OT: HD image backup

[Gandalph]

Q said:
Is there any advantage of a HD image compared to a "normal" backup?
Until now I use only the latter with the standard microsoft backup program to create backups onto a external HD. Am I missing something??

With a "backup" you are just backing up critical information and, at bare minimum, will have to reinstall the OS to do a "restore". If some of the data you are backing up is application specific, you may also have to reinstall the program to be able to use the data "restored".
As Fyron said, an image is an exact duplicate of your HD and can be restored from a floppy boot to write the image back onto your HD. When you then reboot, your system is in the exact condition it was in at the time of the image.