What is a recovery CD?
Our definition of a recovery disk is a bootable CD or CD and
bootable floppy disk set that will restore your computer software to a
"clean" state.
Many manufactures supply a restore disk with their systems, However
the problem is that when you use them they only restore what was on
the computer when the disc was made.
That means that all the software you installed will not be
there.
If you can create the disc after all your software is installed
that is much better
How do I use it?
This depends on who made it and if your system supports booting
from the CD-ROM. All recovery disks created by PRB Solutions work in
the following manner.
Back up your favorites, cookies and email if you want to save them.
If your system does not support booting from CD-ROM place the
Recovery floppy disk in drive a: otherwise proceed to step one
- Place Recovery CD in CD-ROM drive. If you have CD Burner and a
regular CD-ROM then use the regular CD-ROM
- Restart your computer
- If prompted to boot from the CD say yes or press any key
- Read the message about wiping all the data from your c: drive.
This is your only chance to abort this process. after this, all
existing data on your c: drive will be erased. To abort the
restore press the
Ctrl and C key together, (you will be asked if you wish to
terminate batch job, say yes) otherwise press any key to proceed.
It may take a couple of minutes for the process to start. Once
finished the screen will clear and you will be prompted to remove
disk/s and restart.
How long does it take to restore a system?
Normally less than 20 minutes
Where do I get one?
There are a number of ways. With the exception of manufacture
supplied recovery disks they all require that you own "disk
imaging" software to restore or make "disk images".
Manufacture supplied disks generally do not come with the software
required to update your "disk image". You can only restore
the original configuration.
You can make your own "disk image" or companies such as PRB Solutions can make
them for you.
The thing you must remember about "disk images", is that they
contain all the software and problems that are on the computer
at the time the image is made.
Wait a minute, I don't want the problems what do I do?
In our experience the best way to create a recovery disk is like
this
- Back up your data that you want to keep.
- Back up your favorites, cookies and email.
- Double check that you got it all because after the next step it
is gone forever
- Format your drive
- Reinstall your operating system and application software (we recommend
that you do not install any games.
- Apply all patches, fixes and upgrades for your installed
software (don't forget to add that printer)
- Defrag your hard drive twice
- boot into DOS mode and create your image, use high compression
and keep the size down to 625 MEG (675 on systems that support 80
min CD's)
- Write the automation scripts for your disk imaging software
- Use your CD Burner to create a bootable CD. Don't forget to
include the automation scripts and to verify your drive letter
mappings.
Can I use a disk created for another system?
Possibility, but you could be violating copyright laws and
depending on how different the units are, it may not work.
How long does it take to make a disk image?
If you have a high-speed internet connection, generally 4-6 hours.
I
just restored, and now all my documents and data are gone, can I get it
back?
The bad news is no. There are ways to set up your hard drive and
"disk imaging" software so that your user documents are
stored in a separate location than your operating and application
software.
But even if you have it set up right there are some files such as
favorites, cookies and email that will be lost with a restore.
But my data is stored in "My Documents" that is a different
location isn't it?
It could be, but unless you set it up to point to another location
it won't be.
OK, how do I set it up?
If you have two hard drives or your hard drive is 6 GIG or
greater then you can do it. If not, we
suggest that you look at purchasing a second hard drive.
Here is the way we do it at PRB Solutions for computers with a
single hard-drive 6 GIG or greater.
Set up your hard drive in two partitions, your automation
scripts for your restores should be partition to partition rather
than disk to disk. You need to change your "My document
location/s" to the non-OS partition. You need to change all
your applications to default to the non-OS partition. When manually
saving you need to make sure you save to the non-OS partition.
You need to set this all up before you make your disk image.
Please remember that cookies,
Email and favorites will be deleted, you must manually backup these
items before a restore and then manually restore them.
Wait a minute, could you repeat that in plain English?
This is for advanced users, if you don't understand partitions and
logical drive mappings it is not something you should try on your own.
Ask around for assistance or have a company such as PRB Solutions set
it up for you.
We hope this answers any general questions about recovery
disks.
Disclaimer:
This information is provided as a public service. PRB Solutions in no way
assumes any responsibility or liability for damage or loss of data by using
these guides. |
