i'm getting a new laptop computer and the first thing i wanna do is make a boot cd. back up os, drivers, everything. how do I do that? thankx in advance
uhmm i don't want to get an external hard drive man. (cost anyone?) just wanna do it with a cd or dvd. Boot disk. those programs, do they work with a cd or dvd? (brand new laptop with no extra files aside from the ones that came with it) thankx
There's no reason to make a bootable backup CD, drivers are useless without a working windows install, so you will need both a Windows CD, and a driver CD. You can make a driver CD by simply burning a CD with the drivers you need on it (get them from your manufacturers' websites).
Below are 2 free programs that you can use. Paragon is more well known but I have actually used macrium to restore the hard drive on the computer I'm using right now and it was quick, I use it as my image backup software now. I haven't tried out paragon express but have use previous versions of paragon and they where slow to backup and restore, but they did work. If you can get the free versions to work for you that's what I would try. http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp http://www.paragon-software.com/home/pm-express/index.html This link is for the true image forums, the problems you see discuss there can give you some ideas on what to expect when you backup and restore hard drives, especially laptops. I learn a lot from reading those forums, which has help me troubleshoot problems I've encountered using other image backup software. http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=65
ok i have researched a bit since the post i made, this is what i meant, i didn't use the right terms "A recovery disc is a general term for media containing a backup of the original factory condition or favored condition of a computer as configured by an original equipment manufacturer or an end-user. OEM supplied recovery media is commonly shipped with most modern computers to allow the user to reformat the hard drive and reinstall the operating system and pre-loaded software as it was when it was shipped." I want to make a cd or dvd that allows me to recover the original factory condition edit. i'll try those forums man, thnkx anyways the question is still open
So, then are you saying that no recovery disc came with your new laptop? If so, the manufacturer usually preloads a complete recovery folder on to the machine so that a CD/DVD can be burned and saved. What brand laptop? Vista or XP?
@ jony I'm suprised there's another image forum i had issues with ghost a few years back & all i could find was radified,anyway keep this one in mind as they deal with all imaging programs http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl @ corchox WARNING-If your laptop contains a recovery partition & if it's an hp machine chances are you will only be allowed to make 1 set of recovery disks,if this is the case do not use cheap media & use dvd's not cd's,before making them shutdown any running processes you don't need until copy process is finished,since your laptop is new i assume it's under warranty,that's great now use the recovery disks to make sure they work,the verification of the making of those disks is not the best way to know if they work or not,trust me on that *winks* below is a link that explains how to do what you want if no recovery partition is there http://free-backup.info/how-to-easily-backup-your-entire-system-in-windows-xp.html EDIT: Forgot to mention it would be advisable to invest in ghost or acronis even if they are 2nd hand,you can then make recovery disks that way,i learn't the hard way of the importance of scheduled backups,you don't need an external hdd but it is preferable Also if the newly created recovery disks worked create two more sets by cloning those disks,then store in a safe place
@scorpNZ Sounds like you learned the hard way...like I did...twice! Never again. I'm backed up three and four deep now.
the two programs macrium and paragon will make an image of your hard drive, if it's small enough you can store it on a dvd. Macrium has a bootcd that will bootup your computer, next install the dvd with your image and restore the hard drive. This will restore everything that was backedup windows/drivers/programs/wallpaper/internet settings) The only place to get an actual OEM recovery disc is from the manufacture, but the imaging programs will create something similar which you can update as needed. Also if your backup image is real small 4gb or less, you can use an ISO editing program (poweriso/ultraiso) and add that image to the bootcd, this way you can have a bootable dvd with the backup image inside. (an all in one dvd).
He wants to make a reinstall cd,all f10 does is do reovery @peshtigo you gueesd correct..wtf..lol..guessed,yep that's spelt right now
As far as drivers are concerned Toshiba's website will have you covered. They have entire driver lists for their models on there so the only thing you need, even with an original copy of XP is an ethernet connection. If you want to download and burn them top disc start with the link here. As far as restoring the OS I don't recall getting much with my laptop. So instead of dealing with all that hassle when I needed to re-install the OS I uh....conveniently found an XP disc with odd jiffy marker on it sitting beside me and I used it.
