my version control system. So, I like to see HOW MANY kinds of backup and redundancy I can implement that don't take any daily input from me.
I don't mind that the Previous Versions Client uses up a tonne of space on my local hard disk, in fact, I prefer it that way. I also don't mind that System Restore lets me roll back driver changes separately, and I prefer it that way.
Give the following facts: (a) that hard drives are huge and cheap, and (b) that an external hard drive is probably the most important, but not the only kind of backup you should consider, there is no reason to choose ONLY one solution, (c) online backup is growing in importance, but I have not found it useful since I need 100+ gigabytes of storage, and do not want to pay my ISP that much to upload 100 gb of data at a snail's pace.
What I have not found yet, is any third-party software that does not cause me more pain or trouble than it is worth.
I use a mac at home, and while I find Time Machine sufficient, there is actually LESS error recovery and less levels of safety there, than I am using in Windows. You could say, however, that I feel I need more levels of safety and security given that Windows has a long history of instability. However, with Windows 7, I have had fewer problems than with any previous version of Windows. (That being said, the operating system can't prevent hardware failures, and I have lost my primary hard drive once in the last 7 years, so backups are a MUST.)
