Backup entire computer using Time Machine

I was wondering whether anyone might be able to help. I am sending my Mac in to have a couple of hardware issues looked at and need to make sure that I have everything backed up before I do this.
I use Time Machine and an external hard drive to backup usually, but wanted to double check that I can restore my entire computer (3rd party apps and all) to how it was before should the HD get wiped during the repair. Is there another piece of software that anyone can recommend? I am looking for something that with one click I will be able to restore the entire computer to how it was pre-wipe.
Many thanks. Look forward to any helpful answers!

izzyzb wrote:
wanted to double check that I can restore my entire computer (3rd party apps and all) to how it was before should the HD get wiped during the repair.
As Matt says, Time Machine will do that easily (it's not quite one-click, but it's simple). See #14 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Is there another piece of software that anyone can recommend?
Yes. If you have another external HD, by all means make a "bootable clone" of your internal HD, just in case there's a problem with your TM backups or HD (all hardware fails, sooner or later, and no backup app is perfect.)
You can use the Restore tab of Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder), or 3rd-party apps such as [CarbonCopyCloner|http://www.bombich.com> (donationware); or [SuperDuper|http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html] (a free version, but you need the paid one (about $30) to do updates instead of full replacements, or scheduling).
It's rare, but does happen on occasion that a backup drive will fail during a restore, and everything is lost.

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