Ok guys...

I'm wanting to make a HDD image of a newly installed XPSP2 installation with all my apps installed (Such as Office, Nero, PowerDVD, etc...) that I can use to boot up and reinstall the image on my computer.

What would be the best software to do this? Something like Norton Ghost?

I know I could make an unattended CD, but it's a bit too much work. And yes I have a DVD Burner, so large images are not a problem.

Use google and you'll find tens of these programs

-Norton Ghost

-PowerQuest Drive Image

-Acronis True image

But the question is: are you willing to pay for it: freeware/shareware ?

Pretty much. I'm willing to pay for it.

So what are your demands?

P.S.: I've been using and it worked pretty fast. 6 to 7 minutes to recover a Windows partition of 10-20 GB!

Basically, i'm planning on Formatting my Computer using my Slipstreamed SP2 CD, installing Nero, PowerDVD, Office XP, and Winrar, as well as drivers then making an Image of the HDD at this point, which I can then use to quickly restore the HDD back to this point.

go with Norton Ghost 2003....with it you can edit inside the .gho image...Drive Image and True Image...only allow you to delete within a image...Ghost you can Add/Update Files....Ghost is faster and takes only 1 Floppy to boot with...and compresses better....example my 4.3g OS Server 2003...saved as Fast Compress...is 1.8g....that not even the max compression of Ghost.

Norton Ghost is the best option, especially if you get it alongwith Norton SystemWorks, because you get al whole range for a combined-cheap price.

It is easy to use, has a DOS version (for when windows won't boot and you need to restore after booting from a DOS floppy).