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System Recovery
The major difference between System Restore and System Recovery is quite dramatice. Whereas a System Restore allows you (or to be more accurate, your computer) to go 'back in time', a System Recovery basically puts your computer back to 'factory settings', in other words, after the recovey has been completed, your computer will look and behave the same way it did the day you first switched it on!
Completing a full recovery is quite a dramatic thing to do, and is really the last resort when nothing else will work. The golden rule with any recovery is first (if possible) complete a data back up! If you can still access your documents and settings, use a DVD or external hard drive and copy your documents, photos etc to the backup medium.
Once you have backed everything up, no matter what happens to your computer, your personal stuff is hopefully safe and secure on the external hard drive / flash drive / CD/DVD.
If you cannot access your personal data, for example when you cannot start your computer or Windows will not load, then this calls for specialist help (like we offer). Basically the computer hard drive is removed from your PC and using a special 'caddy' and some neat software, we can often access your data and complete a back up that way. As in all things in life, there are no guarantees, but we do have a very high success rate. Please contact us for more details about this service by clicking here.
DIY System Recovery
So let's assume you have backed up as much as you can. Now you can start the recovery process, to do this you will require either (a) the original discs that came with your computer, (b) the recovery discs you made when you first started using the computer, or (c) use the recovery partition pre-installed on your PC.
Recovery Discs Supplied: Some computer manufacturers supply recovery discs with your computer, a good example is Dell, who generally send you at least two discs, one containing the Operating System (Windows XP, Vista or 7), the second one has all the drivers and programmes they originally installed at the manufacturing stage.
Recovery Discs Made: Other manufacturers, for example Sony, ask you to make your own recovery discs and will prompt you (often) to make them once you start using the computer. If you have repeatedly ignored this message and not made the recovery discs, and you cannnot access Windows, you may have to contact the manufacturer and purchase a set of discs. We cannot stress enough, if you haven't made the recovery discs yet on your computer, please do so today! You will need at least two blank DVDs to make the recovery discs.
Recovery Partition: Forward thinking manufacturers, for example Hewelett-Packard and Compaq, have a hidden partition on your hard drive that contains the Operating System. To access this partition you will need to press the F10 or F11 key when the computer first starts up and this process effectively 'unlocks' the partition and lets the Operating System out! In addition HP and Compaq have a facility to make your own recovery discs as well!
In all methods, you will need to start the process at the initial boot stage (starting up your computer is called booting up). You have to either (a) insert the first recovery discs in the CD drive or (b) press the F10/F11 key when the computer starts up.
Boot Order
If your computer goes straight into Windows and not the recovery disc, you will need to change the 'boot order' on your computer. Let me explain. When a computer first starts up it goes through a series of checks (POST) including a check which is the first device it looks at to find 'Windows'. Some computers look first at the CD drive, some look straight into the hard drive. If your computer is set up to look first at the hard drive, you need to change this. Re-start the computer, only this time press the F8 / Delete / Esc key on your keyboard to access the BIOS set up page (the clue is shown on the boot up screen - the black background, white letters bit) and press the corresponding key.
Once you are in the BIOS page, look for 'Boot Sequence' and change it so that the CD/DVD drive is first and the hard drive is second in the boot order. Now press the F10 key to save the settings and re-start the computer, this time the CD drive will be the first in the boot sequence.
As with all recovery processes, you will be warned a few times that you are about to destroy the existing Operating System and replace it with the new. You cannot 'accidentally' re-install Windows!
Then what?
The recovery process is more or less automatic, you don't need to do a lot except watch the screen. The process can take up to an hour depending upon if you are using discs or the partition. Once completed, you will be presented with the original settings and software that the computer originally arrived with, so as I said earlier, you will have to install /un-install anything that you want / don't want, including anti-virus software. Last thing of course is put back the documents you previously back up.
Don't fancy doing all this? It looks complicated, but it's not that bad really. But if you are apprehensive about completing a full recovery, please contact us and we will be more than happy to do it for you.