---

@tgagnow wrote:

Is it possible to use Norton Ghost to make a backup of the hidden DellRestore and the (Diagnostic) DellUtility partitions on my hard drive?  If so is it possible to make a set of factory restore cd's from this backup in case the HD fails?  I all ready made a OS restore CD from the utility provided but I am looking for a way to make a backup from what my PC was like on day 1 out of the box.

 

Thanks!!

 

Yes.

No.

Systems shipped after July 15, 2004 came with Symantec PC Restore. This utility restores the computer to an "as-shipped" condition. If you haven't reformatted, repartitioned, or otherwise modified the master boot record, it should work. Click here for instructions about Symantec PC Restore.

If the Symantec PC Restore utility won't work, but still resides on your computer, a Dell customer has figured out some ways to get it to work again. Note - If you removed this partition, it is not recoverable, cannot be downloaded from the internet, and cannot be shipped from Dell. Click here for ways to fix Symantec PC Restore. Users have also reported that the partition can be restored with Ghost 2003, and Ghost 9 using the '03 capabilities of it. If you boot to the Ghost 9 CD, select Advanced Recovery Taks, select Utilities, then Restore Legacy IMage it should work - but you want to verify the image before attempting the restore. It's in a folder called IMG.

Systems that shipped beginning in early 2005 may ship without Windows XP. There SHOULD be (but sometimes isn't) a utility on your computer to run and create the Windows XP CD. This is a RUN ONCE utility. Click here for instructions to create your Windows XP CD. Some users have reported needing to reboot a few times to get this utility to show up on the menu. You can also call Dell and request a CD and wait for it to ship.

---

@tgagnow wrote:

Rick, Thanks for your reply but I think you mis-understood my question.  My restore partition is intact and readable not corupted.  What I would like to do is make either a backup of that image or make a set of cd's from that image so I can restore my pc from them. 

I know the restore image will restore my pc to as shipped status but what happens if and when the HD fails and you can not read the image?  Then how do you restore your pc to as shipped status?

Or what happens when you fdisk the HD t omake a 100G drive into 3x~30 gig drives and the partition is wiped out???????????

It was bad enough when PC manufactures stopped shipping the software with new PCs and went to restore cd's but now it is even worse that the only way to return your pc to as shipped is from a hidden partition that will fail when the HD fails. (HD's are not built to last forever).

I am just trying to be proactive with my new system instead of reactive.

Darrin

I understood your quesstion quite well.  Apparently you didn't understand my answers.

 

I said "YES", you can use Norton Ghost to copy the image.  The info re that is in the info I posted about using Ghost 2003.

I said "NO", you cannot make a set of disks from the image.  Dell does not provide any capability to do that.

Rick, Thanks for your reply but I think you mis-understood my question.  My restore partition is intact and readable not corupted.  What I would like to do is make either a backup of that image or make a set of cd's from that image so I can restore my pc from them. 

I know the restore image will restore my pc to as shipped status but what happens if and when the HD fails and you can not read the image?  Then how do you restore your pc to as shipped status?

Or what happens when you fdisk the HD t omake a 100G drive into 3x~30 gig drives and the partition is wiped out???????????

It was bad enough when PC manufactures stopped shipping the software with new PCs and went to restore cd's but now it is even worse that the only way to return your pc to as shipped is from a hidden partition that will fail when the HD fails. (HD's are not built to last forever).

I am just trying to be proactive with my new system instead of reactive.

Darrin

Rick,

I realize Dell does not provide such capability but could I do it with a third party software such as ghost?

Thanks,

Darrin

---

@tgagnow wrote:

Rick,

I realize Dell does not provide such capability but could I do it with a third party software such as ghost?

Thanks,

Darrin

Using Ghost to backup the Restore Partition will allow you to restore that partition.  It does NOT allow you to restore the computer.  To use that partition to restore the computer requires you to do some fancy footwork, which info is provided in the links I gave you.