Reboot disc

[kags]

I have a recovery disc for my pc, but someone told me I should make a reboot disc in case I need to reboot without wiping the hard drive. I am running XP, can I make a reboot disc easily (bearing in mind I have no technical knowledge!)

[j2buttonsw]

The best thing to do with Windows XP (as far as disaster recovery is concerned) is create an Automated System Recovery diskette. See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/itpro
/managing/asr.asp Once this has been made you can boot the computer using the original operating system CD then use the ASR diskette. So the short answer is that you do not need to create a boot diskette (in fact if you create a DOS based bootable diskette you will not "see" a Windows XP installation on an NTFS partition).

[kags]

thanks j2buttonsw - but I am confused. The recovery disc I got with my cd wipes the hard drive and re-installs XP (I know because I have done this previously). What if my pc just won't load Windows (this has just happened to someone I know) - would the ASR disc load it without wiping the hard drive?

[j2buttonsw]

You have what's known as a restore CD. This bootable CD will restore your system to how you originally bought it (ie it will wipe all the things you have done since buying it). The most important thing on your computer is the data so this should be backed up very regularly (whether it is to floppy diskette, CD or DAT tape). When disasters strike you can restore your system using the restore CD and the backed up data. The ASR will allow you to repair your Windows XP installation (ie if you can't boot properly) even when the "boot to safe mode" or "boot to the last known good" does not work.