Wow, yes indeed... Acronis 10.0 True Image (Trial is already enough) really works smooth
Thanks so far for this hint.

After trying to restore the image made by Vista Complete PC Backup (Vista Ultimate) I just got the same error as "duritz". Couldnt find any solution online and couldnt solve it on my own. I just needed to move my Vista from smaller harddsik to the bigger new SATA-drive.

I tried NTI DriveBackup 4.0 which is working with Vista, but it created a not bootable image, Repair function with Original Vista DVD couldnt solve it. I could only log in in safe mode with no desktop icons or start menu and so on...

Finally, after starting 30 hours ago, I have done it well within about 1,5 hours with Acronis 10.0 Trial Version.
Just had to Repair the missing partition recognition with Vista DVD and start once in safe mode... Next start was as usual. Perfect.

Maybe Complete PC Backup needs exactly the same partition size as the original? But I read also in other forums that this didnt worked either...