Thanks for the helpful replies, but I guess there is no easy answer for someone as lazy, disorganised and tightwadded as myself. I guess I either need to spend £60 on ghost and remember to image it regularly, or ~£80 on a raid MB.
I think it sucks that an OS as widely used as XP has no facility to safeguard itself and the users data, but with hindsight I should have probably thought of this before shelling out wads of cash on my PC.
