I have had success with the *free* EASEUS Disk Copy boot CD - http://www.easeus.com/download.htm [easeus.com]. It will perform a bit for bit copy from the defective drive to a new organ-doner drive. I believe you have the option to continue the copy, even on erroneous sectors. On a recent drive in the early stages of failing, I was able to recover the entire disk after I did the bit-for-bit copy and then performed a error check/fix on boot-up. The standard Windows XP error check tool corrected all of the previously mangled bits.

I have used the freeware installwatch pro software for similar purposes. It is not perfect, but allows you to take a snapshot of all files and reg keys prior to performing 'some' action (browser option change, software install, etc.). After you finish the action, you perform another snapshot and it traps the deltas across filesystem - file add, delete, modify - including .ini changes and also reg key add/del/change activities.... It also stores the deltas by whatever you wish to name the change, for future reference.. Installwatch Pro - http://epsilonsquared.com/ They have another tool, install rite, which I am unfamiliar with...