Using another OS for backing up goes back to the early days of PCs when you could use MS-DOS or DR DOS to backup a Windows system or server without worrying about busy or locked files.  The method was very successful right through Windows ME.

More recently people have been using the Linux  OS to backup systems and servers to avoid the busy and locked files that Windows and database techniques impose.  For most Windows sysadmins, not to mention most users, the Linux approach is fraught with the problems of a strange environment.

CDriveBack, a Linux appliance allows Windows users and even sysadmins, although the CDriveBack target is end users, to use this superior method of backing up safely and quickly for their entire system, and restore the whole  system, or selected files as necessary.

Quite an improvement over the inadequate tools supplied by Microsoft, and even superior to some pricey after-market packages. 

     CDriveBack at SourceForge  On-disk.com has kindly arranged to ship you a CD, for you convenience, CDriveBack at On-Disk .