Fresh System backup?

Simmerheli,

You misunderstand the capability of the restore feature on your Inspiron. The disk image exists in a separate partition on your hard disk. To restore your systemt to "as shipped" state follow the procedure here.

That partition can only be used from its location on the hard disk. It cannot be copied to CD for use and in the event you reinstall Windows XP the PC Restore utility will no longer work. If you want to create a separate disk image use a cloning program such as Image for Windows or DriveImage.

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@Simmerheli wrote:

I just received an Inspiron 9300 and want to create a fresh backup of the HD while it is fresh.

 

I know that other Dell laptops have a little software package installed that allows the user the ability to create a fresh copy onto CD-R that can be used in case of some failure. One can then enter the system restore capability (Cntrl-F11) upon bootup and restore the system.

 

I don't see this capability on the 9300.

 

1) Does anyone know if I can do this on this 9300?

2) What do you folks use to create an image of the HD in the event of a system failure?

 

Thanks

 

-Mike

 

The CDR utility apparently creates a copy of the Windows CD, not of the entire hard drive.

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@Simmerheli wrote:

Thank you for your responses.

I understand that there is a separate partition on which a restore may be made that puts the system back to the state it was in when first shipped from DELL. I know this because I had an Inspirion 9200 which, came fresh from DELL with a "System Backup CD Create" utility (which I ran and it worked).

I then replaced the 9200 with the 9300. Prior to returning the 9200, I ran the restore utility and it did indeed put the system back to how it was when it was first shipped to me.

Both the 9200 and 9300 have the restore parition and restore capability. However, only the 9200 seems to have been shipped with the System Backup CD utility. It is this utility that I'd llike on the 9300 just in case of an HD crash, virus, etc.. I believe that this util creates a backup CD of the OS and associated,  machine dependant drivers.

However, if this is not available for the new 9300, then the next best thing I can see is to create a disk image of the HD (including all partions, restore and standard).  I could use Symantec Ghost I believe but...

Does anyone have a really good image creation-type tool out there and would recommend?

Thanks

-Mike

You are confusing two things.  The utility that created a CD for you is not a backup of the system, it's a Windows XP CD.  The PC Restore that you did via CTRL F11 restores the computer to it's "as installed" state.  Since Dell has chosen to not inform customers or forum users as to the capability of the CD that is created, nor when it was rolled out, one can only guess why your newer 9300 doesn't have that utility.  However, if you have the Windows XP CD you don't need it.  If you didn't get the CD, call Dell and nicely insist they send it. 

Ghost works fine.

Thank you for your responses.

I understand that there is a separate partition on which a restore may be made that puts the system back to the state it was in when first shipped from DELL. I know this because I had an Inspirion 9200 which, came fresh from DELL with a "System Backup CD Create" utility (which I ran and it worked).

I then replaced the 9200 with the 9300. Prior to returning the 9200, I ran the restore utility and it did indeed put the system back to how it was when it was first shipped to me.

Both the 9200 and 9300 have the restore parition and restore capability. However, only the 9200 seems to have been shipped with the System Backup CD utility. It is this utility that I'd llike on the 9300 just in case of an HD crash, virus, etc.. I believe that this util creates a backup CD of the OS and associated,  machine dependant drivers.

However, if this is not available for the new 9300, then the next best thing I can see is to create a disk image of the HD (including all partions, restore and standard).  I could use Symantec Ghost I believe but...

Does anyone have a really good image creation-type tool out there and would recommend?

Thanks

-Mike

Message Edited by Simmerheli on 03-31-2005 08:12 AM