Ultimate Restore
How do i create a system restore disk in Windows Vista?
I think system restore is the right word. The disk that you put in your computer to restore it if your computer crashes.
On the Microsoft website, it says you can only do a complete PC backup if you have Vista Buisness, Enterprise or Ultimate. I have Home Basic. Is it still possible to create a complete PC backup disk??
The OEM version of Vista that comes pre-installed on most of today's big-name computers does not, typically, come with a Vista CD. It may come with a set of whole-system restoral CDs or DVDs, but it's uncommon for a Microsoft Vista CD to be included with the machine. And there's no provision in Vista (by design) to make one.
Therefore, if a bootable Vista CD is required (so that one may boot-up a machine that has stopped booting properly from its har drive; and then, once booted, one can attempt repairs of the boot sector or the OS, or so one can roll-back to a previous restore point) one would either need to get a boot CD of some kind and then "slipstream" a Vista bootable CD (the complexity of which is beyond the scope of this place)...
SEE: http://www.bootdisk.info/
...or you may obtain (by downloading, for free) an ISO image of a bootable Vista CD which doesn't have the complete OS on it, but which can be used to at least boot and perform repairs. Once you've downloaded the ISO file, then you would simply burn it, as it is, to a CD using something like either the commercial "PowerISO" or the freeware "ImgBurn."
SEE: http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/
SEE: http://poweriso.com/
SEE: http://imgburn.com/
Many big-name PC makers which pre-install OEM versions of Vista also offer a one-time, whole-system backup-to-bootable-CD-or-DVD capability, which is discussed further down herein. Of course if you never did that, and you now need a bootable CD or DVD, that's not an option (at least until the system is restored).
As for Vista backup/restore, generally...
It's worthy of note (and you should know) that Microsoft really screwed-up backup and restore in Vista. It's ridiculous, actually.
SEE: http://www.breakitdownblog.com/microsoft-vista-backup-review-a-lesson-in-stupidity/
Consequently, pretty much all Vista users have learned that a third-party backup/restore software product needs to be obtained and used.
Personally, I always counsel getting an external drive (something like a Western Digital "MyBook")...
SEE: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=8
...that is a MINIMUM of three-and-a-half to four times the size of one's Drive C: (one's main Windows drive). Frankly, the huge, 1TB external drives are so inexpensive these days that I've taken to just recommending one of those regardless how large or small is one'd C: drive... but it's up to you which one you choose. And there are other brands, too... I only mentioned MyBook because it's the first thing which cames to mind for me.
Regardless, if you decided to follow MY advice (informed by 32 years in the IT industry), you would partition the external drive into four (4) partitions, to wit:
1) One small partition (usually less than 15GB) should be about a gigabyte larger than the computer's restoral partition (usually Drive D:); and the entire contents of said restoral partition (Drive D:) should be copied/backed-up to this very small partition using something like Vista's built-in Robocopy utility. This would just be a one-time sort of thing.
2) One partition should be about a gigabyte larger than the main drive (Drive C:), and this paritition would be used to periodically "image" the main C: drive using "imaging" (as opposed to "backup") software. Acronis's "True Image Home," either version 11, or version 12, or version "2009," would be best for this; but it's commercial and fee-based. If one would like to use an excellent freeware imager, I strongly recommend either "Macrium Reflect" or "Paragon Drive Backup 9 Free Edition." (The Paragon product would be easier for a non-techy to use.) Imaging software stores the image in a single (or sometimes a half dozen or so) "image" files. One can't cherry-pick files to copy from the image back to the main drive if something bad ever happens to individual files on said main drive. Therefore, this image would only be used to restore the ENTIRE drive C: after some sort of catastrophe; therefore, every time one finally gets one's drive C: exactly where one wants it, and would be very happy restoring the machine to that exact point if something really bad every happened, a new image should be made (and should overwrite any old ones).
