how do i take backup by using recovery partition

[shobana]

hi..
I am using dell insipiron 1464 model with preinstalled windows 7 home basic os.i have lost my installation cd.now how do i take backup of my os in separate dvd or usb drive with the help of recovery partition.please help me

 

[Brink]

Hello Shobana, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You could use the built-in features of Windows 7 to create a system image backup of your HD, and have it saved to another location that large enough to hold it. I would recommend to save the image backup on a separate physical HDD and not just on another partition on the same HDD that you creating a image of. This way if the OS HDD that you backed up goes south, you will be able to replace the HDD and be able to do a system image recovery to restore the OS HDD exactly as it was to the new replacement HDD.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[shobana]

sorry sir, can you please explain this procedure in detail.i am unable to do tis

 

[marsmimar]

@Brink - Shawn, please accept my apology. Don't mean to step on your toes.

@shobana - welcome to Seven Forums.

Your recovery partition is a special part of your hard drive that contains all the files and information necessary to restore your computer to the exact same condition it was in when it left the factory. I'm not sure about the 1464 but most Dell Inspirons can access the hidden recovery partition by pressing the Ctrl + F11 keys at the same time immediately when the computer starts up (boots.) Caution: If you use the recovery partition everything on your hard drive will be erased and replaced with a brand new factory installation (just like the computer was the day you bought it.)

If your computer is working OK and there are no problems, you can use the built in Windows 7 imaging tool to create an exact copy of your hard drive. Everything will be duplicated in the system image. All of your personal data, files, the operating system, photos, movies, personal settings ... everything. Including any viruses, spyware, or other malware so it's a very good idea to do a full scan with your anti-virus and anti-spyware tools.

It's best to put the system image on an external hard drive - not on DVDs or a thumb/flash drive. Your system image will be many gigabytes in size and Windows 7 doesn't do very well saving all that data to DVDs. If one of those DVDs doesn't burn correctly you'll never be able to restore the image in case of problems. And flash drives have a limited number of write cycles before they die. System images should be made on a regular basis (so you'll have a current image available - not one that's 6 months old) and by writing so much data to a flash drive it could suddenly die. Not to mention you'll probably need a flash drive with at least 64GB space if not more.

Plug in the external hard drive and let Windows 7 prompt you that it's been recognized. Then you could go to control panel > backup and restore > click on create a system image. Wait until the imaging tool finds your external hard drive and just follow the prompts until the image is created. When the imaging process is finished it will ask if you want to make a system repair disk. If you haven't already done that, please do it now. If your computer gets so broke that you can't even start it, the system repair disk will let you boot your computer so you can access that system image.

Hope this helps.

 

[jumanji]

Welcome aboard.

The recovery partition usually but not necessarily contains a Factory Image, with which one can restore the laptop to the factory condition. It cannot be used to create a backup image.

Check whether Dell DataSafe Local Backup is installed on your laptop.

1.If it is, you can create System Recovery Media using it.

If it is not, try to download and install it from http://dslbdownload.datasafelocalbackup.com/dsldownload-en.html . If you manage to install it successfully , you can create the recovery disks. (If at the first step of the download process itself or during the installation, you get a message that there is no Win Recovery Environment or Factory Image on your HDD, you are out of luck.)

2. If your laptop has a Seagate (most probable) or Western Digital HDD - which you can verify from the Device Manager, you may download Acronis Imaging Software from their website and use it for backing up your system.

Seagate: | Seagate
Western Digital: WD Support

IMO, this will be a better option than using the Windows built-in imaging. (Brink and marsmimar may please excuse)

3. You may also choose Paragon's Backup and Recovery 2011 (Advanced Free)

Free Backup Software: Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition - Overview my recommendation, though most in this forum recommend the Macrium Reflect Free.

Keep the backup image saved to an external HDD.

4. If you do not want to do any of the above , contact Dell India Tech Support who may be able to provide you the Reinstall Disk for a fee or even free.

EDIT: OK. I see that you are in U.S.A. most probably. If so contact Dell Tech support there.

 

[Brink]

sorry sir, can you please explain this procedure in detail.i am unable to do tis

In addition to the great posts above, you can also click on the links in my post above for more step by step details on how to do so.