How to make a complete recovery disc

[The Sly Fox]

Last week in BKK I bought a new Toshiba Satellite C640 laptop. It came with DOS. I got the Thai boys at a shop nearby to install Win 7 and set up all the drivers. It's OK but they used a ghost to install Win 7 (32bit) plus a ton of crap I don't want.

 

I already downloaded the Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1 - 32bit English ISO file, so I can do a clean install without all the crap. However, I don't really want to have to reinstall all the drivers. So is there any way I can make a complete recovery disc, or a recovery partition, that will automatically reinstall Win 7 all set up ready to run with all the drivers in place?

[Scumbag]

If you mean that you have bought a different version of Windows 7 which you are going to use to reinstall windows then you will need to reinstall all your drivers and software that you want. Once you have it how you want it create a system image to make a future reinstall very easy. Is the version that you are going to install licensed?

[sxeworldman]

software called macrium reflect is free and does a great job of doing clean,complete restore image i've used it with great success for Win7

[CyberPro]

re "However, I don't really want to have to reinstall all the drivers." 

 

If you are using Windows 7 on new hardware, Win7 should have all or most of the drivers and install them automatically. 

 

One probably can make the complete recovery disk you describe although I haven't done it. I just do a fresh install and install drivers from the PC utilities CD or from the web. 

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=How+to+migrate+windows+drivers+to+a+new+PC%3F&oq=How+to+migrate+windows+drivers+to+a+new+PC%3F&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_rn=2&gs_ri=serp&gs_mss=How%20to%20migrate%20windows%20drivers%20to%20a%20new%20PC&pq=how%20to%20migrate%20windows%20drivers%20to%20a%20new%20pc%3F&cp=23&gs_id=41&xhr=t&q=How%20to%20make%20a%20Windows%20recovery%20disk&es_nrs=true&pf=p&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&oq=How+to+make+a+Windows+r&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42261806,d.cGE&fp=46b32df0a3da7317&biw=1059&bih=874

 

You can migrate drivers from your existing system/hard drive to the new: 

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=How+to+migrate+windows+drivers+to+a+new+PC%3F&oq=How+to+migrate+windows+drivers+to+a+new+PC%3F&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

Once your new system is working as you like, Win7 restore points will allow recovery should you need that. 

[The Sly Fox]

If you mean that you have bought a different version of Windows 7 which you are going to use to reinstall windows then you will need to reinstall all your drivers and software that you want. Once you have it how you want it create a system image to make a future reinstall very easy. Is the version that you are going to install licensed?

Yes, licensed, I have the key. I don't want to make a system image as it is now because I'd rather just do a clean install of Win 7 with drivers in place, and use that as the recovery. So when I downloaded the ISO today it said I can use my existing key, providing it's the same same version of Win = Win 7 Ultimate 32bit English.

[The Sly Fox]

re "However, I don't really want to have to reinstall all the drivers." 

 

If you are using Windows 7 on new hardware, Win7 should have all or most of the drivers and install them automatically. 

 

One probably can make the complete recovery disk you describe although I haven't done it. I just do a fresh install and install drivers from the PC utilities CD or from the web. 

 

You can migrate drivers from your existing system/hard drive to the new: 

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=How+to+migrate+windows+drivers+to+a+new+PC%3F&oq=How+to+migrate+windows+drivers+to+a+new+PC%3F&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

Once your new system is working as you like, Win7 restore points will allow recovery should you need that. 

"Win7 restore points will allow recovery should you need that." Strange but I never had any success using restore points, everytime i tried using them in past I get some BS message and can't proceed. So I just turn off that system restore now.

[The Sly Fox]

software called macrium reflect is free and does a great job of doing clean,complete restore image i've used it with great success for Win7

Many thanks. I have heard of this software but never used it. I'll give it a go.

[Scumbag]

Yes, licensed, I have the key. I don't want to make a system image as it is now because I'd rather just do a clean install of Win 7 with drivers in place, and use that as the recovery. So when I downloaded the ISO today it said I can use my existing key, providing it's the same same version of Win = Win 7 Ultimate 32bit English.

