How To Create A Windows XP Recovery Kit

credits : Otis Cooper

We all just love our computers, especially when we want to enjoy those high priced games and when we use it as a business tool.

But what a pain in the "you know what" when the system fail to perform as it should or worse yet, we experience a disaster with our operating system.

When you understand Windows XP, you will soon learn that there are ways to recover from a Windows XP crash.When followed in detail, there are certain tasks you can perform that will allow to recover from any Windows XP failure, no matter how serious the issue.

When troubleshooting Windows XP, there are two possibilities as to where the problem may be.This problem may be with Windows XP or it may very well be a hardware problem.In either case, the best way to recover from this is to have an XP Recovery Kit at the ready.

This kit will enable you to get your computer up and running in minutes rather than hours. This kit consists of backups of your entire hard drive.You will save yourself a heap of troubleshooting procedures that you would have to perform otherwise without this recovery kit.

To get right to the point in creating your own XP Recovery Kit, you will need disk imaging utility such as Drive Image by Powerquest and a backup medium such as a cdrom writer,a dvd writer, or a second hard drive.

There are two procedures you can perform to create an XP Recovery Kit.And these procedures can be use to create kits for other versions of Windows as well.Using a recordable medium is the first and using a second hard drive is the second method.

You also have the option of re-installing Windows XP as a form of recovery but this process takes time.Creating your XP recovery kit will require time as you make this kit but after this, you can quickly get any system running again just as if nothing went wrong.

To use cdroms or dvds, make sure your cd or dvd writer is functioning properly.Install and run Drive Image.We used Drive Image which cost $69.95 but you can also use such free or trial versions of drive imaging software.

One good software is the Back-Up 2006 by Andy Shroebel at http://www.backupmaker.com which should perform the same tasks as Drive Image.

After running your imaging software, follow instructions to create an image of Drive C. You will have the option of choosing cdrom, dvd, or second hard drive to perform the image.You will also see the number of disks required to complete the process.

The Image software should reboot the computer and perform the backup.When using disks, you will need to remove and insert the cds as needed.Label the cdroms in order and put them in a safe and secure place.

When using a second hard drive, you will know to know how to install it on the ide cable.Formatting and partitioning the second must be done before it can be used.

Windows XP have a backup utility but Windows XP home edition will have to install it from the cdrom.Place the XP cd in the drive, open My Computer, and right click the CD Drive containing the XP cd.

Now click Open and you will see the contents of the cdrom. Click the ValueAdd folder, then the MSFT folder. Next click the NTBackup folder and click NTBACKUP to install the backup utility.

But the Windows XP utility will not record to cdroms or dvds but will only save the backup as a file.This is why its best to use Drive Image or a compatible software.

After completing your drive image by backing up Windows XP on cd, dvd, or second hard drive, you will not be so concerned should Windows XP freeze up and fail to load.

Simply reboot the computer and access your BIOS to let it know which medium to boot from.Save the change and place the cdrom or dvd one in the drive and reboot.If you used a second hard drive,simply reboot and that's it.

Now don't be tempted to wait until Windows XP fail and say you should have made that recovery kit.Take the time to make an image of your hard drive and be prepared for any failure brought on by Windows XP.