Windows Recovery

Windows 8 Data Backup and Recovery Features

In Windows 8, Microsoft has introduced three new data backup and recovery features which are File History, Refresh, and Reset. File History allows you to restore deleted files or previous versions of files. Refresh lets you restore the Windows system files— similar to System Restore, and Reset is essentially a factory restore option.

To read more and discover exactly what each of these recovery features does go here – http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/New-Data-Recovery-Options-Windows-8.html

Booting from the system repair disc

1. Insert the system repair disc into your CD/DVD-ROM drive
2. Restart your computer 
3. If prompted, press any key to start the computer from the system repair disc
4. Make sure that your computer is configured to start from a CD or DVD – check the computer’s BIOS settings. 
5. Choose your language settings, and then click Next

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System Repair Disc

You need a system repair disc so that you have access to system recovery options when problems occur. The repair disc contains system recovery tools that help you fix Windows. To create a system repair disc follow these steps:

1. From the Control Panel, click Backup your computer under System and Security
2. From the Backup and Restore windows click Create a system repair disc
   Otherwise, type system repair disc in the Search text box of the Start menu and click the Create a System Repair Disc link
3. Insert a blank writable CD/DVD in the CD/DVD-ROM drive and click Create Disc from the Create a system repair disc dialog box
   You may be prompted to insert a Windows installation disc, which means that the files needed to create the system repair disc cannot be found on your computer. Insert a Windows 7 installation disc.

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The Last Known Good Configuration (Advanced)

This Advanced Boot Option is ideal in situations when you have performed some system changes and your whole computer freakes out. This utility will allow you to revert back to the previous configuration that is known to have worked fine.

System changes take place when installing new applications and drivers. New stuff may conflict with other software and cause the system to malfunction! Invoking the Last Known Good Configuration will restore registry settings and driver settings that were in effect the last time the computer worked fine! Read more…

Device Drivers Options

On the Drivers tab of a device properties dialog box you have 5 options but the most useful one, is the Roll Back Driver option. As its name implies, using this feature you can go back to the previous working device driver. The following are the available options:-

• Driver Details:- Display details about the driver files such as, provider and version
• Update Driver:- Search and install the latest driver for this device
• Roll Back Driver:- Go back to the previously installed driver – available only if a new driver was installed to replace a previous one
• Disable:- Disables the selected device such as, when diagnosing problems and you want to temporarily deactivate some devices – disabled for some system critical devices
• Uninstall:- Uninstall the driver and hence, removing the device from your system Read more…

Advanced Recovery Methods

The Advanced Recovery Methods link found in Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Recovery will help you recover your system to a usable state. There are two methods:-

The first method recovers your system from a previously saved image. If your last image backup is old, then you need to perform a backup of your files prior to the recovery process. However, this utility allows you to do that during its execution. If you have never performed a backup image then, this option is useless.

The second method reinstalls windows from the original installation media. Again, the process allows you to back up your files before the actual installation. If you have opted for this option then you might use a pre-build system image from your hardware manufacturer that makes life easier and speeds up the installation. Read more…

System Image Restore

Sometimes, when your system is heavily corrupted or you need to replace the system hard drive, your only option to recover the system is to boot from the Windows 7 installation DVD media and follow these steps:

1. Make sure that you have a previously backed up image of your system on an external medium
2. Connect this medium to your system Read more…