System Recovery Disks

[iscotter]

I've failed twice over to create recovery DVDs using the manufacturer's (ASUS) create program. After burning 3 of the 4 DVDs it requires, it fails to accept a fourth blank DVD. I note that there is a Windows7 utility to create recovery disks, and wonder what difference there is between the two? What am I missing from the ASUS disks?

Also, I see some Win7 images available for downloading (links in these forums). Is there additional value in having this up the sleeve as well as the above-mentioned recovery disks? How big are these images and what is involved in applying them.

Thanks for your help.

[I couldnt find a search facility on these forums, have I missed something? Apols if this has been answered previously]

 

[catilley1092]

iscotter, welcome to the forum! It seems like that since your first 3 discs burned right, perhaps the 4th disc you inserted had a defect in it. This happened to me, when creating mine. I had to do three discs, the second one was rejected (the program asked me to insert the correct disc, and press enter). I had a 5 pack of discs, and one was bad. Also, they are picky about the "type" of discs you use. Many require non-rewritable discs for this purpose. Many of these programs will pick up where you left off, too. But being that you were on your last disc, it has a lot of programs on it. I've had to restore with mine, the first two that ran, the indicator showed me that it was reformatting, the last showed my original programs were installing. If possible, you need these discs burned. You never know when you may need them. Plus, should you decide to sell your computer, those discs will increase the value of it. As far as the other discs you're speaking of, those are regular install discs. You can use them, but you need to backup your system, or download the drivers for your computer, and put them on a flash drive or CD. The 32 bit ones are 2.3GB downloads, the 64 bit ones are 3.0GB downloads. But you can't depend on your key (on your COA sticker) to activate them. I tried both my printed key, and the one reported by Belarc Advisor & Jelly Bean key finder (their results were the same, but different from my COA key), neither worked. Does your computer have a recovery partition to boot from? You should try running your discs again, if no go, then give ASUS a call, ASAP. You need those discs. There are differences in opinion on this, but a total system restore is a lot easier with them, than without them.

 

[iscotter]

Thanks Catilley. I don't think it was the disk quality that was causing the problem, as I tried multiple clean (non-rewritable) disks each time it failed, without success. So, I'm planning on trying a different DVD burner for the next attempt, before calling ASUS for help. (And go and buy a pile of new disks). I can do without a return and replace after all the work I've already done to build the system.

 

[Nibiru2012]

But you can't depend on your key (on your COA sticker) to activate them. I tried both my printed key, and the one reported by Belarc Advisor & Jelly Bean key finder (their results were the same, but different from my COA key), neither worked.

If one has the correct edition for their product key, it WILL activate, regardless. I know because it works for me time and time again.

Jelly Bean key finder has ALWAYS identified the correct product key for my Windows 7 Professional edition. Apparently something must be askew on your system.

@iscotter:
If you have an external drive the best way to go is to do an image backup of the computer with either Macrium Reflect Free or Acronis True Image. Then store the backup image on the external hard drive. These two programs will burn the image to DVDs if desired. Much better and faster way to backup your computer than with the recovery disc method. I know because I've done it both ways.

As for whether having a set of recovery discs affects the resale value of the computer is highly debateable. Most of the time it DOES NOT affect the price of the computer, only if the purchaser decides to make it so.

Nearly all computer techs I talk to say that on the whole, recovery discs are usually not of any value to the next end-purchaser. This is due to the fact that everyone has a different concept of what the computer should do for them and which programs are loaded. Since most OEM computers are loaded with bloatware anyway, the recovery discs become a moot point.

The tech savvy people will usually strip the crap out of the computer or reinstall Windows using the MS install discs and then load the system the way they want it to be. The computer will usually run faster and be more streamlined that way too.

Recovery discs are a waste of time and money since the majority of the time they don't burn correctly or don't work when the reinstall is done using them. I have repaired many computers where the owner tried using the recovery discs and all they got was a botched system.

 

[catilley1092]

That's what I was referring to, the person who buys the computer. Most buyers want recovery media, and they generally sell for more than the same model which does not have this. Plus, anyone who has had Windows 7 knows that those discs, or a recovery partition is supposed to be in place. I would not buy a recently built computer that doesn't have a way to do a fresh recovery, it's a part of the system when it was new. Everyone doesn't have the knowledge to do a clean install & find their drivers and all, hence the reason for this. I burned mine and put them in a safe place, in case I decide to sell it at some point.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Plus, anyone who has had Windows 7 knows that those discs, or a recovery partition is supposed to be in place.

No, not everyone knows that. Recovery partitions are only part of the system that comes from an OEM system builder such as HP, DELL, Lenovo, ACER, etc.

A shop-built or custom-built system will not have a recovery partition. Recovery discs are an option, but burning them and using them are not always successful. Burn failures a lot of the time and restore failures too.

 

[catilley1092]

If one who buys their computer at retail from a large OEM (which most do), there is usually a recovery partition or a way is furnished (through a program pre-installed on the computer such as CyberDisc). It is the buyer's responsibility to read their manual before operating their new computer. For custom or "home built" systems, this does not apply, the user should rely on their install media and system backups. I've had several restore discs (one has been used dozens of times) and a successful restore was made every time I used them. But except for the ones that I made for this computer (which works fine), the other was from Dell, the XP Pro SP2 restore disc, made for Dell products running XP Pro. The bottom line is, many PC users don't know how to hunt down drivers (or even know what they are), many just uses them, and when a problem arises with the OS that they can't handle, they should have an easy, understandable way to get back up and running w/o going to the PC shop. In fact, when I had to get a DVD ROM installed on an older laptop that I had, he told me himself that he wished these partitions and media didn't even exist. That he once spent half the day making easy, fast money on reinstalls. That part of his business has slowed badly.

 

[iscotter]

I finally managed to get the ASUS recovery disks burned (actually used Tescos own label DVD+R instead of the TDK DVD-R that failed the first few times. Thanks for encouraging me to persevere.

I also burned the Win7 ISO image just in case.

 

[catilley1092]

iscotter, glad to hear that you got the job done! Although there are those that have no use for these discs, the large majority of that group are highly skilled, and don't mind going through the extra steps to reinstall through the regular Windows 7 ISO image. Someone who has done many installs this way would be comfortable doing it that way, and actually, it is better. No "crapware" is reinstalled, you have a faster, lighter, snappier system. But there is work involved, and many home users don't wish to go through it. They want to get back going in the fastest amount of time, and want their "original" OEM options to be there. I had this same problem recently, I wanted to install and use BitLocker, but with the dual boot that I setup (Windows 7 Pro x64, Windows 7 Ultimate x64), a key component that was part of the original OEM installation (the TPM) was either not there, or was corrupted. I searched HP for all of the downloads & drivers for my system, the list was very limited. You could get the original drives for chipsets, updates for installed programs, but not the programs themselves. There were a total of 12 or so downloads for my computer. On the other hand, Dell has 73 downloads for my five year old laptop. So I had to reinstall the original partition to get what I wanted. Afterwards, after reinstalling Ultimate, I was able to activate & use BitLocker with no problems. So there is some value in your original install, even though I don't boot into it that much anymore. Should you need any more assistance, always feel free to come back anytime.