Laptop system restore disc - how?

[Proto]

I bought a used laptop recently, HP/Compaq nc6220, which came with XP Pro installed. It has the 25 digit key code on the case, but it didn't come with a system disc. Concerned that in the event of major problems (disc failure, virus attack etc) and I have to rebuild the system, is there anyway I can create a system restore disc that would put XP back on the machine?

Thanks.

 

[swee'pea99]

I suspect the answer to your actual question is no, but having recently recovered my HP/compaq laptop from a totoal breakdown...when you're booting up, do you get a line at the top of the screen that says 'press f11 for emergency recovery'? If so, I think you'll find that gives you most of the backup you'd get from having recovery discs. 

I could be wrong about the discs, but I believe that any machine can only make one set - and assuming yours made some when it was first booted up (which the buyer would have been strongly prompted to do) I think that's it.

 

[woohoo]

One solution (which costs money) is to get some partition Image software (e.g. Acronis True Image but that costs about £30 and is probably overkill) and an external hard disk. The partition software allows you to create an exact (and compressed) image copy of the system partition and to store it on the external hard disk. In the event of a laptop disk failure, you can replace the laptop's disk, boot the laptop using the partition software's CD and then restore the image from the external hard disk onto your laptop's new hard disk. The laptop will then appear as it was when the copy partition was created (and if that was a while ago then you'll have a barrel-load of updates to do). In any case, you should have an external hard disk to back up you data.

As for regenerating XP, if can find an XP install disk (i.e. beg, borrow etc), you can generate an XP system and the input the serial numbers on the bottom of the machine to activate it. If that activation fails, phone M$ft and tell them the score. As long as the code hasn't been "abused", they're normally pretty reasonable about activating it.

 

[ian turner]

A bit unnecessary.
Just download Easeus Todo and follow their instructions on creating a bootable restore disk and burn the image to cds/dvds.
Yes I know optical media has a finite life expectancy but by the time it becomes unusable your laptop will be in need of replacement
anyway.

 

[woohoo]

A bit unnecessary.
Just download Easeus Todo and follow their instructions on creating a bootable restore disk and burn the image to cds/dvds.
Yes I know optical media has a finite life expectancy but by the time it becomes unusable your laptop will be in need of replacement
anyway.

Perhaps. Some configurations of that machine came with DVD-ROM optical drives which makes burning to CDs/DVDs problematic .

 

[ian turner]

Perhaps. Some configurations of that machine came with DVD-ROM optical drives which makes burning to CDs/DVDs problematic .

Piece of worthless junk if it's that model.
Mind you you'd have to be nuts not to have some form of external storage be it USB or NAS drive.
Hmm good point 95% of computer owners don't realize that.
Anyways with an external drive you could build the image on that and burn it in another PC.

 

[woohoo]

Agreed. As a general point (and no reflection on the OP), it amazes me that people appear to put no value on their personal data e.g. photos, emails, word docs etc. If a PC goes tits up, you can always buy your way out of the problem via new hardware and/or software but if the data is lost, it's gone forever, unless you have an external (and preferably, offsite) copy.

Personally, I keep all system and software stuff on C and all personal data on D. I take image copies of C every so often so that if I have a restore to do, I don't have to go back too far and I take copies of D much more frequently and keep (some) of these offsite.

 

[PaulSB]

I bought a used laptop recently, HP/Compaq nc6220, which came with XP Pro installed. It has the 25 digit key code on the case, but it didn't come with a system disc. Concerned that in the event of major problems (disc failure, virus attack etc) and I have to rebuild the system, is there anyway I can create a system restore disc that would put XP back on the machine?

Thanks.

I have three HP laCompaqs and a Sony Vaio. I'm rather surprised you haven't found instructions on how to do this with the machine. On each of my laptops it was virtually page one of the manual. All you need to to is make some recovery discs, usually 2-3 DVDs in my experience, and should you need to recover repair etc. use these. You must of course also have an external hard drive to back up your files on a regular, say weekly basis if it is a family machine or daily for business, as these would be lost during any recovery. Also be sure to keep a written note of your product keys etc.

I've used the recovery discs on the family laptop to restore it to its original settings and clean up the hard disc and this worked very well. You do of course need to be prepared to spend time downloading loads of updates.