How do I back up my system?

[jdang]

Ok, I find myself doing a clean install of Win2k every couple to three weeks. Why? I download a lot of stuff and mess around, and sometimes I download stuff that I shouldn't, I get paranoid, then I feel the need to do a fresh install. Someone told me I can make a backup of my whole drive, and that I can do it on a CD-R. Then when I do a clean install, all I have to do is hit restore, and every program, file, etc. that I had when I made the backup will be there. Is this true? I even went to backup and couldn't find anything. Please help me out, as this would save a lot of my time. Or is there another way or a better way to do it? To have my basic system on a couple of CD's would be great!
jdang

 

[Zelandakh]

Do you have access to a 2k server? If so, read up on RIPrep.

If not, prep your machine fully and use ghost to create a .gho image. Boot normally and blow that to CD. Then to restore, just fdisk and use ghost.

 

[jdang]

I don't have a 2k Server on hand, so I cannot use RIPrep (very good tip though, looks interesting!). Ok, just exactly how do I prep my machine for ghosting and exactly how do I make a .gho image?

At the risk of sounding like a dummy (I am a vendor, hardware, Win2k is still new to me), isn't FDISK only with DOS? Win2K, I can't get into dos anymore (Unless it runs from the start/run menu?

Thanks for the help though!
jdang