Making an XP reinstallation disc

[Matt]

It used to be that manufacturers supplied a copy of Windows that you
could use to reinstall the OS in case it got messed up. That seems to
have gone out of style.

My IBM ThinkCentre desktop has a hidden hard-drive partition with the
files needed to reinstall XP. But what if the hard-drive goes bad after
the warranty is expired? It looks like I lose the XP license. It seems
unreasonable.

So I want to make a CD or DVD that would reinstall XP---not backup all
my documents---I would make a separate backup of my own data. I just
want to be able to restore the OS to a clean state starting from an
optical disc just as people used to do with the OEM reinstall disc.

How can somebody do that?

 

[Malke]

It used to be that manufacturers supplied a copy of Windows that you
could use to reinstall the OS in case it got messed up. That seems to
have gone out of style.

My IBM ThinkCentre desktop has a hidden hard-drive partition with the
files needed to reinstall XP. But what if the hard-drive goes bad after
the warranty is expired? It looks like I lose the XP license. It seems
unreasonable.

So I want to make a CD or DVD that would reinstall XP---not backup all
my documents---I would make a separate backup of my own data. I just
want to be able to restore the OS to a clean state starting from an
optical disc just as people used to do with the OEM reinstall disc.

How can somebody do that?

Contact IBM/Lenovo for how to do that. IBM/Lenovo machines have a very
proprietary way of using restore disks. When I called for service on my
(under warranty) Thinkpad, tech support sent me restore disks at no charge.
I don't know whether they will do this in your case, of course.

Malke

 

[Daave]

It used to be that manufacturers supplied a copy of Windows that you
could use to reinstall the OS in case it got messed up. That seems to
have gone out of style.

My IBM ThinkCentre desktop has a hidden hard-drive partition with the
files needed to reinstall XP. But what if the hard-drive goes bad
after the warranty is expired? It looks like I lose the XP license.
It seems unreasonable.

So I want to make a CD or DVD that would reinstall XP---not backup all
my documents---I would make a separate backup of my own data. I just
want to be able to restore the OS to a clean state starting from an
optical disc just as people used to do with the OEM reinstall disc.

How can somebody do that?

Just follow the directions on this page:

http://www.howtohaven.com/system/createwindowssetupdisk.shtml

 

[David]

It used to be that manufacturers supplied a copy of Windows that you
could use to reinstall the OS in case it got messed up. That seems to
have gone out of style.

My IBM ThinkCentre desktop has a hidden hard-drive partition with the
files needed to reinstall XP. But what if the hard-drive goes bad after
the warranty is expired? It looks like I lose the XP license. It seems
unreasonable.

So I want to make a CD or DVD that would reinstall XP---not backup all
my documents---I would make a separate backup of my own data. I just
want to be able to restore the OS to a clean state starting from an
optical disc just as people used to do with the OEM reinstall disc.

How can somebody do that?

I contacted Dell (I own one) and , stating my case, tehy sent me a
reinstall disc

then talked me through the format / install and installing a new set
of drivers..

I thnk they also currently Sell XP machines

 

[Alias]

I contacted Dell (I own one) and , stating my case, tehy sent me a
reinstall disc

then talked me through the format / install and installing a new set
of drivers..

I thnk they also currently Sell XP machines

The sure do. They also sell machines loaded with Ubuntu.

Alias

 

[Eduardo Cerejo]

It used to be that manufacturers supplied a copy of Windows that you
could use to reinstall the OS in case it got messed up. That seems to
have gone out of style.

My IBM ThinkCentre desktop has a hidden hard-drive partition with the
files needed to reinstall XP. But what if the hard-drive goes bad after
the warranty is expired? It looks like I lose the XP license. It seems
unreasonable.

So I want to make a CD or DVD that would reinstall XP---not backup all
my documents---I would make a separate backup of my own data. I just
want to be able to restore the OS to a clean state starting from an
optical disc just as people used to do with the OEM reinstall disc.

