It’s been a while since I brought up a great feature in Windows Vista (not present in Windows XP) called Complete PC (CPC). Available in Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions, Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore is a image-based backup tool that will help you out of a tight spot if you need to recover your entire system.

While file restore is useful in cases of file loss and data corruption, Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore is most useful for disaster recovery when your PC malfunctions. This feature helps you create complete PC backups, and then in the event of a serious system issue or data loss, Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore can restore your entire PC environment, including the operating system, installed programs, user settings, and data files.

You can restore your PC back to its original state or onto another PC. Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore can be initiated from within Windows Vista or from the Windows Vista installation CD, if the PC is not able to start up normally from the hard disk.  This feature is also now integrated into Windows Server 2008 and part of the backup and recovery toolset on that platform.

Checkout the FAQ from the team that developed the feature.  It’ll answer some questions about security, network backups, etc.  If you really must have a Powerpoint slide deck on the subject, check this out.

Here’s a screencast on Complete PC.  Don’t forget you can view this full screen by double clicking the video during playback or using the button on the player toolbar.

Early this morning I downloaded the new WorldWide Telescope application from Microsoft Research.  After exploring the galaxies, I decided this would be a cool screencast to demo the application for those of you that might not otherwise download, install and begin exploring.  Your children are going to love this.  Heck, you might have some fun, too!!!

The screencast is 5 minutes and was recorded at 1280x720.  You should really see the application on my monitor at 1920x1200.  Breathtaking is such an understatement.  You’ll notice when watching the video that the panning isn’t very fluid and that is because I captured at 15 frames per second which is a low FPS for motion.  You’ll also notice I am not capturing the audio of the application.  That’s ok, it’ll just be an extra incentive to go check things out for yourself.  So here’s a quick demo.  Be sure to double click the Silverlight control to go full screen.

Full story and information on my blog at http://blogs.technet.com/keithcombs/archive/2008/05/13/worldwide-telescope-screencast-now-available.aspx.