What's the easiest way to do a FULL backup/restore in Windows 7? I want to be able to backup my Windows 7 system, then restore it.  When I restore my backup, I want to do a FULL restore--that is, if I created files on my desktop or installed software after the backup, they should be deleted when I restore my backup.
So far I've tried the built-in Windows backup and restore, as well as restore points.  In both cases, files were still on my desktop that I created AFTER the backup/restore-point was created.
How do I do it?

If you want a full disk backup, I'd use a linux live disk and make a binary copy with the dd command.
Something less extreme might be Norton Ghost.

There are third-party imaging tools, such as Acronis TrueImage, that can make an image backup for you. Windows Backup SHOULD also be able to make a full system backup for you. Perhaps the issue is how you're restoring it. According to this Microsoft site, You should be able to restore a backup from within Windows, or the boot menu. Just make sure that you're making a full system backup for yourself, and not just backing up your personal user files.