BackUp v. Copy via Linux - was Win NT Password Cracking

Thanks for all the responses. Reading through them a thought came to mind.
I need to back the partitions up before I start playing with them.

I can easily copy both partitions to a Linux machine but my understanding
(correct me if I am wrong here) is that a simple copy may create problems if
I should destroy the world (that's my gift) and need to restore to the
original state.

Back Up (with restore capability) would seem safer.

Is there a Linux solution (RH 8) for "backing up" NT partitions (over a
network to a Linux drive) which would later allow a Linux restore solution
to the NT partitions -or- possibly to different NT drives/partitions?

Thanks again

George