Best Disk-cloning Software For Win 7?

I finally moved on from XP Pro a few months ago, and having been with that OS for over five years, I am very unprepared to deal with Win 7 Pro. I find myself playing 'catch-up', and could use some advice. From reading articles like this one:
https://www.msp360.com/resources/blog/cloning-vs-image-backup-when-you-need-what/
I have determined I need a reliable and easy to use (for a newbie) cloning software, to make full-on backups every six months to a year, using either my mobile rack or an external hard drive. I want the best I can get (and be able to actually use), so I have no big preference over freeware or payware, provided the latter is a one-time only payment....I don't do yearly tributes.

My current rig is a Dell Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower, Quad Core i7 3770 (3.4GHz), 16GB DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Hard Drive: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. I had a Syba SY-MRA55006 mobile rack installed in the empty 5.25 bay, which holds both an SSD for my MX Linux OS, and a spare WD 1TB internal hard drive currently planned for backups...but have an external 1TB hard drive stored away.

I'd appreciate recommendations for disk cloning software that would be as foolproof as possible, for use by one that has never done any sort of backups or cloning before. Thanks.

 

the only 2 products that i have ever used:
acronis
https://www.acronis.com/en-us/products/true-image/
and
hdclone
https://www.miray.de/download/hdclone.html

they both seem to work just fine, though i have used acronis more.
this is one of those areas where you need to try out the software and see what they are like.
for instance, everybody seems to always suggest macrium reflect.
i'm sure it's a good and useful product, but it confused the heck out of me.

i like being able to create a bootable dvd [ or usb stick ].
and i prefer booting the computer from this media, then taking the image.
also, in case of disaster, already having a bootable dvd, ahead of time, is priceless.

anyway, good luck with it.

 

I used macrium reflect to clone my HDD to move to SSD it was quite easy and works. but unfortunately, it's no longer free anymore unless you can get macrium reflect 7 or 8 which are still free.

 

You need to make images more than every 6 months to a year! A clone means you are going to swap one hd for another. You want an image, not a clone. (They are used interchangeably but that is incorrect.)

We currently have four Windows 7 computers in the house. I make images about every 2 months. Why? If the hard drive dies, I only need to update for a 2 month period. I keep note cards where I list what I update since the last image was made. That way, I don't have to rely on my memory to know what needs updating. Usually it is just security programs and browsers but from time to time a new version of a program, like 7-zip come out.

Any cloning and imaging software has a learning curve. There is no getting around that. I use an very old version of Acronis True Image. I install the software, make a boot CD and a boot USB stick, check that the computer can boot from either the CD or the USB stick to load the program in RAM. After I know it works, I use Revo to uninstall the Acronis True Image program. It is much safer to be able to use the program outside of Windows. Why? If Windows doesn't load, you have no way to get to the program to restore an image and fix the problem.

 

I've used https://rescuezilla.com/ and http://redorescue.com/ very easy to use, can be burned to a CD or written to a USB with Rufus or Ventoy.