Realizing I have put this off for far too long, I've delved into the technology and would ask for other's experiences.

For the uninitiated, one of the drives in your computer contains the OS (operating system) that allows your computer to work. If that drive fails, your computer won't work. Sure, you can run to Best Buy or Amazon and get a replacement drive and may even be able to install it yourself. But now, you're faced with re-installing the OS, re-configuring all those devices connected to your computer (printers, scanners, etc.), then re-installing all of your software titles (Adobe CC, Photoshop, Lightroom, Quicken, and so on). That equates to a lot of work.

There is software that will allow the creation of an 'image' of that drive prior to failure and that image is saved as any other file on some other drive(s). Part of the process involves the creation of a 'boot disk' that allows you to start your computer that just received the new drive from Best Buy or Amazon. Once booted, the software then allows that 'image' file to be expanded back on to the new drive. Once complete, shut down and restart and your computer is back up and running just like before the drive failure.

So, if you are doing something of this nature for your computer, and don't mind sharing your experiences, what would I want to know about this? Thanks!!

True. The absolute best surge protector I ever bought (and I am a firm believer in both surge protection and uninterruptible power supplies) is the Monster Powerbar 2100 Home Theater Reference bar. It has a 5 year warranty and guarantees $350,000 full replacement value of equipment connected. I bought my first about 6 months before Hurricane Sandy hit the Philly area. The power pole behind the house got hit my lightning. I had Fios light fiber cable coming into the house to their converter and then coax through the house. I have the power for my home theater all connected to it which is the 60in. 3d TV, 3d Blu-ray DVD player, Pioneer Elite receiver, Sony turntable, a HD dvd player, Wii, Dish TV box, and a few other things including s gb switch and a Wi-Fi router. NOTHING was damaged by the lightning strike but the Powerbar died. I called Monster, gave them the serial number and they overnighted a replacement and a return label so that they could get the old one back to look at. They wanted to see what they did right and what needed improvement. I called them about 3 pm as soon as we got power back and they had the replacement to me by 10:30 am the next day. Their warranty says that you have 60 days from the occurrence to report the issue and they will replace all damaged devices up to $350,00. Best $125 I've spent on a surge protector. I had 4 APC uninterruptable power supplies on computers and servers and they did fine too.

I had a power outage about a month ago that fried 8GB of memory in my main computer and the 4gb graphics accelerator card. When I replaced the memory and the card everything came back up fine. My system is on a decent surge protector but I am replacing all with newer ones. I don't know if they lose ability over time but I'm not taking the chance. My servers were all on uninterruptable power supplies and rode out the interruption with ease. I may look to do that to the desktop computers too.
As for your laptop, in theory, the battery should have protected it.