SEE: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp
SEE: http://www.paragon-software.com/home/db-express/
3) One partition should be about a gigabyte larger than the main drive (Drive C:), and this partition would be used to first backup the entire drive C: using backup software which doesn't compress the files, or put them into image files; but, rather, just copies them as the regular files that they are, and in the folder structure in which they exist, over to another drive. Theoretically, Robocopy, again, could be used for this initial backup. However, thereafter, one would want to essentially "sync" between the two drives, on an ongoing basis, either in real time, or periodically, using a sync software product or a regular file-by-file/folder-by-folder comaring-and-backup software product (one which can also do restorals). There are many nice and very capable freeware tools which would do this nicely, from the old "Karen's Replicator" to "Comodo Back" or "GFI Backup," just to name three. Microsoft, believe it or not, makes a credible sync utility that actually works rather well (considering that Microsoft made it) called "Microsoft Sync Toy." However, I kinda' like a little product called "File Hamster," not because it's either a terrific backup product, or a terrific sync product, but because it's BOTH... and does what it does sufficiently credibly that it can become the only tool (besides and imager talked about in item 2, above) which anyone needs.
SEE: http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp
SEE: http://backup.comodo.com/
SEE: http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm/free-backup-software
SEE: http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/details.aspx?familyid=C26EFA36-98E0-4EE9-A7C5-98D0592D8C52&displaylang=en
SEE: http://www.mogware.com/FileHamster/
4) And the fourth partition would be whatever's left on the external drive after the other partitions, listed above, are made. It would be the largest of the four partitions, and it would be where you would store photos, music, videos, archived data, etc., which overflows from your main drive C:. You'd just make folders and copy stuff back and forth manually from that partition. In fact, there are software utilities out in the world (none of it free, as I recall... and I'm having trouble even remembering one because I've never liked them) that will let you "trick" Windows into believing that both the C: drive, and this fourth huge partition, are just one single drive. It's called "drive spanning," and it's kinda' dangerous... especially if the sector sizes of the spanned drives are different. I just never use them. It's easier to just call this "Drive G:" (or whatever letter is logical on your machine), and just manually copy/move stuff around to and from it and your drive C: as needed.
That's what I counsel people to do.
Now, all that said, there are two other "restoral" related things that you need to know about Vista...
One is that Vista has what are called "restore points" which are created either automatically; or by certain programs when they're doing something which might "break" Vista; or by you, manually, if you're worried that you're about to do something which might screw something up. A restore point is simply a place (in time) to which you can "roll-back" your copy of Vista so that it's precisely as it was just before... well... maybe just before you installed something which "broke" Vista; or maybe just before your copy of Vista got so seriously infected by malware that only rolling it back to a previous point in time (before the infection) seems to fix it... that sort of thing.
And the other is that all versions of Vista allow you to create ONE (1) (and ONLY one) complete restore CD or DVD set from within the operating system. You are, in fact, prompted to make such a set right after fully-installing Vista (though you may opt not to and circle back later, once you have Vista "just so," and make said set). It's a one-time-only thing because Microsoft doesn't want people cloning their Vista installation to a whole bunch of machines; or giving it away or selling it to others. Using an "imager" like what I described in item 2, above, is pretty much the same thing, except it's imaged to another hard drive. Having a complete CD or DVD set with a bootable restoral of one's copy of Vista as it existed at a certain point in time can be pretty cool, though. So I always recommend that everyone, once they get their copy of Vista exactly the way they want it (with all service packs and hotfixes and whatnot installed, and once all the bloatware is removed, but before any actual end-user applications are installed), go ahead and avail themselves of this one-time-only complete system backup to CD or DVD. With most systems, around a dozen blank CDs would be required, or maybe four or five DVDs, depending on which media one prefers.
SEE: http://www.windowvistarepair.com/Vista_Backup/windows_vista_backup.html
And with that, you are now more or less completely educated about how backup and restore works in Vista.
Hope that helps.
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