.

Bit Locker is a manual option.  Not automatic or mandatory.
 

.

Backup/Restore is a process that's best done outside the OS.
Paragon and Acronis both work fine.
 
We've used True Image for 12+ years.
Has never failed... and that's across many many machines
 
What I personally like about True Image is using the "Bootable Rescue Disc".
No need to install True Image (runs directly from the Rescue Disc).
You've got all the features of True Image... with a point/click interface.
Super clean/lean means of backup/restore (no scheduling services running in the background)
 
 

Macrium has a bootable (WinPE) disc or flash drive option, too.
 

Jim Roseberry
Backup/Restore is a process that's best done outside the OS.
Paragon and Acronis both work fine.
 
We've used True Image for 12+ years.
Has never failed... and that's across many many machines
 
What I personally like about True Image is using the "Bootable Rescue Disc".
No need to install True Image (runs directly from the Rescue Disc).
You've got all the features of True Image... with a point/click interface.
Super clean/lean means of backup/restore (no scheduling services running in the background)
 
 

Ran across this free ebook "Backup for Dummies"
http://promo.acronis.com/Backup-for-Dummies-NAM-2014-Email.html?sfdc_campaignID=70150000000wa9M
 

Caa2
I'll probably ask about Macrium in another thread.
 
Does a typical Windows 10 install have BitLocker encrypted volumes or is Bitlocking the result of specific security measures?
 
Thank you.

Well after reviewing their user guides, it appears that both Macrium Reflect Home v6 (not free - $69.95) and Paragon Backup and Recovery 16 (free promotion until 11/01/2016, then $39.95) work basically the same way. 
 
Each requires the creation of WinPE based recovery media to boot from to perform an offline image recovery. They can also support Windows Bitlocker encrypted drives.
 
I think I may look into testing Paragon as a free alternative to the native Windows 10 image utility.
 
Macrium Free is a stripped down version of the paid Macrium Home edition, but it may offer enough for some users.  Upgrade to Home if you need AES encryption for your backups.
 
I think that the GUI and the user guide are friendlier with Macrium.  The Paragon user guide is minimal, plus additional info on their website and support forum is lacking. But overall it looks functional.
 
And then, Acronis does it all.  Recovery media, AES encryption for backups, disk cloning, cloud backups, good documentation. It's easy to see why Acronis is PC Mag Editor's Choice. But at $49.99, I suppose it should be good
http://www.pcmag.com/arti.e2/0,2817,2411663,00.asp

I used to use Acronis.  (about 5 years).  It failed me twice (two different times), with verified backups, trying to do restores.  Even the bootable rescue disc (Linux version) failed to boot/load Acronis properly.  Only the WinPE version would work.  However as it failed me twice, I didn't give it a 3rd chance.  The last Acronis version I had was the 2012 version.
 
At the time (with the 2012 version) the WinPE creation procedure was very clunky and lots of manual work.  Macrium (paid 3 PC license version that I have) had utility to create the WinPE bootable disc that required minimal user input.  Almost all of it, including downloading the WinPE, was automated.  I have both a bootable Macrium (WinPE) CD and a bootable Macrium (WinPE) Flash Drive.
 
 
 

fireberd
I used to use Acronis.  (about 5 years).  It failed me twice (two different times), with verified backups, trying to do restores.  Even the bootable rescue disc (Linux version) failed to boot/load Acronis properly.  Only the WinPE version would work.  However as it failed me twice, I didn't give it a 3rd chance.  The last Acronis version I had was the 2012 version.
 
At the time (with the 2012 version) the WinPE creation procedure was very clunky and lots of manual work.  Macrium (paid 3 PC license version that I have) had utility to create the WinPE bootable disc that required minimal user input.  Almost all of it, including downloading the WinPE, was automated.  I have both a bootable Macrium (WinPE) CD and a bootable Macrium (WinPE) Flash Drive.
 

Your story reinforces my feeling that the native Windows 10 image utility may be the most dependable, what with all the recent changes from MBR to GUID Partition Table (GPT), and the BIOS changes to UEFI in the Windows boot environment.
 
I used to depend on 3rd party utilities to cover this area, but have tested the Windows features and they just work very well.  Have been using them since Windows 7, and the Windows 10 recovery boot allows access to most of the latest Windows troubleshooting and system restore functions that you will need.
 
I feel that Windows image file formats that allow me to mount the image backups in Windows as drive volumes, and then browse and recover files and folders, may be available longer than 3rd party formats that may go out of business eventually.  Or fail because of some silly incompatibility with Windows.

I'm not using UEFI or GPT on my system.  The BIOS is UEFI but I originally installed Win 7 and Win 8 non UEFI.  When I upgraded the 8.1 to 10 I kept the non UEFI installation.  Too much of a hassle, right now, to do a clean UEFI install.  (I have a triple boot system, Win 10, Win 7 and Win 10 Insider Preview).  If/when I decide its time for a new PC, I'll use the UEFI.