I haven't used my copy (backup), I hope never to have to !
As I believe has been noted before in this thread by myself and others, backing up or imaging a drive without then testing the created image/backup is not a good idea, for a few reasons.
1. The Interface will be unfamiliar.
So you find that your drive is corrupted, or something is wrong and you need to restore the Image. The first question is how. The second, is once you know how, you aren't going to be as familiar with the restore interface as you were with the backup interface, and given the possibility of lost data and the general anxiety this sort of thing can cause, one wrong move or mistaken button press could end badly.
2. There is no reason to assume the image is good
The only way to know if an image is actually good to restore is to restore it, the same way you would if you had a Hard drive disaster or other issue that required you to do so. I would recommend that this become a part of the routine; make the backup image, verify it, and then restore from it. Obviously the last item has some issues that might crop up, so it might work better with a configuration that let's you restore without overwriting existing data (since if you restore in place and find it was corrupted you no longer have the originals!). Most imaging programs have good verification techniques but you cannot trust them 100% and more importantly It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the restore interface so you aren't wandering blind when you do need to restore.
Backing up and imaging is only a safety net if it works. Many people create backup images that simply do not work for one reason or another, meaning they are basically wasting time to make their data
feel safer, rather than actually making it safer.
The question is, why would anyone use HP proprietary software to create System Recovery Disks (4 or 5 DVDs I understand) which modifies your system, when you can make as many system images as you like with the W7 backup imaging software, which preserves your system ?
"Recovery" disks wipe everything and put the machine into the factory default state. This means it will have any originally installed (bundled) applications and other crapware. Personally I never use the recovery disks.