Will this back up the OS and system files as well as data/photo files? Can it create a ghost (clone) image for recovery purposes?
Can it create a cloned image that will not be automatically replaced with updates (to keep an original version of one's computer for recovery purposes)?
It can be used to back up your entire system, but it does not come with the software to do it.
I use a 3rd party software that allows me to boot from CD, so I can make an image of the disk when NOT running Windows.
The software that comes with it will do your data/photo/music files, and it does a good job with that, but as I said, for imaging the entire hard drive, you need the other software. This drive is large enough, that I have images of drives from 4 different computers on it.
My motto is Backup early, Backup often.