Windows Vista recovery disks

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Just got a new laptop. It's running on Vista. The software was already installed when it was delivered, however, I've discovered that there are no vista disks. Is Vista like XP where you have recovery disks? Just wondering before I telephone the company and ask where the disks are.

Also, is it easy enough to create a partition? My desktop is partitioned in to C & D drives, I don't need to partition it, it does it itself. However, the laptop has no partition and I'd prefer it if it did.

libra10

I've just bought a laptop with Vista and had to create my own back-up discs. There was an icon on the task bar, I needed 3 discs and followed the instructions. It's worth checking whether there is a similar icon on your machine. PC's rarely come with discs these days and you usually have to create your own.

Can't help with the partitions unfortunately, but sure others will be able to help.

Still getting used to Vista, good luck

the_devil_made_me_do_it

libra10 wrote: »

I've just bought a laptop with Vista and had to create my own back-up discs. There was an icon on the task bar, I needed 3 discs and followed the instructions. It's worth checking whether there is a similar icon on your machine. PC's rarely come with discs these days and you usually have to create your own.

Can't help with the partitions unfortunately, but sure others will be able to help.

Still getting used to Vista, good luck

There isn't an icon corresponding with back-up disks on the task bar. I'll have to search for it I think.

Linbox

You need to get hold of a program called Norton/Symantic GHOST. there are others that will work. Acronis True Image etc or you could try PING at http://ping.windowsdream.com/ which is free.

in Ghost
make a image of a partition
you'll need to save it to another partition, or other disk - you can either use a diferent partition or disk, you can use a large (4Gig) flash drive or a USB drive to save the image it cannot save to the same partition . then when you need to reinstall you'll need to -
Write image to partition.

Use this type of procedure regardless of OS

(Link)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_image

http://www.djinnsplace.co.uk/ghost.html

http://ping.windowsdream.com/

http://sourceforge.net/projects/clonezilla/

Seagull

What make it the computer ? You really should have a facility to create your own system recovery cd already on the pc. My Dell had a one off utility to burn the windows cd and I think my Acer has too.

coolagarry

I got an acer laptop recently and it gave very clear instructions about backing up the vista operating system onto cd's

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Seagull wrote: »

What make it the computer ? You really should have a facility to create your own system recovery cd already on the pc. My Dell had a one off utility to burn the windows cd and I think my Acer has too.

It's an HP laptop.

By the way seagull, I love your picture & I adore seagulls, they are such a funny but elegant bird.

robt_2

Might be obvious but...

Surely it tells you in the manual if you need to create your own or if there is a recovery partition?

philnicandamy

When you purchased your HP notebook, you may have noticed that it did not include a set of operating system discs. This is because HP provides the HP Recovery Manager utility that allows you to create your own recovery copy of the operating system and important files.

• If the PC came equipped with Vista, you should create Vista Recovery discs as soon as possible. In the event of a problem, you can recover your Vista system to its initial condition. Registered owners may order replacement Vista recovery discs.
• If the PC came with XP and you want to upgrade it to Vista, you should create XP recovery discs before doing the upgrade. In the event of a problem, you must reinstall the XP operating system and then upgrade to Vista using the HP Upgrade utility. Registered owners may order replacement XP recovery discs.
• If the PC came with XP and you upgrade it to Vista using the retail Microsoft upgrade program, you must reinstall the XP operating system and then upgrade to Vista using the Microsoft discs, or contact Microsoft and purchase a full version of Vista. After finishing the upgrade, download and install the latest HP device drivers.
• If the PC came with XP and you upgrade it to Vista using the Microsoft full version of the Vista Home or Vista Business operating system, you should use the Microsoft discs to reinstall Vista, without going back to XP. After finishing the installation, download and install the latest HP device drivers.

HP strongly recommends running HP Recovery Manager to create your recovery discs as soon as your computer has finished setting up for the first time. If you are unable to create backup discs or you lose the discs, you may contact HP to obtain backup discs that will return your system to the factory condition.
For more information on using the HP Recovery Manager , as well as information on how to obtain replacement recovery discs from HP