Discussion on:

Creating a Windows Vista Recovery CD

This doesn't say too much for computers does it.With restore I have half a chance.For those of you that don't know how to backup and restore the computer sits in the closet.Why do you have to be an engineer to surf the web.All of those individuals in YouTube and MySpace don't seem to have any problems at all!

Dear Belthor,
your not one of the 'charmed ones' then? I thought the point of Windows was that it was easy to use, it seems not. If I had splashed out on Vista, and the new hardware it might need to take full advantage, I would be a bit miffed if it did not have a full os version on dvd that came with it, never mind a 'recovery' disk. Maybe time to try something else?

I have 3 vista computers and they never crash.

given us more insight?

I couldn't get the Nero 7 Ultra edition with the keygen that I downloaded with BitLord from MyBitTorrent to backup striped drives but I suppose that it will work on all others.In Window Washer Utilities there is a section that will make an erase CD.Pass this DVD and CD around or make copies.I erased my drive then installed the drivers,Nero and so on.Then I made a backup disk.Make it generic,use names like WINXP.Defragment before backing up and use the Windows Disk Cleanup.A different disk would have to be made for each computer brand and model.I made my partition size 7 gig so that it would fit on the DVD.An option would be to shut off the swap or performance memory.Another partition can be made after you're in Windows.If the manufacturer has a utility partition it will be erased.Panda anti virus lasts for 30 days every time.

If you have Vista loaded (pre-installed) wipe it well, including
the recovery partition. That should fix all Vista related
problems. Hats off to you BALTHOR!

You have never replied to my post on your artwork site. I would like to talk to you about a copy of one of the pictures.

He is our "special" child.

I get a kick out of his replies and the fury he sometimes generates. It makes me chuckle.

I think you'll enjoy!

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=243843&start=0

I loved that. Good times.

I suppose with the Vista restore system working better than with XP, they didn't see a real need for it at first.

I used it after a botched update for third party software and it was pretty slick. The OEM restors CD is designed to also install the manufacturer's drivers, using a non proprietary disk can cause nothign but headaches without drivers and manufacturer specific hardware updates. Talk about the long way around?!

I purchased a Toshiba laptop with installed vista and drivers. i ask them the vista os and drivers but they are not provided. How can i backup all the vista os and drivers without doing Ghost softwares. indian{_}wala[at]hotmail[dot]com

As far i know giant companies like toshiba, ibm, dell, hp, etc... they all provide a recovery partition which contains the image of the OS in a state exactly when you got it first time. At the sametime they have a onetime useable backup software installed through which you can burn the image of the OS on a cd/dvd so that just in case the recovery partition is deleted you can recover the system through the cd's.
If you've used the computer for sometime and then created the restore image on a cd/dvd that will create a used image. Best practice would be to backup essential data, use the recovery partition to restore the system to original state and then use the installed software to burn an image on the cd/dvd.

99.9% of computer manufacturer's post device drivers (and their current revisions) on their support websites. You should be able to go to their main site, look for support downloads, search for your model/serial no and get what you need. A laptop/pc designed for Vista will most likely ONLY have the Vista drivers available. However if you choose to install XP on those pcs, THAT can be a challenge.

Yes, you can get drivers from the manufaturers but try that for bios chip and motherboard made in 1998.

I have vista ultimate on my toshiba laptop and have had no problems I downloaded a program called drivermax and it has kept my drivers up to date with no problems so far
this program works with xp and vista I hope this was helpfull

I use Acronis True Image with an external USB drive for such purposes -- from time to time, on a day when my system has been stable for a while I make an image of its entire state.

A couple weeks ago I did something else I also do from time to time: bought a brand-new SATA drive, swapped-out the drive that came with this laptop, and used the Acronis emergency CD to do a restore onto it. Now I have a working system with a brand-new drive, I have the original drive in a safe place as another emergency disk, and I *KNOW* my Acronis backup can be used to do a full restore.

One hardware gadget I *highly* recommend is a little dongle that cost me about 40 bucks and allows basically any IDE/SATA drive to be used as an external USB drive. Very handy. Several vendors sell these, I got mine from cyberguys.com

I have a NexStar3 USB 500 GB HDD but I cannot get my computer to recognize the USB Mass storage drive when I plug it in

I would Like to back up my Computer HDD.

will help you.

What OS are you using?

sounds like you are missing some drivers, I'm told they are there but the 'wizard' will not find 'em. You will have to extract them manually or you could always try installing 'GRUB'. Also if you backup a system on an external hard drive you still need to be able to access it to retrieve the info.

What would that do in this case?

Grub will boot anything if you know how to tweek it but Windows bootloader is less likely to even via notepad.

But if the drive is not being recognized at all, I doubt that GRUB will have an effect.

Then again, what one person means by "not recognized" may be at variance with what I assume, so who knows?

Check your USB driver status in your Device Manager and look for any problems there.
- Upplug and HD and see if your OS recognizes your drive.

