Minimal full backups in Vista

[Roof Fiddler]

I would like to install Vista, then install about a dozen miscellaneous
programs, customize some settings, make a few user accounts, and install
some user data, and then:
Make a complete system backup onto DVDs, wipe the hard drive, and then
restore the system using those backup DVDs and the Vista RC1 DVD, in order
to experience just how automated the process is.
However, I _don't_ want to waste time and DVD(s) backing up all the Vista
system files which I already have anyway on the RC1 DVD. So, what I want is
a complete system backup _except_ for those system files (though I do want
to backup any system files which have changed from their original RC1
versions due to Windows updates), yet retain the ability to wipe the hard
drive and do a complete system restore using the backup DVDs and the RC1
DVD.
How can I do this?
If the answer is "You can't, because the full backup is block- rather than
filesystem-level", then shouldn't the full backup be filesystem-level
(besides the boot sector)?
And if the answer is "If you exclude Vista's system files, then it's not a
full backup", that's moot, because the Vista RC1 DVD, which contains those
system files, is necessary anyway for bootstrapping the full restore
process.

 

[Peter M]

Then you're dreaming because Ghost, TrueImage, backup the same way.. you do
a full and then incremental backups for changes and the full has to be
installed before the incrementals. Maybe one day but it ain't today.