computer backup programs

[JDonner]

I like to use a 40GB to 80GB drive for the boot/OS drive (although they are getting diffcult to find

I would like to advice against that, since these small drives are much slower than modern drives, even if they both run at 7200rpm and you don't have to do it for the price either, 40gb/80GB drives are not all that much cheaper than their larger cousins. Of course... if you don't care about performance... then just ignore what I said.