I have Acronis True Image ver 11 (never used).
For discussion, I will call the variations they sell as programs.
I browsed their site and got the impression that the standard program, is only for recovering to the same hardware.
If you wish to be able to transplant it onto another pc you need other programs.
For example, you need 'Echo Workstation' and 'Universal Restore'.
Do you need those programs, if you are moving to another hard drive, like you did ?
Rob

settings and transfer wizard and burn it to a CD/DVD. This is the quickest method I know of, but I have not actually done it yet.

If you don't get another answer here Rob; clicking the "Ask a Queston" may get you faster answers.

The problem in transfering images to another computer is that both computers need to have the exact same hardware. Otherwise the hard drive geometry will be off.

If I had the target computer's hard drive formated properly to the same file system, I wouldn't hesitate to do it using an external drive; but they would have to be identical brand and model computers with exactly the same brand, model number, and size of internal hard drive.

This is assuming all the people who ghost images and backup using external hard drives are telling me correctly that this actually works. I don't see how it could do damage anyway, even if it didn't work. As long as you don't have any data to lose.

You can not backup the software with Vista Home (Basic or Premium), only the data. I just purchased Acronis True Image 11 which will backup the entire OS and whatever you installed and created. Pretty neat. If you have the two gig HD on your computer. I suggest that you repartion it to two one gigs, using the second as your backup.

Thank you for the info. That software looks like it will take care of my issue.

Is it possible?

If so, please indicate how it can be done.

Thanks.

Acronis True Image Workstation 9.5
along with
Acronis Universal Restore 9.5
This will allow you to transfer a system image to another box with completely different hardware.
It's the greatest, True Image Home v11 doesn't have this option

The problem is the cost of the workstation and universal restore software.

Version 9/9.1 of True Image includes a Bare Metal restore and there are a few still available from eBay seller tamara2454. I'd suggest grabbing one quick while they're still available, cheap (15.95 USD)!

Here my alternative for the one that have a what we call a family network at home:

If you don't want to poor money for the Ultimate Version and have a old pc that is perfectly working other than the need to make the original HD bigger you could always set aside the money to get Windows Home Server and from there having the option to restore from bear metal to running state for up to 10 PC in your family network and in supplement incremental backup on a daily basis every night and a media repository/center and stopping to buy supplement HD for each PC that you feel the need to in addition you could get very interesting rebate from Software manufacturer like Anti-Virus, defragmenters, other and now a community that live and thrive around that new OS with many add on also.

It seem to be a good alternative to individual backup pc, for example I just added a 1TB HD drive enclosure to my home server in less than a min, time to log in and install it and voila and got file duplication on for important file, like family album etc. So for me that Recovery disk will make a great addition to my arsenal of tool to maintain a healthy PC.

Thank you for the sharing of that great tip.

But I don't know how reliable it is and it doesn't restore program files. Here is one link:

http://www.tweakxp.com/article37556.aspx

I've always wondered if one could do it themselves by creating an empty folder called "Progam Files" on the other partition/drive and use the MMC(.msc) to mount the drive/folder:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307889

This would be a way to use ASR in a quick way without putting programs in jeopardy,but I don't know how well the usual Windows application reacts to being mounted when looking for the C:\ root directory program files folder.

Perhaps someone more experienced will weigh in.

In the midst of moving I lost and cannot remember my Vista Laptop password; I have another Laptop with an XP operating system. Will this work to burn the CD on the XP system and boot from the XP created CD on my Vista PC to recover my password or enter a new one?

If you are not talking of the bios password you may want to try booting on a Hirens' CD which may allow you to reset your password. This could have implications if you are encrypting the files through the operating system on your disk.

Tks for the info - I am simply trying to get past the first Vista logon screen. I forgot to write down the password and now I can't use. I do have a XP laptop also that works fine. Also:
1. What is a Hirens' CD?
2. I am not doing any encrypting that I am aware of.

You should never do a back up to a partition of the same drive your OS is installed on. If ( no when) you hard drive fails you will loose both your current files, but also your back up. Using a partition on the same drive is almost as bad as not making a back up.

Using a recovery CD try to perform system restore under repair my computer choosing a date prior to the password set date.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940765

He probably set it when the computer was new so there won't be a restore point without the password.

Q. What is a Hirens' CD?
A. It's a utility CD that contains many programs that can be used to repair/backup and more. It's a little confusing, but if you go here:
http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd
and look for the section labeled "Password Tools", you'll see several listed that can be used to reset user/administrator passwords for almost all OSes.

I didn't see a d/l link there, so here's one from 9down.com:
http://rapidshare.com/files/92802941/Hirens.BootCD.9.4_www.9down.com.zip

I think it's a bitTorrent file, so will have to be converted to .iso, so good luck!

I'll give it a try tonight.

Tks!

Your advice to restore Vista to a date prior to the password set is fine and dandy, but what about a password that is completely forgotten?

Compounded by moving and a trip overseas.

Can you use this process to create a recovery USB flash drive?