In that case just install it over the top of the version that is on there already. I have never had to install any drivers for the common things that are on modern computers. There should be a driver disk with the laptop but if not it would be a good idea to download the drivers from the laptop manufacturer before starting to be on the safe side.

 

BTW unless I missed something Macrium Reflect creates a system image. This is not what you want as it would put the system back in exactly the same state as you are trying to change it from.

[The Sly Fox]

In that case just install it over the top of the version that is on there already. I have never had to install any drivers for the common things that are on modern computers. There should be a driver disk with the laptop but if not it would be a good idea to download the drivers from the laptop manufacturer before starting to be on the safe side.

 

BTW unless I missed something Macrium Reflect creates a system image. This is not what you want as it would put the system back in exactly the same state as you are trying to change it from.

Yes, thanks very much, that's helpful. I've just made a system image with Macrium Reflect, so if anything gets stuffed up atleast I can go back to my current state. There is a CD with 32bit drivers that came in the box, so if anything isn't included with Win 7 I can install myself.

 

Do you have any idea if I can put the recovery onto a partition, or must I always do it from a DVD?

[Scumbag]

Do you have any idea if I can put the recovery onto a partition, or must I always do it from a DVD?

Does the drive have two partitions? If it has you can put it on the non-system partition. Be careful that the installation doesn't format the whole drive and install onto the C drive. If it hasn't got a second partition you may be able to create one by first shrinking the C drive to make space for the second partition.

[The Sly Fox]

It's a 500 gig HDD, when the Thai boys installed Win 7 I got them to partition the drive into C & D, with 150 on C and 350 on D. But I'm a bit scared to start mucking around with shrinking the C drive, perhaps it's safer for me to just go with the DVDs.

 

So today I'll buy 2 DVDs, one with the Win 7 ISO, which will give me a super clean reinstall. The other with the Macrium image, which will put me back my present state.

 

BTW, this is a great forum, so much friendly help & information here - not just pussy stuff either...lol

[Scumbag]

It's a 500 gig HDD, when the Thai boys installed Win 7 I got them to partition the drive into C & D, with 150 on C and 350 on D. But I'm a bit scared to start mucking around with shrinking the C drive, perhaps it's safer for me to just go with the DVDs.

 

So today I'll buy 2 DVDs, one with the Win 7 ISO, which will give me a super clean reinstall. The other with the Macrium image, which will put me back my present state.

 

BTW, this is a great forum, so much friendly help & information here - not just pussy stuff either...lol

You don't need to do a shrink just put the image on the D drive and make and make sure that the installation doesn't wipe out the whole disk. That usually only happens when you use disks that came with a computer.

[Para]

You can make a Slipstream ISO but to be honest Win7 has awesome native device support I would not waste the time trying to work around a clean install.

 

Once you have rebuilt the laptop MS offers a imaging solution go to Control Panel - Backup and Restore where you can create an image and recovery CD.

[The Sly Fox]

You can make a Slipstream ISO but to be honest Win7 has awesome native device support I would not waste the time trying to work around a clean install.

 

Once you have rebuilt the laptop MS offers a imaging solution go to Control Panel - Backup and Restore where you can create an image and recovery CD.

Yes thanks Para. I did have a look at the Win 7 imaging, it said the backup'd be 21gig, I used Macrium instead and that used 10gig.

 

So I'm confused why the Thai tech in the shop had to install all the drivers from the CD that came with the machine. I watched him doing it. Why would he do that if it wasn't necessary, if all the required drivers were already built into Win 7?

[Para]

Yes thanks Para. I did have a look at the Win 7 imaging, it said the backup'd be 21gig, I used Macrium instead and that used 10gig.

 

So I'm confused why the Thai tech in the shop had to install all the drivers from the CD that came with the machine. I watched him doing it. Why would he do that if it wasn't necessary, if all the required drivers were already built into Win 7?

 

You can reduce the MS image size by house cleaning all the trash/rubbish, removing the swap and hibernation files first. Problem is either way makes an image larger than a DVD so you need an external drive to copy to. I had to replace my drive only the other day and ended up using Paragon Hard Disk Manager as I only wanted specific partitions on the new disk.

