A question

vinyard · 25 Jan 2011

Hello everybody, I bought a few months ago a laptop ( HP G62-a28sa ) -- This is basically my first laptop that I ever bought.

It has Windows 7 Home Premium -64 bit, and my problem is that I didn't back up the windows in the beginning ( when I first open the laptop ) --
So , I tried to do it yesterday but I'm not exactly sure what files need to be saved ( I am not a computer wizz )...

I think it's wise to have a copy of your original Windows-- because I think that every six to eight months one should reinstall ( format ) the Windows...

So any helpfull sites / comments will be greatly appreciated--

Thank you.

Golden · 25 Jan 2011

Hi,

This sounds like an OEM version of Windows (Windows was pre-installed when you bought the laptop) and you can usually "re-install" Windows back to the state on the day you bought the laptop from a special partition on the disk of the laptop. In the manual that came with the laptop, there should be something about how to do a factory reset.

However, imaging the entire laptop to an external USB drive is also a very good idea. For that, I recommend using Macrium Free (Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download). Its very easy to use. With Macrium you essentially do two things:

1. Burn a bootable Linux CD
2. Create the image of your hard disk (incl. Windows)

When you need to recover your laptop, you simply boot from the Linux CD, and restore the image you created. You want to create this image as soon as possible so it represents the "freshest" version of your laptop as it stands.

There is an excellent tutorial on how to use Macrium by WHS (one of our resident Macrium experts), which you can find here:

Imaging with free Macrium

Regards,
Golden

vinyard · 25 Jan 2011

Hello, thank you for your advices-- Is there a difference between a Linux CD and a regular CD ?

And I do recall that the sellers ( pc world - doesn't really matter ) told me to insert a regular CD and back -up my Windows -- they did not mention anything about an extra software ( Macrium )
And yes the Windows came pre-installed on the laptop...

Brink · 25 Jan 2011

Hello Vinyard, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You would only use 3rd party extra software if you didn't want to use the included backup features in Windows 7.

The tutorials below can help show you more about the included backup features. Be sure to also look at the related links at the bottom of them as well. I find that backing up to a separate hard drive is best. A CD/DVD is just not as reliable since they can easily be damaged or corrupted.

Backup User and System Files

Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Golden · 25 Jan 2011

Hi,

There is no physical difference between a Linux CD and a regular CD. A Linux CD is simply a blank CD with Linux boot files written to it that enables you to boot from it, and then restore the Macrium image. When you use Macrium, it has an option to create the Linux boot CD - all you need is a blank CD.

It sounds like the resellers didnt really give you enough information on how to do a backup. Unfortunately, as is often the case, they are happy to take your cash and forget about you. Here on WindowsSeven forums we don;t do that. I highly recommend Macrium - its free and extremely easy to use.

If you have any further questions or problems with it, then post back here.

Regards,
Golden

EDIT : I just saw Brink's post. You can also try the native Windows imaging too.