There are a few imagin programs that will create a full image of your HDD backing up everything (System Setting, files etc)
Click
here for info on the solutions that the company I work for (Symantec) offer.
There is also a product called BackupExec System Recovery for Desktops that is quite good as well but this is aimed at out Corporate Customers (I still use it at home though)
All of this can be backed up to a external HDD or DVD.