Generic Install Disc

[Aardvarkly]

Does such a thing exist?
Although I have successfully built two desktops over the last couple of decades and installed W7 I really don't have very much knowledge of what I am doing. Although I have had very little trouble over the years I do worry about how much I/we depend on a PC to live in today's world. Every time I boot up successfully I breathe a sigh of relief that it still works. I have had to do a full installation twice to get out from under some problem and each time it is more difficult and complicated. Once it was a motherboard failure (I got lucky and found an identical one S/H on ebay) and the other time it was something like a power spike or outage during a storm that necessitated a hard drive replacement. I took the opportunity to upgrade from a spinner to an SSD.

I was wondering if there is a source of a ready assembled Install disc that can just be inserted into the DVD tray to do a full installation much like one that comes with a store-bought PC. Ideally it would have drivers for wifi, USB3, and useful stuff like the Dotnet framework in it. I would happily pay to have one of these in the drawer ready to go in the event of the next catastrophic failure. I know there are plenty of helpful posts here on how to perform a new installation but I'm 79 this year and it doesn't get any easier. I have tried countless times to set up a good backup setup to help out but after trying many different products and reading much good advice here I haven't yet managed it. Too much jargon and screenshots of what I should be seeing during the setup never seem to match what I am looking at.

 

[SIW2]

There won't be a premade installation media with the drivers etc specific for your machine.

There are a couple of things you could do

1. Capture a wim backup of your running system named install.wim which could then be used to replace the standard install.wim
in installation media sources folder

the wim can be easily captured using dism++
https://github.com/Chuyu-Team/Dism-.../download/v10.1.1002.2/Dism++10.1.1002.1B.zip


2. Use one of the popular free imaging programs to make a backup of your system. Save it on a separate disk.
Important to make the boot media because you will need it to do a restore

popular at the moment is hasleo backup Hasleo provides Windows Backup & Clone, Data Recovery, Windows To Go Creator, and more.

 

[Aardvarkly]

I suppose it makes sense that a disc would have to be tailored to the hardware installed so finding an off the peg Installation disc would not be possible. I have tried a couple of backup methods including Hasleo but could not understand them, inspite of detailed instructions from forum members. I always have trouble with choosing between image, clone, backup, etc. and various questions regarding partitions. I think I am expecting a simple method that requires very little tech knowledge.
Thankyou for your response to my question.

 

[billmcct]

Usng Hasloe is really fairly simple. In the below screenshot click the second button on the left.
Then choose Disk/Partition Backup. In the second screenshot, select disk 0. It will select all partitions on the main drive.
Make sure no other disks are checked. All partitios on drive 0 are checked.
In the bottom screenshot, No other disk is checked, go to destination, click the little blue folder at the right arrow and select a location to save the image. It can't be on the drive your imaging, it must be on a separate drive large enough to hold the image. Some of mine are up to 300 GBs.
Then click "Proceed".

 

[SIW2]

Aardvarkley

I think I am expecting a simple method that requires very little tech knowledge.

The easiest thing for you is windows system image


download this zip file :ar: View attachment Create_a_System_Image_shortcut.zip

rt click it >properties>Unblock >Apply >OK











you can put the shortcut e.g. on your desktop



- - - Updated - - -

Make sure you have another disk attached. It will not save the backup image to the same disk

click the shortcut and it will automatically show the backup disk

Click Next



It will automaticaly select the partitions windows needs.

Just click Next




It confirms which partitions it is backing up

Just click Start Backup

 

[Aardvarkly]

SIW2 Very detailed instructions and clear enough for me to try it. First I will plug in a new SSD of correct size into a spare bay. Do I need to prepare the new SSD or format it before starting the backup?

 

[SIW2]

Yes. Initialize the new disk. Create an ntfs partition and give it a letter. You can give it a sensible label such as backup disk if you like

you can borrow this to do restores :ar: RECDISC7B.iso