- There are many free and retail disk imaging programs available for different operating systems. When used for backing up your computer, this type of software creates a disk image from which the computer can later be restored if it crashes.
- Microsoft's Backup and Restore Center, included in Windows 7, features "System Imaging." This is just another term Microsoft uses for disk imaging; system images are disk images.
- It's best to store your disk image externally. If you only save it to your computer's hard drive, it could be lost if your computer crashes. If you ever need to restore a disk image, reinstall your computer's operating system, then download and install software capable of reading and restoring disk images. Typically, the software you used to create the disk image can also restore the image.