Recovery Disks

[hummel_h]

Hi,

I just bought a new HP computer and every couple of weeks there would be a pop up asking me to make a recovery disk. Since, I did not have the right type of disks I kept clicking the box "as again later". For about a month or more now I have not been getting a pop up and I have not made a recovery disk for this computer.

How do I go about making a recovery disk for my new computer. If I can't is it a big deal?

Thanks for all of your help.

[BuiltMyComp2813]

ok all a recovery disk does is that if your computer messes up where it cant be reverted u stick that disk in and it restores to how it was back at the factory. But when you do that it deletes all your files etc, except the ones that came with your hp. I honestly thought thats its built into the hard drive like mine but i guess you learn something new everyday. but as with all my posts i think you should get a second opinion b4 doing anything, because right now it is not harming you

[Miz]

The software is on the Start Menu. I can't recall exactly what it's called but it's there somewhere. Find it, start it up and it should make the recovery disks for you...as long as you're there to feed the disks to it when it tells you to, that is.

HPs also have recovery ability through a usually hidden partition on the harddrive. Watch while the computer is booting up for a screen telling you to press a certain key (might be F10) for "System Recovery" or "System Restore" or "To recover the computer" or something similar. If you press the indicated key when that screen appears, you will get several options.

With XP, that recovery feature will let you reinstall Windows without having to wipe the drive clean first, which was the weakness of HP and Compaq computers with Win98.

[felis_catus3]

One more question on making a recovery disk: I'm putting a new HDD in, and currently have XP Home on the existing one. I would like to upgrade to XP Pro anyway... so here are my questions:

1. I'll assume I need to purchase the full version of Pro since it's going onto a new drive. OR, can I purchase the upgrade, put in on my existing drive, then pull it off and put it on the new one? (If so, how to?)

2. If I just buy the full version of Pro and would like to start fresh with the new drive, will the required drivers for my other hardware be on the boot disk?

3. What am I forgetting?

Thanks guys - I've learned more since joining this forum than I would've believed!