What's the difference between a recovery disk and a backup system disk?
I need to build a recovery disk for my pc. I'm using Windows XP, but I don't hold the Windows XP disc. Now pc's come with Windows pre-installed from factory. I don't know the process for making the recovery disc. Or is it easier to spawn a backup system disc?
Answers:
I'm not an expert so this is just personal assessment. It's my understanding that a recovery disk is one made by the businessman of the computer. It can restore your computer to the exact same condition it was within when it left the factory. (It may in reality be 2 or more disks.)
A backup disk is one the user makes. It may include everything on the computer or newly certain files and folders. There are several utilities available that spawn it easier to create complete backups - both salaried and free.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/pro…
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/…
http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/…
One of the issues you need to consider is how much background do you need to copy? In actual world use, one CD holds almost 650MB and one DVD about 4.5GB. If you enjoy a DVD burner, use it. 40GB of data will necessitate about 62 CDs vs. 10 DVDs. Even if you use some species of compression or zip utility it'll lift a lot more CDs.
Another possibility is to look into your hard drive for a special folder call the i386. Sometimes, when a manufacturer doesn't provide an OS disk they'll fashion a copy of the OS and put it in this profile. It would be several hundred MB in size. This article explains a moment or two more about the i386.
http://ask-leo.com/so_just_what_is_the_i…
Then there's another utility call a Boot Disk. This article will give you more information.
http://www.computerhope.com/boot.htm
The entry to remember here is a traditional boot disk goes on a floppy, not a compact disc. So you might want to look at this ulimate boot CD for Windows:
http://ubcd4win.com/
wwbgd
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