How can somebody do that?

If you really look in start > programs you should have a program that
will do just that. Most brands do not send you a backup cd because they
use that hidden hard drive and they will install a backup program just
so users will be able to create their own.

 

[Twayne]

It used to be that manufacturers supplied a copy of Windows that you

could use to reinstall the OS in case it got messed up. That seems to
have gone out of style.

My IBM ThinkCentre desktop has a hidden hard-drive partition with the
files needed to reinstall XP. But what if the hard-drive goes bad
after the warranty is expired? It looks like I lose the XP license.
It seems unreasonable.

So I want to make a CD or DVD that would reinstall XP---not backup all
my documents---I would make a separate backup of my own data. I just
want to be able to restore the OS to a clean state starting from an
optical disc just as people used to do with the OEM reinstall disc.

How can somebody do that?

Looks like you have some good advice already so I won't just repeat that
stuff.
But for the future if you invest in a disk imaging software.
Symantec's Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image are the two leading
applications and both work very well. Not free but not very expensive
either, relatively speaking. Then you could make backups whenever you
wanted to and restore the machine to any date since you started making
the backups, even if the hard disk is trashed and has to be replaced
with a new one. Read the manual/s carefully so you know how to do that
since it's something you won't do very often.

HTH

 

[Matt]

If you really look in start > programs you should have a program that
will do just that. Most brands do not send you a backup cd because they
use that hidden hard drive and they will install a backup program just
so users will be able to create their own.

Well, that would be perfect. But exactly what program would it be?

 

[Big Al]

Well, that would be perfect. But exactly what program would it be?

HP puts in on the start menu just like other programs. Not sure about
IBM but Eduardo thinks its there. Read between the lines, something
that has something to do with making a system restore cd's.

 

[Anthony Buckland]

Looks like you have some good advice already so I won't just repeat that
stuff.
But for the future if you invest in a disk imaging software.
Symantec's Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image are the two leading
applications and both work very well. Not free but not very expensive
either, relatively speaking. Then you could make backups whenever you
wanted to and restore the machine to any date since you started making the
backups, even if the hard disk is trashed and has to be replaced with a
new one. Read the manual/s carefully so you know how to do that since
it's something you won't do very often.

And if you go this route you won't likely lose nearly as much.
If you back up reasonably frequently (I use True Image, and a
complete C: backup to either a removable drive or to the TI
protected Secure Zone on my main drive takes less than half
an hour) you need lose no more than your most recent data
and software updates. Assuming, that is, that your OS mess-up
becomes obvious fairly soon after it happens.

Even total destruction of my machine could be recovered from
with my TI CD-ROM and my removable drive, once I could obtain
a sufficiently duplicate machine.

 

[FrankV]

Norton Ghost does not work on Dell computers. System Works refuses to
install Ghost.

Frank

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Norton Ghost does not work on Dell computers. System Works refuses
to install Ghost.

'Ghost' works fine on Dell computers.

 

[Matt]

HP puts in on the start menu just like other programs.

What does HP call it then?

Not sure about
IBM but Eduardo thinks its there. Read between the lines, something
that has something to do with making a system restore cd's.

Maybe he's thinking of System Restore, which is for making a check
point. As I understand it, you have no control over where it is stored.
It writes to the hard drive, not to a CD or DVD.

 

[Daave]

Well, that would be perfect. But exactly what program would it be?

Just look in your documentation. Or look at this Web page:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/s...nePublicationsLandingPage.vm&sitestyle=lenovo

If above link doesn't work, try:

http://tinyurl.com/2d3whp

 

[Matt]

Just look in your documentation. Or look at this Web page:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/s...nePublicationsLandingPage.vm&sitestyle=lenovo

If above link doesn't work, try:

http://tinyurl.com/2d3whp

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-4M7HWZ

How can I get a Product Recovery CD or DVD?
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Recovery DVDs are only available for Microsoft Windows Vista.