 

Every manufacturer has its hardware specific drivers for video cards/WiFi etc BUT Win7 will install on anything then when the laptop is up and running just hit up their support web site to get the latest drivers. If you are concerned why not download the drivers before you rebuild and burn them to a CD?

 

EDIT - Just seen you have a CD with 32 bit drivers but I would recommend using 64 bit Win7 Ultimate which will need different drivers.

 

Whats the make/model of your laptop I will make sure they are easy to find......

[The Sly Fox]

You can reduce the MS image size by house cleaning all the trash/rubbish, removing the swap and hibernation files first. Problem is either way makes an image larger than a DVD so you need an external drive to copy to. I had to replace my drive only the other day and ended up using Paragon Hard Disk Manager as I only wanted specific partitions on the new disk.

 

Every manufacturer has its hardware specific drivers for video cards/WiFi etc BUT Win7 will install on anything then when the laptop is up and running just hit up their support web site to get the latest drivers. If you are concerned why not download the drivers before you rebuild and burn them to a CD?

 

EDIT - Just seen you have a CD with 32 bit drivers but I would recommend using 64 bit Win7 Ultimate which will need different drivers.

 

Whats the make/model of your laptop I will make sure they are easy to find......

You comment about a Slipstream ISO interests me. I have another Toshiba laptop that has recovery to out-of-box state built into a partition on the HDD. I've used it a few times and when finished everything is installed perfectly, all the correct drivers are installed, everything is running just like new. Only problem is all the crap and demos and trial-ware are there. So I use PC Decrapifier and other uninstallers to dig all the crap out.

 

What I'd like to do with this new Toshiba (a Satellite Pro C640) is make my own recovery partition with just Win 7 complete with the latest service pack + all the required drivers (which I believe is called slipstreaming) so whenever I need to do a recovery I can access the recovery partition, format C only and reinstall Win 7 with everything up and running. 

 

I don't need any software built into the slipstream partition, just the OS + drivers. I mostly use portable applications that are on my D drive, and I don't mind reinstalling the few applications that require reinstalling.

 

So can I do this? I know how to make an ISO image and have done so already but I don't know how to make a recovery on the HDD, and how to make an icon/link to access this.

[Para]

Making a slip stream is pretty hard work it took me a couple of tries to get it working and I am an IT consultant.

 

A slip stream is an ISO with all the drivers already included. From what you say you need a basic image that you can install when the laptop craps out would be easier by far.

 

Recovery partitions are nice and easy BUT i the drive fails you lose everything. I would suggest creating the image on an external disk and keeping that safe. Remember you can image more than one computer and store them all on the same external drive.

 

All you have to do is plug in an external then kick off the MS Backup and Restore to create the image specifying the external device as the destination. You will then need to create a System Repair disk to boot from so you can tell it where to find the image.

 

If you are desperate for a hidden partition restore option I will have to have a hunt around as its been years since I have done it!

[The Sly Fox]

Making a slip stream is pretty hard work it took me a couple of tries to get it working and I am an IT consultant.

 

A slip stream is an ISO with all the drivers already included. From what you say you need a basic image that you can install when the laptop craps out would be easier by far.

 

Recovery partitions are nice and easy BUT i the drive fails you lose everything. I would suggest creating the image on an external disk and keeping that safe. Remember you can image more than one computer and store them all on the same external drive.

 

All you have to do is plug in an external then kick off the MS Backup and Restore to create the image specifying the external device as the destination. You will then need to create a System Repair disk to boot from so you can tell it where to find the image.

 

If you are desperate for a hidden partition restore option I will have to have a hunt around as its been years since I have done it!

Thanks Para, if you do come up with any info on creating a hidden partition with recovery I'd be most interested in learning how. Of course I would also have an image backed up to an external just incase my laptop HDD shits itself one day.

[Para]

Thanks Para, if you do come up with any info on creating a hidden partition with recovery I'd be most interested in learning how. Of course I would also have an image backed up to an external just incase my laptop HDD shits itself one day.

 

Creating the hidden partition is very easy all you do is run Disk Management then shrink an existing partition and create a new one formatted but without a drive letter.

 

Problem is hotkey booting to do a restore there is no way to do this as its hard coded in the BIOS. You can create an image and store it locally in a hidden partition BUT you will need a System Repair Disk to boot off and point to the hidden image.

