Windoze recovery disk

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 14 Jul 2010 3:52 pm

For anyone who got suckered into buying a computer with a restore partition instead of an installation disc here's a free solution. Windows Vista Recovery Disc Burn the ISO image to a CD and boot from it. I tried it, it seems to work. Better than forking over $30 to HP or some such.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 15 Jul 2010 2:27 am

Most of the new PC's do not come with the Windows disc and the drivers disc. But, most new PC's have a built in procedure to create the needed discs.

There is no need, in most, for a third party program to create them.

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 15 Jul 2010 1:06 pm

True, Jack, but how many people create those discs? Not very many, I'd bet, and my suggestion is for those who didn't, when that dark day comes and their comp won't boot. They can use another comp to create a recovery disc.

Larry R · Post by **Larry R** » 19 Jul 2010 6:19 pm

Can you guys save me a little time and tell me the procedure for creating a boot disc or start disc?
I'm running XP Pro.

Thanks
Larry R

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 19 Jul 2010 9:04 pm

Larry R wrote:Can you guys save me a little time and tell me the procedure for creating a boot disc or start disc?
I'm running XP Pro.

Thanks
Larry R

What brand is you computer? Most manufacturers can supply you with a bootable CD that installs not only the operating system, already licensed, but also the hardware drivers.

You can boot from any actual Microsoft Windows XP CD. You'll still need your hologram sticker to input the Activation key, and will probably need to phone Microsoft to reactivate it.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 20 Jul 2010 2:41 am

The procedures that most PC manufacturers have now were not in XP systems. XP systems came with the Windows disc and usually other discs with drivers, utilities on them.

Dell has a procedure to get a replacement set of discs for a small fee (I think $10).

Larry R · Post by **Larry R** » 20 Jul 2010 9:07 am

I've got the authentic version of XP Pro SP2. Shouldn't all I need is a boot disc with just a few files on it instead of the whole enchillada?

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 20 Jul 2010 9:43 pm

Larry R wrote:I've got the authentic version of XP Pro SP2. Shouldn't all I need is a boot disc with just a few files on it instead of the whole enchillada?

Possibly. What exactly are you wanting to do with the boot disk? Do you have a 3 1/2" floppy disk drive? Will your PC boot from a bootable USB stick (look in your BIOS settings)? Do you have the Recovery Console installed?

Larry R · Post by **Larry R** » 21 Jul 2010 8:23 am

I built my pc from a combination of various new components.
I want to be able to boot to my bios, or a command prompt in the event of an HD failure, or to the recovery console. I have not installed recovery console yet.
I do not have a 3-1/2" Floppy drive but am bootable from a USB drive.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 21 Jul 2010 10:35 am

Larry R wrote:I built my pc from a combination of various new components.
I want to be able to boot to my bios,

If you can't get as far as the BIOS, I don't see how you can use a recovery disk.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 21 Jul 2010 11:32 am

Larry R wrote:I want to be able to boot to my bios, or a command prompt in the event of an HD failure, or to the recovery console. I have not installed recovery console yet.
I do not have a 3-1/2" Floppy drive but am bootable from a USB drive.

You can always boot into your BIOS by pressing a key defined by the motherboard manufacturer, at the first boot screen. This is usually displayed on the very first boot screen. It may be the Delete key, or Esc, or an F key.

As for your other wishes, they are made redundant by your statement "in the event of an HD failure." If the hard drive fails you cannot use it to run a command prompt or the recovery console. The only way to get a command prompt would be to get an internal IDE or external USB floppy drive, then use the Format utility in Windows to create a bootable system floppy diskette. You would then reboot and enter the BIOS, where you would set the boot order to the floppy drive first, USB second, the optical drive third, then the hard drive.

A bootable system diskette allows you to input DOS commands, pertaining to MS-DOS 7.

If you think your hard drive is in danger of failing, get Acronis True Image 2010 now, while it is on sale. Install it, then use the Start Menu link to create a bootable media recovery disk. A CD will do fine. Then, schedule daily or weekly backups of the entire C drive and save them to other devices, like a large USB drive.

In the even of hard drive failure, buy a new hard drive and hook it up, disconnecting the old failed drive. Set the BIOS to boot from a CD first, then get out the Acronis recovery disk and reboot from it, into the Acronis graphical interface. Have the USB or other drive with backups connected to the computer during the reboot, so they are detected. The recovery interface allows you to search for the backup you wish to use to restore your computer. Choose the most recent backup file and start the restoration. Make sure to include the master boot record as well as the C partition (and others if listed on the same disk), then Proceed.

If the new drive is larger than the old one, select the option to use all of the available space on the new drive.

When the restoration has completed, remove the CD, then reboot. If all went well you will boot into Windows as if nothing happened at all.

Larry R · Post by **Larry R** » 21 Jul 2010 5:22 pm

Thanks for setting me straight Wiz. I've not had much experience resurrecting dead drives.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 21 Jul 2010 10:19 pm

Larry R wrote:Thanks for setting me straight Wiz. I've not had much experience resurrecting dead drives.

I have laid my hands on many dead drives and revived them by freezing them for a few hours. Not one has thanked me.

Larry R · Post by **Larry R** » 22 Jul 2010 4:49 pm

Is Acronis True Image 2010 purchased as a CD-Rom or is it just a key to download the software?

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 22 Jul 2010 10:29 pm

Larry R wrote:Is Acronis True Image 2010 purchased as a CD-Rom or is it just a key to download the software?

Both are available. You can buy a hard copy, with the bootable recovery CD, in many well equipped software stores. Or, download it, install it, then insert a black recordable CD in your CD burner and burn your own bootable recovery disk. It contains a small Linux operating system that is NTFS and FAT/FAT32 aware.

If you buy it online and go through my links I get a small commission. If you get it from Best Buy, they make a buck three eighty nine on it. If you go through my website links before August 16, you'll save $20.00.

I have Acronis True Image 2010 and have no complaints yet. I don't know what changes are coming to the next version, so I can't speculate about them.