This past week I deleted some leftover OpenOffice.org files which apparently were also shared with files associated with internet access (Windows warned me but sometimes I'm a 58 yr. old idiot). I could not restore the corrupted shell because I had XP Restore set to only use 1% (on an 80G HD - idiot again!). Unlocker was already programed to delete on reboot on the one restore point I had, so it would only restore with the missing files (at least I think that is what was happening). I ended up saving files like addresses, bookmarks, etc. but lost all my programs and had to reinstall XP. I'm reasonably sure programs like Norton Go Back would have saved me much like XP Restore would have but I was wondering, can you store your entire operating system, files and programs on an external hard drive and then just reload the whole thing without losing a thing?

Look at this thread. It has a link too a free version of trueimage 7.
This would be your easiest option:
http://forum.ccleaner.com/index.php?showtopic=7012

Yeh, I had noticed that post today ridge!