 

[FrankV]

Sorry. It was my mistake. The problem is not Ghost but roll back in System
Works.

Frank

 

[Twayne]

And if you go this route you won't likely lose nearly as much.
If you back up reasonably frequently (I use True Image, and a
complete C: backup to either a removable drive or to the TI
protected Secure Zone on my main drive takes less than half
an hour) you need lose no more than your most recent data
and software updates. Assuming, that is, that your OS mess-up
becomes obvious fairly soon after it happens.

Even total destruction of my machine could be recovered from
with my TI CD-ROM and my removable drive, once I could obtain
a sufficiently duplicate machine.

?? You mean after you replace the borked drive, right? Toss in the CD
and let it go to work? I didn't understand the ref to a duplicate
machine; shouldn't be necessary?

I no longer use TI but with Ghost you just boot from the ISO-made CD,
tell it where the backups are, and lean back and let it work; you end up
with the exact boot drive you had when the last backup/incremental was
made or you can choose a different set of images from a different date.

?I've been telling people TI did approximately the same thing? Am I
wrong? The hype pages aren't real clear on that part.

Twayne

 

[Twayne]

Norton Ghost does not work on Dell computers. System Works refuses to

install Ghost.

OK, I'll assume, since you didn't mention it, that you have XP without
any SPs then, running at 350 MHz and a 10 Gig drive, OK? Sheesh!

Anyway: Wrong. It works find on the old Dell right behind me here and
also on my sister's new machine. If what you said were true, it would
be very well known. You must have something corrupted/borked or the
machine just doesn't have the resources needed to be able to tack
anything more onto it. IF so, that's exactly where a lot of the "slow"
complaints about Norton's comes from.
BTW, "System Works" does not "install" Ghost; you use the Ghost
installer and IT incorporates Ghost in TO the control panel. What you
see at startup is just a control panel - most of those features can also
be run as standalones without the control panel. I do it that way since
it makes for faster startups; no sense in loading stuff twice.

Twayne

 

[Twayne]

Sorry. It was my mistake. The problem is not Ghost but roll back in

System Works.

Frank

'Ghost' works fine on Dell computers.

If you mean "GoBack", that also will install just fine; there is no
"rollback". It was used on this old Dell behind me before I switched to
imaging software. Now, GoBack, because of the several Gigs of data
manipulation it has to do just to start up and has to do constantly
during runtime, IS one of the things that will slow down an already slow
machine. It's a rather small price to pay for what you get out of it,
and can really save your bacon, but it does need a lot of cpu cycles to
do what it was designed to do. This BTW is something NONE of the
competition's programs does, so of course they never exhibit the
problem.
SystemWorks is an elegant program with a LOT of power for the user
and a great addition to any system with the speed and power to use it,
same as with any other application with "system requirements", which
people seldom bother to check anymore.
But adding Ghost to that has nothing to do with anything. It's just
a program and, installed into any system that is clean and meets t he
system requirements, will install quite well.
There has to be something about/in your Dell that causes the install
problems, or you are too impatient at some critical point.

Twayne

 

[Doum]

What does HP call it then?




Maybe he's thinking of System Restore, which is for making a check
point. As I understand it, you have no control over where it is stored.
It writes to the hard drive, not to a CD or DVD.

Hi, on my Acer laptop there is a suite of utilities called Acer
Empowering Technology which includes Power Management ,Data security
management, settings management,etc.

There is a utility in that suite that's called "Acer eRecovery
Management". This utility allows me to create "Factory like restore CDs
or DVDs" to put the PC back like it was brand new (it works, I tested
it), it also allows me to make "Current state CDs or DVDs", restore discs
with all my own programs installed and activated (also tested and
working).

I'm sure you don't have Acer utilities on your IBM but my point was to
confirm that such programs exists (and work well).

Unfortunatly, I don't know how it's called for IBM, but it would be
unbelievable a company like IBM does not include something similar with
their machines.

Do you have a user manual with your machine? It must be mentioned in
there.

Doum