Question : Problem: Strategy for backing up Parallels folder on a MacBook Pro, etc.

Have just bought an Iomega MiniMax 500gb backup disk for my MacBook Pro.
I use Parallels and have Windows XP Pro installed in/on it.
Two questions:

1. My Parallels folder has a size of about 30GB. I understand that Time Machine will try and back this up when there are ANY changes to ANY windows file. If I am right I obviously cannot include it in my automatic backups. Also, I find that, with the backup running when I start the Parallels Desktop VM I get the errors:
Unable to complete Backup.
And then
Device Removal. The device you removed was not properly put away.
What is the best strategy for backing up the Parallels folder, say, once a day? I was wondering if I could, say, exclude the Parallels folder from backing up in Time Machine and then write some applescript which would run on startup and copy the Parallels folder to another folder, renaming it to "Copy of Parallels Folder" (thus overwriting the previous copy).This would presumably result in the next backup backing this folder up but not doing so for the remainder of the day as it will not have changed. If this is a good idea what would the applescript be and where would I put it to run on startup?

2. Is TimeMachine the right software to use. I would prefer to create a bootable backup (don't think TM does this) as I would like to be able to switch to the backup disk and run software on it just as I can on the MacBook to check that everything is ok. I would like then to be able to restore everything in the event of a disk failure. I assume, unlike windows, everything should run ok again

Answer : Problem: Strategy for backing up Parallels folder on a MacBook Pro, etc.

Do I have to partition the drive and format the new partition as NTFS to use it for windows files?
NO, but it will have to be FAT32 .. not Apple HFS format.  Windows can read/write FAT32 and OSX can read/write FAT32 .. this is the best format to allow the HD to be usable by both OSes.

My disk has the Mac OS Extended (Journalled) format at present.
Then you'll need to reformat the entire drive or split into 2 partitions and format the Windows one as FAT32 or if you want it for Windows alone you can format it as NTFS (but only when it is opend from within Parallels).

Also, I usually eject the disk at present before opening Parallels as otherwise, I think, I get the Device Removal error. How do I connect to the drive when I am in windows?
Wait until parallels is up and running, then plug in the USB drive .. Parallels should then ask you if you want the USB drive available for OSX or Parallels.