How To Make a Recovery CD

When you first purchased your computer, you were provided with a recovery CD to help you in case something bad happens to it like a system crash, attack of spyware or a virus, etc. The thing is, what if you just can’t find that recovery CD? Chances are you’re going to have to bring your stuff back to the store and pay for a handsome amount for it to be fixed. The neat solution to this is to make your own recovery CD.

Here’s a simple guide to help you.

1. First, you have to get a CD or a DVD if you have a DVD writer. These are readily available at any local PC store and are usually very cheap. Insert the disc into your CD or DVD writer.
2. On your desktop, click on Start and look for the Control Panel menu. Single-click on it and find the Performance and Maintenance option. You’ll be directed to the page where you can see a lot of tasks available to you. You must click on the “Back up your data” option.
3. You’ll encounter a popup menu entitled Backup and Restore Wizard. Just hit next and choose backup files and settings. Click on next.
4. Then choose which files you want to have a backup copy with from a selection of radio buttons. Hit next and choose your CD from the dropdown menu on the next page.
5. Press the Start Backup button and give it some time to finish. Depending on the speed of data burning your system has, you’ll be done after just a cup of coffee.

For advanced users, there are other ways to create a backup or a recovery disc for your files, one of which is using the Windows Pre-installation Environment (Windows PE) and a System Deployment Image (SDI) file and SDI-related tools. This method lets you make an image file of your important documents and allows you to reboot from that image file upon installation. This process duplicates your computer’s contents exactly as it left the factory.

To do so, make an analysis of the tools and programs you use to make your recovery CD. Use a test device to try your embedded image and run a series of boot tests until you’re satisfied. Then create the SDI file and choose the version of Windows PE you want. You can also make use of OPKs or other customized versions. After selecting your Windows PE options, make a duplicate copy of the SDI image, Windows PE and the sdimgr.wsf file to a directory you can easily find. Finally, make that bootable recovery CD from those files and test it. This works great if you’re working on a network of computers, as it makes the installation process quicker and more convenient.

If all else fails, you can still find several software options on the Internet that can do the job for you. You can try the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows available for download at howtogeek.com. Read the instructions from the site and make that easily bootable recovery file you’ve been searching for.