Accessible image backup and restore program?

[Jayson Smith]

A bit off-topic here, but somewhat related to Linux.

For several years, I've been using Image for Windows/Linux as my Windows 
backup/restore solution. I liked it because, in case of total boot drive 
failure where the system was completely unbootable, I could boot up 
Image for Linux which includes Speakup, use my DECtalk Express, and 
restore. Now, though, I've upgraded to Windows 7, and my computer has 
exactly zero serial ports. So I can't use my old boot CD any more, 
unless it would work with a USB to serial convertor.

What do you recommend for a bootable, accessible backup and restore 
solution? Does whatever you recommend use software speech? I don't 
assume anyone's come up with an accessible bootable Windows CD? Does 
such a bootable CD work with USB sound devices? Also, in all our 
computers, there's an internal sound card we're not actively using in 
Windows. Would any Linux CD try to use that first?
Thanks for any thoughts!
Jayson