recovery disc creation

[coup d etat]

hi, im preparing to do a complete reinstall of windows 7. before writing zeroes to the entire drive, i need to be sure i have all the tools i need for the reinstall.
im trying to make sure i have all the recovery media i need.
the question: is a system repair cd the same thing as a recovery cd?
ive read through the tutorials on how to create a system repair disk, and have done so. although, both terms, "recovery" and "system repair" are used quite frequently in the tutorial.
the next part of the process is to wipe the hard drive, i just need to be sure i dont wipe something i should have burned to a disk...

 

[Skulblaka]

Well, what do you mean by "tools"? Do you mean your data or just a simple disk to repair problems? I don't really see how you would need a repair disk if you're going to reinstall the entire OS.

 

[Skulblaka]

I forgot to add, a recovery disk has tool to "repair", such as a corrupt start up or an option to restore from a backup made.

The recovery, I believe, are your drivers and settings for your OS.

 

[coup d etat]

by tools i mean any discs that i will need to reinstall windows, or restore any drivers for my computer that may be lost when wiping the hard drive. so far i have the windows 7 installation disc and the windows 7 repair disc.

 

[bigmck]

hi, im preparing to do a complete reinstall of windows 7. before writing zeroes to the entire drive, i need to be sure i have all the tools i need for the reinstall.
im trying to make sure i have all the recovery media i need.
the question: is a system repair cd the same thing as a recovery cd?
ive read through the tutorials on how to create a system repair disk, and have done so. although, both terms, "recovery" and "system repair" are used quite frequently in the tutorial.
the next part of the process is to wipe the hard drive, i just need to be sure i dont wipe something i should have burned to a disk...

If you have the Win 7 disk, you are good to go. When I installed, I did not have to find any other drivers. They were either on the Win 7 disk or were found when the first Windows Update was done. Just back up your data and go after it.

 

[coup d etat]

ok. i dont want to back up any personal data as it may be comprimised. im doing the reinstall to make sure all traces of infection are gone. so it seems i should be good to go.

 

[MacGyvr]

It surprises me how many people on this board don't know the difference between "recovery" and "repair" discs. This isn't a reflection on the original poster, just a general comment after seeing this question many times with erroneous answers.

A "recovery" disk (or disks) is provided by the computer manufacturer (it may have to be burned by the customer from within Windows). It contains BOTH the operating system and the necessary drivers, plus any additional software that the manufacturer included. The purpose of a "recovery" disk is to return the system to the exact way it was when purchased.

A "repair" disk is a misnomer. You can do a "repair install" of Windows from the original disk. "Startup repair" may run automatically if your system doesn't start properly.

You may also have a "restore disk" or something similar that will allow you to boot your backup software (such as Acronis) to restore from a previously created backup.

If you think about the definitions of the words "recovery," "repair," and "restore," it is easy to figure out which is which.

 

[gregrocker]

The Repair console is on the install DVD, second screen bottom left.

 

[coup d etat]

just want to tie up this thread. gregrocker's reply contains the solution.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Glad you got it sorted, thanks for the update.