Home made Recovery Disk?

[Alver]

My daughter recently bought a 2nd hand Toshiba laptop with XP Home installed
(OEM). Laptop runs fine but alas, it came without a so-called "recovery
disk". If I recall correctly I have recently seen (not read) an article
describing a method to make such a disk oneself. I do not find the reference
anymore and therefore my question. Is this possible and how do I go about?

Thanks for a possible answer

Alver

 

[David B.]

If the laptop has no option to create the disks, you would need some type of
imaging software such as Acronis True Image.

 

[Xandros]

You need imaging software. Try Acronis TrueImage 11 which will also enable
regular backups of the entire system state or backups of individual
files/folders/e-mail and settings etc. It is a very useful app. Because
Acronis TrueImage can be run from a bootable CD or from a hidden partition
on your drive if the system goes down you can even extract individual files
from a backup and restore them without having to do a full system repair.

 

[mike]

My daughter recently bought a 2nd hand Toshiba laptop with XP Home installed
(OEM). Laptop runs fine but alas, it came without a so-called "recovery
disk". If I recall correctly I have recently seen (not read) an article
describing a method to make such a disk oneself. I do not find the reference
anymore and therefore my question. Is this possible and how do I go about?

Thanks for a possible answer

Alver

I haven't done it recently, but you can extract the contents of a REAL
XP install disk, replace the i386 directory with the one from your laptop,
then reburn the XP disk. Might as well put the drivers on there too.
The only tricky part is extracting the boot
info and getting it put back so the new disk boots. The result should
meet all the legal requirements for your system...'cause that's where it
came from.

If you have a bootable CDROM, you can use something like Acronis to
image the disk. Won't be able to "reinstall", but may recover from
corrupted system.

 

[JS]

Some people will recommend that you wipe the hard drive and do a clean
install of Windows XP as you never know what might be lurking on the hard
drive that could at the very least be embarrassing or an undiscovered
virus/spyware package running in the background. This is a good
recommendation but realize that you will need to purchase a copy of Windows
XP as you have no media that came with the laptop.

Another alternative is 'Image Backup' software, this will take a complete
image (snapshot) of what is on your hard drive and store in a special file
(image file) that you can you to completely restore the PC to the date and
time that the image file was made. An important point is that the image file
must be created on a separate drive or media as it can not be created on the
drive that Windows is located on.

Image Backups
True Image:
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/index.html

Ghost:
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost12

It's a matter of preference, as both are image backup utilities and work
well.
True Image may still be available with a 15 day free trial.
Again note that the backup (image file) needs to be created and stored on a
second drive
(an internal or external drive).
Check each product to see if it's supports your storage media and interface
(External USB drive, Etc.)

JS

 

[JimTheAverage]

My daughter recently bought a 2nd hand Toshiba laptop with XP Home
installed (OEM). Laptop runs fine but alas, it came without a so-called
"recovery disk". If I recall correctly I have recently seen (not read) an
article describing a method to make such a disk oneself. I do not find the
reference anymore and therefore my question. Is this possible and how do I
go about?

Thanks for a possible answer

Alver

Alver,

You may also want to try the FREE software Drive Image XML. It will create
a backup of a partition or your entire drive.

It is at http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm.

jim

 

[Claymore]

My daughter recently bought a 2nd hand Toshiba laptop with XP Home installed
(OEM). Laptop runs fine but alas, it came without a so-called "recovery
disk". If I recall correctly I have recently seen (not read) an article
describing a method to make such a disk oneself. I do not find the reference
anymore and therefore my question. Is this possible and how do I go about?

Thanks for a possible answer

Alver

Hello Alver,

The idea of creating an image is excellent. It may also be useful to
create a bootable XP CD in case you need to do a repair. Following on
what Mike suggested earlier, here are the instructions, if you can at
least get to a i386 folder, perhaps already on your drive (hidden?) or
from an XP CD:

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

 

[Alver]

I have perused all the comments of the knowledgeable members of this forum.
You have been quite helpfull. Thank you all.

Alver

 

[JS]

You're welcome.

JS