When I set up the windows backup I chose the CD drive as the destination. No matter what type of CD I inserted, it won't write on it (yes, it's a RW drive and yes, it's a writeable CD). So I tried to change the destination drive. I click the "change settings" button but I get no other options than the CD drive. What else can I do? Thanks!

Hi NCfromOH Do u have any error message when u trying to do the backup on a CD? Have u tried to use DVD disk instead? Are u trying to create System image or System repair disk? When u creating a System image u should be able to chose from HDD, DVD and Network location When creating a System repair disk only DVD drive. Have a look at this http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/products/features/backup-and-restore

If you change settings to backup to other location, make sure additional parition or external drive is available other than the system partition.Vivian Xing - MSFT

I solved the problem! I bought an external drive (from the Dell website), plugged it into a USB port, went to the backup utility and everything worked as it should have. I think the original problem may have been caused by the disk-writing program that came installed on the machine. Thanks for the suggestions anyway!