Sometimes I post things just to acknowledge something that I have found useful, and that perhaps others will also find useful. This is one of those times ......
Carbon Copy Cloner:
http://www.bombich.com/
Problems emptying the Trash:
http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/osx/cant-empty-trash-in-os-x-lion/
Recovery in Lion:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
"OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion include a feature called Recovery that includes all of the tools you need to reinstall OS X, repair your disk, and even restore from a Time Machine backup without the need for optical discs."