making a system restore cd

[rebel624]

Hey I was wondering if anyone new how to make a complete system restore cd. I have built my own pc and I want to get all the software I need on it and then just be able to restore it back like how compaq, dell, and all the other pcs can do.

[pave_spectre]

There are a number of system imaging utilities such as DriveImage or Norton Ghost, that, (I believe), allow the option of making image files the correct size to be burned to CD.

[Sylvander]

I use "Simple Backup" to make 3 sets of backups of my C: drive, each to multiple CD-RW disks. Any one of those will restore the C: drive to the state I chose to backup.

To be able to add to the above to totally eliminate infection from the HDD I also make an AVG "Rescue Boot Disk".

QUOTE
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The AVG Rescue Disk is a special diskette where the most important parts of your computer’s boot up data will be saved. In this backup diskette, the contents of the Partition Table, Boot sectors and some other internal data will be saved. These areas are often targets of computer virus attacks and their damage can (and mostly will) cause the malfunction of the whole operating system – your computer cannot be started.

Repairing such destruction can be very difficult job. But if you have a backup copy, restoring the damaged areas is easy and safe.

In addition to the backup copy of the system areas there is a special AVG-SOS program stored on the rescue disk to handle the saved data.
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MAKING BACKUPS
It all depends what software & hardware you have available to you for making backups.
I use “Simple Backup” and CD-RW disks because I only have a 10 GB & 1.2 GB HDD’s and therefore only need a total of 19 CD-RW’s as follows:
A) 1.4 GB C: partition = 3 backups [which leap-frog so that the old becomes the new], each 2 CD-RW’s.
B) 1.2 GB [old HDD] D: physical drive = 1 backup of 1 CD-RW.
C) 8 GB E: partition = 1 backup of 12 CD-RW’s.

I can backup [and also restore] each partition or physical drives separately.
If/when I re-format & restore the C: drive, then all the data, like My Documents etc, moved to other partitions remains unaffected.

RECOVER USING BACKUPS
The easy way to recover from all software [including configuration] problems [without even having to discover the cause], is:

1) As you proceed forward in time, make backups of everything on your C: drive.
Do this at regular intervals, particularly before making software changes [un/installing programs or changing configuration] and keep a log of all this.
2) When you hit trouble caused by a bad configuration change and no hardware or software changes have been made, [use "scanreg /restore" in Win98 or a restore point in XP to] restore a previous good configuration.
3) When the trouble involves more than just the configuration, but involves the files [including the configuration perhaps] but no harware has been changed [this is important because the software must match the hardware], then:
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Re-format the C: drive and restore your latest good backup.
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The software will "jump back" to the way it was when the PC worked.
If this doesn’t fix things, then it probably is not a software problem but a hardware problem

It helps if you keep the C: drive "lean & mean".
I move as much as possible off the C: drive [and keep it as small as possible].
The "Windows" & "Program Files" folders account for 95% of the used space on my C: drive.
All the data that changes day by day [or are considered vital] are re-homed on another physical drive [although another partition would do].
When I "jump back" I still have up to date:
a. My Documents. [use TweakUI to move]
b. E-mails for all identities. [use email client to move]
c. Internet Explorer Favourites. [use TweakUI to move]
d. Temporary Internet Files. [use Internet Explorer to move]
e. Re-home the Windows Address Book as shown here http://tinyurl.com/24q6l . Use the key “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\Wab FileName” to specify its new address. [Its normal home address [in Win98] is C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book.]
f. Any other vital data you wouldn’t want to lose.

[Paul Komski]

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~rossstew/drs/sec2.html for some ideas and methodology - noting section 2.7 and the use of Ghost in particular.