Most people don't make regular use of drive image backup tools, and it's not difficult to see why. Having to copy an entire partition makes them slow, and few PCs have a spare drive they can use to hold the data, anyway. It all seems just too much hassle. At least, until you take a look at Paragon Drive Backup, which takes drive imaging to a whole new level of convenience.

There's no need to be overly concerned about backup times, for instance, as Drive Backup employs a number of different tricks to keep them down. By default it only copies hard drive sectors that are in use, for instance, and the program is smart enough to ignore some large system files (pagefile.sys, hiberfil.sys).

Drive Backup is also capable of performing differential backups, only copying files that have changed recently, drastically cutting its disk space requirements. The program takes advantage of this by providing the option to save data to a personal "Backup Capsule", a protected partition on your existing hard drive, which means you may not need another drive after all.

Of course if, say, malware corrupts your hard drive, then you won't even be able to load the program to restore your backups. But don't worry, Drive Backup has a solution even here. Run its Recovery Media Builder and the program writes a bootable CD, letting you run a basic version of the program even when your PC won't start. Point it at your last backup, wait for it to be restored, and with any luck your system will be back in full working order.

Paragon Drive Backup is just one of Paragon's powerful drive-related products. They also produce Partition Manager, with all the tools you need to create, resize and rearrange partitions. CD-ROM Emulator creates virtual CD and DVD drives, then mounts them with disk images so you don't have to keep swapping (and perhaps damaging) valuable program discs. There's also Disk Wiper, which securely erases files so they can't be undeleted later. And Hard Disk Manager builds just about every drive utility you'll ever need into one comprehensive package. Prices start at $24.95 (around £13), and there's a 20% discount available if you order within 7 days of receiving your Drive Backup serial number. See your registration email for the promotional code.