On windows 2000 and XP machines I used to be able to do the following:

ntbackup backup systemstate c: /f e:\backups\machineName\machineName-full+systemstate_200101206.bkf

This gave me a full backup of the system that I could use to do a system restore, after doing a barebones OS install. Windows 7 has a great utility for regular backups with alerting and all that stuff. It does not seem to have command line support. I'd like a backup solution for my Windwos 7 systems that has the following features:

• Is free
• Is open source (preferebly)
• Works while the system is booted and leaves the system functional (clonezilla is great for offline backups, and I use that too)
• Gives me a backup that is suited for a full system restore or partial system restore (ruling out most imaging software even if they could work while the system is booted via some sort of shadow copy voodoo)
• Can work via the command line
• Compression would be nice, the ability to pipe output would be better.