 

Just done a screen grab of my system to show how I have a number of partitions that dont have drive letters so are considered hidden to Win7....

 

[david555]

in Win7 i use a system image (= a dual boot xp / win 7 ) wich i made on a portabl 250 gb hd pocket size , very easy to restore complete pc.

Every month after the microsoft update , i update that one , and i made a restore disc (find in same backup prog. win7 location) incase the os system should not work anymore to start up pc /laptop

[The Sly Fox]

Creating the hidden partition is very easy all you do is run Disk Management then shrink an existing partition and create a new one formatted but without a drive letter.

 

Problem is hotkey booting to do a restore there is no way to do this as its hard coded in the BIOS. You can create an image and store it locally in a hidden partition BUT you will need a System Repair Disk to boot off and point to the hidden image.

 

Just done a screen grab of my system to show how I have a number of partitions that dont have drive letters so are considered hidden to Win7....

 

My Disks.jpg

Right, that's what I suspected, so I won't be able to do this. Best for me to just stick with an image then. I do have an image made with Macrium and stored on my D drive. The image is of C drive only. So if I use the image to recover, using Macrium, I trust it will format and install the image to C and not touch the D at all, which is where all my files are stores. Guess a complete backup is in order before trying to reinstall with an image.

 

Thanks for all your info Para.

[The Sly Fox]

in Win7 i use a system image (= a dual boot xp / win 7 ) wich i made on a portabl 250 gb hd pocket size , very easy to restore complete pc.

Every month after the microsoft update , i update that one , and i made a restore disc (find in same backup prog. win7 location) incase the os system should not work anymore to start up pc /laptop

Cheers David, I have 2 system images made with Macrium, and will update them periodically after significant Win 7 updates. Guess I'll also make an image using the Win inbuilt image maker, just in case there are any hitches with the Macrium images.

 

Thank God for 500G & 1T externals, we could never back these images up using CDs or DVDs.

[david555]

I even made a usb start

Cheers David, I have 2 system images made with Macrium, and will update them periodically after significant Win 7 updates. Guess I'll also make an image using the Win inbuilt image maker, just in case there are any hitches with the Macrium images.

 

Thank God for 500G & 1T externals, we could never back these images up using CDs or DVDs.

after making a system image with win 7 built in prog.  it shall ask you to make a system restore disk (wich i made on a dvd ) , needed in case your os does not work , and set pc/ laptop to start up from cd/dvd

 

i even made a usb stick 8 GB , with the setup win 7 ultimate , for a clean install , but by god i should now not know anymore how i did it  , i foolowed the steps on GOOGLE "how to make a startble usb installstick for win 7 

[The Sly Fox]

I even made a usb start

after making a system image with win 7 built in prog.  it shall ask you to make a system restore disk (wich i made on a dvd ) , needed in case your os does not work , and set pc/ laptop to start up from cd/dvd

 

i even made a usb stick 8 GB , with the setup win 7 ultimate , for a clean install , but by god i should now not know anymore how i did it  , i foolowed the steps on GOOGLE "how to make a startble usb installstick for win 7 

Interesting because when I started to make a restore image using the inbuilt Win 7 program it informed me the image size would be 21gig, so I opted for the Macrium image which was 10gig.

 

Yes, I know what you mean about not being able to tell someone how you did it. I often find I'm searching the net for information on how to do something I've already done a couple of times in the past but have totally forgotten the steps.

[david555]

Interesting because when I started to make a restore image using the inbuilt Win 7 program it informed me the image size would be 21gig, so I opted for the Macrium image which was 10gig.

 

Yes, I know what you mean about not being able to tell someone how you did it. I often find I'm searching the net for information on how to do something I've already done a couple of times in the past but have totally forgotten the steps.

but the Win 7 install stick is just the Clean install WIN 7 , not a system image , just the OS , it even let me choose wich Win 7 i would install ultimate or other ....

But in combination with the HD image a complete rebirth of your PC/ laptop is only a matter of few hours (depending your PC "cargo load" ,

 

so i think the usb data copyd to a DVD could als do the trick   , but i have a netbook , so no diskreader inside , i opted for making on a usb stick