Do you remember a long time ago (ok...not really) you used to get the disc to install windows when you bought a computer? Did you notice when the companies started offering recovery discs in an effort to save themselves money? And have you noticed now that they don't even give you those!? This is very frustrating to the user (that would be us) because now we have to go to the trouble to make our own. With our own discs. As computers get cheaper and cheaper, companies look for ways to trim expenses and add some margin to the product. That nice laptop you just bought? All of that crap on the desktop of your new machine was put there because companies paid Dell, HP, Acer, Toshiba, etc. to put it there! One of the first things that I recommend you doing when you get a laptop is to run PC Decrapifier (its free! And then check out some software to prevent problems and learn some secure computing habits).

Making our own recovery discs isn't a terribly painful ordeal however. It does tip the scales heavily on the annoyance factor though! Even though HP includes a recovery partition on the hard drives of their laptops, that won't do you much good if the hard drive dies now will it? We need to make these discs so let's get to it shall we?

Click Start-->All Programs-->Recovery Manager.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will get this warm and inviting window. Don't those hands instill warmth and caring? I didn't think so...Go ahead and select Advanced Options from the lower left corner.

It is important that you are plugged into an outlet to do this. You CANNOT do this on battery power. I cannot stress that enough. I have seen people waste a whole day trying and failing.

Select Recovery Disc Creation and click Next. The Recovery Manager program will begin creating your backup. Depending on your machine and what's on it, this could take awhile. Relax, grab your favorite beverage, hug a geek, and check back. Once its reached the 100% mark, you will be presented with a screen that estimates how many discs your recovery will require. It will look something like this:

Insert a blank DVD (don't even bother with CD's anymore) into your drive. Once the disc is in, click Next. Your computer will now annoy you (wait, I mean ask you...) if you are sure you want to do what you are trying to do...grrr...Click Next.

See this? Good. That means we are on the right track. This can take about 1-2 episodes of The Office. Yes, we Geeks measure time by how many episodes of The Office something takes. :-)
When the first disc is done being made, go ahead and insert the next one. Repeat ad nauseum...

This will usually take two DVD's worth of data on a new laptop.

Do you see that? You are done! Its like finishing a marathon! Being rescued from a deserted island! Or finding a 5 spot! Congratulations! You now have the discs necessary to get your computer back to the way that it was when you bought it...no matter how bad it gets gummed up.
You don't want it getting gummed up though right? Smart thinking. To help you in preventing this (and the main idea for this site) I recommend that you check out my secure computing habits recommendations as well as software to prevent problems. The only thing left for you to do is hug your favorite Geek!

Here are the steps for a new HP Laptop:

• Click Start. Type in Recovery in the search field at the bottom. Select Recovery Manager from the list.
• Click Advanced Options-->Recovery Disc Creation-->Next.
• Insert your discs and follow the prompts (ie. clicking next).

Tips:
You CAN'T use RW discs.
Keep your discs IN ORDER. And make sure to LABEL them.
Sony: Look in Help & Support menu to find the Recovery Disc Creator.
Acer: Using eRecovery you can restore your computer without making a disc. When your computer is powering on, press either F10, or CtrlF10.
Some computers only allow you to make one set of recovery discs. While this is the dumbest idea ever (at least of the day), you have to make sure to protect your discs. You can make copies of your discs however. You just can't CREATE another set.