9 Backing up, restoring, and recovering

Your computer includes tools provided by HP and Windows to help you safeguard your information and retrieve it if you ever need to. These tools will help you return your computer to a proper working state or even back to the original factory state, all with simple steps.

This chapter provides information about the following processes:

●Creating recovery media and backups

●Restoring and recovering your system

NOTE: This chapter describes an overview of backing up, restoring and recovering options. For more details about the tools provided, see Help and Support. From the Start screen, type help, and then select Help and Support.

Creating recovery media and backups

1.After you successfully set up the computer, create HP Recovery media. This step creates a backup of the HP Recovery partition on the computer. The backup can be used to reinstall the original operating system in cases where the hard drive is corrupted or has been replaced.

HP Recovery media you create will provide the following recovery options:

●System Recovery—Reinstalls the original operating system and the programs that were installed at the factory.

●Minimized Image Recovery—Reinstalls the operating system and all hardware-related drivers and software, but not other software applications.

●Factory Reset—Restores the computer to the state its original factory state by deleting all information from the hard drive and re-creating the partitions. Then it reinstalls the operating system and the software that was installed at the factory.

See Creating recovery media and backups on page 98.

2.Use the Windows tools to create system restore points and create backups of personal information. For more information and steps, see Windows Help and Support. From the Start screen, type help, and then select Help and Support.

Creating HP Recovery media

HP Recovery Manager is a software program that offers a way to create recovery media after you successfully set up the computer. HP Recovery media can be used to perform system recovery if the hard drive becomes corrupted. System recovery reinstalls the original operating system and the software programs installed at the factory, and then configures the settings for the programs. HP Recovery media can also be used to customize the system or restore the factory image if you replace the hard drive.

●Only one set of HP Recovery media can be created. Handle these recovery tools carefully, and keep them in a safe place.

●HP Recovery Manager examines the computer and determines the required storage capacity for the blank USB flash drive or the number of blank DVD discs that will be required.

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