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Here is the protocol I use and I sleep the sleep of The Totally Protected;

Install a large slave drive in your PC.
Partition it as you like but keep a large one for backups of your C:drive.
Download and install a free program called Macrium Reflect. This little beauty uses VSS (Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service) to take a snapshot of your C:drive and then back it up to an XML file. This means you can get a full image of your C:drive WHILE WINDOWS IS RUNNING!
Once a full backup image is taken, you can use it to take differential backups...which will only backup the changes since the last full...to keep your image up to date.
Use Macrium Reflect to create an Emergency Boot CD.
In the case of a disaster on your boot drive, simply install a replacement C:drive then insert the Emergency Boot CD in the CD-ROM drive and boot the machine.
Macrium Reflect will run and let you write the image to the new C:drive. No Windows Activation mess...no reinstall of programs...just a simple re-imaging.
Reboot the PC and it will look as it did when you last ran Macrium.

I have tested this sequence and it is so bloody easy and sweet....I have no DR worries anymore.

There is a $40 registered version available that lets you run scheduled differentials but manual is ok with me.

If you want unattended automatic images to be done, spend the $40.