Making a customized restore disk?
April 3, 2006 12:12 PM Subscribe
I want to backup a Windows partition to a DVD, so that I can make my own restore disc. Is this possible?
What I really want to do is to get my Windows partition just how I want it, with drivers and updates already installed, to burn the image to a DVD where I can then boot it up and install it some other time. Is this possible? I've heard about nLite, but unfortunately my computer doesn't come with Windows disc, rather four CDs that are loaded with crap that always needs to be uninstalled (another reason to go this route). Anyone have any ideas?
What I really want to do is to get my Windows partition just how I want it, with drivers and updates already installed, to burn the image to a DVD where I can then boot it up and install it some other time. Is this possible? I've heard about nLite, but unfortunately my computer doesn't come with Windows disc, rather four CDs that are loaded with crap that always needs to be uninstalled (another reason to go this route). Anyone have any ideas?
There's a big list of system backup tools here. Some are pay, some are free, but there's certainly a lot, including some that say they'll back up an entire partition. I use Acronis for that task myself, but the new version - 9 - is apparently not very good.
If you can get a hold of Acronis True Image 8 I would pick it up. You can back up a partition, put the backup on a DVD, and it'll let you create a bootable CD that you can use to restore backups without the need for a functional operating system. O r check out V9, it's been a while since it came out and maybe they've gotten the data corruption problems fixed.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 12:28 PM on April 3, 2006
If you can get a hold of Acronis True Image 8 I would pick it up. You can back up a partition, put the backup on a DVD, and it'll let you create a bootable CD that you can use to restore backups without the need for a functional operating system. O r check out V9, it's been a while since it came out and maybe they've gotten the data corruption problems fixed.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 12:28 PM on April 3, 2006
Old version of Ghost. Or, corporate version of Ghost (i.e. not this, but this). PartImage is pretty good too but it's really a Linux tool that can deal with NTFS and FAT32. (The SystemRescueCD at the bottom of that page is a Linux live CD that has partimage on it.)
posted by mrg at 1:04 PM on April 3, 2006
posted by mrg at 1:04 PM on April 3, 2006
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Partition Magic used to have a program called Drive Image Professional that would probably have worked. Unfortunately, Symantec bought them and killed their product line, so it doesn't exist anymore.
You probably CAN use Ghost to do this, but it's no longer a very good tool for that job... perhaps someone else will have other suggestions.
posted by Malor at 12:17 PM on April 3, 2006