How Does a Vista Recovery Disk Work

Windows Vista Recovery

Windows Vista is Microsoft's newest operating system, which comes preloaded on most new manufactured PCs and laptops. Since its creation, Vista has come under scrutiny and been criticized for instability and being inferior to its predecessor, Windows XP, in terms of system resource usage. Troubleshooting bugs in Vista is made more difficult for users due to the fact that many PC makers do not provide Windows Vista installation discs with their computers, (likely in order to limit liability for piracy) instead providing windows recovery cds, or a recovery partition on a hard drive. Windows Vista recovery is a method for resolving problems within an existing installation of windows vista, by booting from a recovery CD or partition and using the tools withing the recovery software. The recovery allows possible sources of problems, such as faulty drivers, to be removed, and system to be rolled back to an earlier date, presumably before the sources of any errors were intalled.

Making a recovery disc

Many PC and laptop providers sell computers with Vista installed and do not provide any installation or recovery disc at all. For these users, creating a Vista recovery disc manually is required if they wish to be able to perform the recovery process in the event of malfunction. Several websites host CD images of the Windows Vista recovery CD, which can be downloaded, and burned onto a blank CD in order to create a new recovery disc. The CD images are saved as ISO files which will require the user to download an ISO burning program in order to transfer it to a CD. Once the CD is burned, it is not needed unless windows Vista experiences errors.

Vista Recovery Versus Installation

A windows Vista recovery disc allows for a malfunctioning install of Vista to be fixed, and for the other software and information loaded onto the hard drive to be saved. If the install of Vista is irreparably damaged however, the recovery disc will not allow the user to start afresh with a new operating system like an actual installation disc would. An install disc allows an operating system to be reloaded from scratch. If the hard drive with the original Vista install were to break, the recovery CD would not keep the user running, but an install CD could load windows onto a new hard drive, and allow the user to continue using their computer.