Andrew said:
Actually microsoft techs prefer the "File transfer wizard" for
backup.Reason being,all youre files,settings,misc are stored usually to a
cd,if xp
fails,a new
install is always the best way to go,once xp is reinstalled (clean-boot
(snip Andrew's ridiculous post)
Andrew E. is a troll in these newsgroups who gives terrible and inaccurate
advice. He should stick to his day job in the meat products industry where
hopefully he is better at his job than he is with computers.
A retail version of XP will not ask you if you want to make recovery disks.
You are probably thinking of the OEM (HP, Sony, Acer, etc.) message that
usually occurs shortly after you set up your new machine. Because most of
those OEM's have a hidden recovery partition on their machines with an
image of the installation as it came from the factory - but no physical
cd's - they allow you to make physical cd/dvd's of the image in case your
hard drive dies and the image is lost.
If you have an OEM machine like that, the normal thing to do is to contact
the mftr. and purchase a physical copy of the recovery disks. The cost
varies from mftr. to mftr. - one of my clients bought a set of recovery
disks from HP and it was $25USD.
Since (if I understand you correctly) you already purchased a retail version
of XP, what I believe you want is an imaging program to create an image of
your new Windows install with all updates applied, your favorite programs,
etc. Examples of imaging programs are Acronis True Image and Norton Ghost.
Malke
