Because I find systems restore seems rather unreliable, would buying a full Win7 master disk help with systems restoring in the event of a lock-up/crash? Could I use it to fix the Win7 that came with the computer? Would it be just a case of slipping in the master disk when I need to recover any lost data, or would I have to fully reinstall the system to enable me to use it?
Chips- I have found that using a Windows 7 System Image created on an external drive is very reliable, restores the computer perfectly with all your programs and settings and can be accessed from the F8 key were using the Windows 7 Master Disc would not include your programs and settings which would need to be re-installed. As an alternative I have Macrium Reflect on the boot menu which also restores the computer from a created backup image and is equally 100% reliable.
Have you created a Windows 7 System Image Backup on an external drive from Control Panel> Backup and Restore yet?
~Maxx~
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A system image as Maxxwire suggested is my suggestion as well. If you take the time to get your system setup the way you want (AV and Anti-malware, system updates, Applications, utilities, etc... installed and any bloatware removed) before you create the image you will be able to restore you machine to a working state very easily. An official Win7 disk will get you going again but you might still have lots of setup to do.
Also remember to create a System Repair disk that will allow you to boot the system to restore your image if the OS on the HDD isn't bootable.
Greg- Maybe this would be a good time to bring this up as it has stumped every person at the HP Call Centers in both India and the Philippines that I have ever asked this question, but I have a hunch that you might know something about it.
I have been using Rescue Media for quite some time on other computers, but for some unknown reason my HP HPE 270f Win 7 desktop will not respond to either the Windows 7 System Repair Disc or the Macrium Reflect Rescue Disc even though it is set to boot from disc first. I can restore a Windows 7 System Image or repair Win 7 from the F8 key or use Macrium Reflect from the boot menu, but the computer just ignores any Rescue Disc that is used in it. Any Thoughts?
~Maxx~
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Chips, the only problem with that is that if you install something that causes problems that you do not notice at first, and overwrite your previous image, you will be left without an image to return from. I would recommend keeping the first one you have and two others.
You are right, the Windows System Image does take up quite a bit of real estate on an external HDD. The WSI for my Win 7 computer is 24 GB, but the weekly incremental backups increase that amount by very little. I would also suggest keeping an original WSI and then alter its name to keep it as it is and then making another WSI and let it be backed up each week.
As an added safety measure that I take because I've been burned before by not having access to a full back up I back up I also keep Macrium Reflect backups which are only 8 GB each, they take 3 1/2 minutes to create and 4 minutes and 40 seconds to restore a full System Image. I keep Macrium Reflect on my Win 7 computer's boot menu for easy access to quick and convenient System Image Restoration back to any time and configuration going all the way back to when I first had it set up and free of junkware.
~Maxx~
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