Jo-Anne wrote:
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> The computer I bought is the Toshiba NB205-N310/BN. The manual that is on
> the computer is a very general one that is also available online at
>
> http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/con...2346766/GMAD00199011_NB200_Series_09May01.pdf
Page 47. This computer uses a hidden partition to save an image of the OS
partition. That's why if you were to use a partition tool to delete this
partition and enlarge the OS partition that you would lose this hidden
partition and the ability to use it to restore your computer. The BIOS is
designed to read the recovery program out of EEPROM. No OS needs to be
booted.
> As far as I can tell, there is NO information about a Restore CD in this
> manual.
Page 55. Tells you how to create a recovery DVD. So obviously you need to
get an external DVD burner drive.
> I guess I was really talking about two different things--a Restore CD or
> flash drive from which I could boot the computer if all else fails and an
> OS CD in case I need to restore the computer to its factory state. The
> third option is buying another copy of Acronis and making full images of
> the current state of the computer in case anything happens. With Acronis,
> you also can make a bootable CD in case your hard drive doesn't want to
> boot at all. I've done that and tried it on one of my other computers. It
> boots directly into Acronis True Image.
>
> I believe, though, that there's a way to make a generic bootable CD,
> perhaps using Linux, that can get you back to the computer running
> Windows XP.
I believe one means of creating a bootable CD for Windows is the BartPE (see
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BartPE). I
used it a long time back but it's been too long to remember how it worked.
However, you need an install CD of Windows and you don't have that. Since
you don't have a installation CD for Windows, I'm not sure how you can
create a copy of it (as is, or in a modified form, like BartPE).
There are Live CDs for Linux distributions that might run from a USB flash
drive - but that assumes your BIOS can be configured to boot from a USB
drive. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_USB. I doubt a Linux distro
on a USB drive is going to help you since you would be running a non-Windows
operating system that won't help with much more than disk repair, like
partitioning or cloning. You could use a Live CD distro of many versions of
Linux (
www.distrowatch.com) but you won't be running Windows.
The Acronis TI product CD is bootable, plus you can install their boot
manager (that usurps the bootstrap area of the hard disk). Their CD can be
booted (if the BIOS is configured to check the removable drives first before
the hard disks) to perform a restore but that means your image has to be
somewhere other than on the hard disk that crashed, like you are using their
hidden partition (Acronis partition) on a different hard disk from where to
read the image backups. The hard disk crashes then you might not be able to
use their installable MBR boot manager to use that means of starting their
recovery wizard (so you're back to using their bootable CD). While I have
had success using both their bootable product CD and their MBR boot manager
to run their recovery wizard, I would also suggest creating a separate
Acronis rescue CD using their installed wizard.