Make backup copy of installation disk?

[aaaaa]

If I buy a Window 7 system, can I back up the installation DVD to
guard against the original disk becoming unreadable? If so how?

I ask because years in the past, when I used NERO to make a CD copy of
an XP CD installation disk, the second CD disk was not bootable. This
hurt because when my original XP CD failed, I had to coerce MS to send
me a new one. Pain.

I think what I want to do is make an ISO image which when used to
create a second installation disk, it will be bootable. Sound right?
If I can do this, then I could store the ISO image file on a backup
hard drive which I trust more than a DVD disk. I don't trust the
shelf life of those disks any more.

Well anyway, I tried Nero again on said old XP CD disk, and it
generated an .nrg image file, which when I used it to burn a new CD
disk, that disk would not boot either.

Can someone advise how I can do what I need to do?

 

[Dave-UK]

If I buy a Window 7 system, can I back up the installation DVD to
guard against the original disk becoming unreadable? If so how?

I ask because years in the past, when I used NERO to make a CD copy of
an XP CD installation disk, the second CD disk was not bootable. This
hurt because when my original XP CD failed, I had to coerce MS to send
me a new one. Pain.

I think what I want to do is make an ISO image which when used to
create a second installation disk, it will be bootable. Sound right?
If I can do this, then I could store the ISO image file on a backup
hard drive which I trust more than a DVD disk. I don't trust the
shelf life of those disks any more.

Well anyway, I tried Nero again on said old XP CD disk, and it
generated an .nrg image file, which when I used it to burn a new CD
disk, that disk would not boot either.

Can someone advise how I can do what I need to do?

No need to create an ISO, Win7 can make a system image that you can store on a second disk.
You can also mount the image as a virtual disk drive and edit using Explorer.
When you create the image Win7 will ask you if you want to create a repair disk.
This is a bootable CD that you boot from if you ever want to restore the saved image.

 

[Alex Clayton]

If I buy a Window 7 system, can I back up the installation DVD to
guard against the original disk becoming unreadable? If so how?

I ask because years in the past, when I used NERO to make a CD copy of
an XP CD installation disk, the second CD disk was not bootable. This
hurt because when my original XP CD failed, I had to coerce MS to send
me a new one. Pain.

I think what I want to do is make an ISO image which when used to
create a second installation disk, it will be bootable. Sound right?
If I can do this, then I could store the ISO image file on a backup
hard drive which I trust more than a DVD disk. I don't trust the
shelf life of those disks any more.

Well anyway, I tried Nero again on said old XP CD disk, and it
generated an .nrg image file, which when I used it to burn a new CD
disk, that disk would not boot either.

Can someone advise how I can do what I need to do?

If you buy a new computer some come with a partition to restore them to the
factory condition, and a disk. Many will allow you to burn recovery disks
also as a back up. Some will only let you do this one time. I bought a
couple Gateways for Christmas that did not have a patrician but allowed me
to make a couple sets of back up disks.
Win.7 also seems to have a built in program to make a mirror drive image.
I am assuming like Arconis. Have not tried using it yet.
Check the one you want to buy and see how it's set up for this.

 

[Walter R.]

If your Win 7 system is running OK, why don't you make an Acronis Image and
store it on your hard drive, preferably a second drive.

That should enable you to recreate you current system at any time in the
future. I believe Acronis compresses the image file, whereas Win7 image may
be uncompressed and therefore rather large. No sure about this.

An Acronis image would avoid the necessity for one of those recovery disks
or recovery partitions. Faster, too.

 

[Jan Alter]

If your Win 7 system is running OK, why don't you make an Acronis Image
and store it on your hard drive, preferably a second drive.

That should enable you to recreate you current system at any time in the
future. I believe Acronis compresses the image file, whereas Win7 image
may be uncompressed and therefore rather large. No sure about this.

An Acronis image would avoid the necessity for one of those recovery disks
or recovery partitions. Faster, too.

An Acronis backed up image is great should his system become corrupt and he
need to resurrect it, but it may not be of any help should his entire
motherboard become unusable, that's why not only should an image be made of
the current system but also have a copy of the installation disk. For
Windows 7 that installation disk would be a DVD.
So with that thought I'm trying to figure out why the OP couldn't copy
his original XP CD that wouldn't boot. I've done it many times using Nero 7
using both cd's and DVD's. All I did was to 'copy cd' and then to have it
boot go into the bios and make the first boot device the CD-ROM.

 

[aaaaa]

So with that thought I'm trying to figure out why the OP couldn't copy
his original XP CD that wouldn't boot. I've done it many times using Nero 7
using both cd's and DVD's. All I did was to 'copy cd' and then to have it
boot go into the bios and make the first boot device the CD-ROM.

Jan - my thought exactly. I have done what you describe faultlessly.
But all that would make me still totally dependent on CD and DVD
disks, which I suddenly do not trust any more. I do trust hard drive
preservation. And so, I was just thinking that if I could get an ISO
image of the installation disk on a hard drive, I would sleep better.
In emergency, I could then make a installation disk from the image,

Thanks.

 

[Tony]

You numbskull when you make a copy of a cd or dvd use the "disk-at-once" option.

Jan - my thought exactly. I have done what you describe faultlessly.
But all that would make me still totally dependent on CD and DVD
disks, which I suddenly do not trust any more. I do trust hard drive
preservation. And so, I was just thinking that if I could get an ISO
image of the installation disk on a hard drive, I would sleep better.
In emergency, I could then make a installation disk from the image,

Thanks.

--
The Grandmaster of the CyberFROG

Come get your ticket to CyberFROG city

Nay, Art thou decideth playeth ye simpleton games. *Some* of us know proper
manners

Very few. I used to take calls from *rank* noobs but got fired the first day on
the job for potty mouth,

Hamster isn't a newsreader it's a mistake!

El-Gonzo Jackson FROGS both me and Chuckcar

Master Juba was a black man imitating a white man imitating a black man

Using my technical prowess and computer abilities to answer questions beyond the
realm of understandability

Regards Tony... Making usenet better for everyone everyday

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Jan - my thought exactly. I have done what you describe faultlessly.
But all that would make me still totally dependent on CD and DVD
disks, which I suddenly do not trust any more. I do trust hard drive
preservation. And so, I was just thinking that if I could get an ISO
image of the installation disk on a hard drive, I would sleep better.
In emergency, I could then make a installation disk from the image,

Thanks.

Find, download, and install CDBurnerXP. It's free, and it easily makes
ISO files and easily burns them to CDs or DVDs.

 

[Ophelia]

If I buy a Window 7 system, can I back up the installation DVD to
guard against the original disk becoming unreadable? If so how?

I didn't get any disks with my (new) laptop, so this is what I did:

Control panel/sytem and security/backup and restore/create system image (I
used an external drive because it is a huge file)
and create system repair disc (onto a DVD disc)

 

[aaaaa]

You numbskull when you make a copy of a cd or dvd use the "disk-at-once" option.

That does not get me away from using cd or dvd disks for backup, does
it.

numbskull

 

[aaaaa]

Find, download, and install CDBurnerXP. It's free, and it easily makes
ISO files and easily burns them to CDs or DVDs.

Thanks

I have downloaded it and am trying it. My first look at the options
indicates that just maybe one can make an ISO image file from a
bootable installation disk and then later when and if needed, one can
make a bootable installation disk from that ISO file. Hope so.

 

[aaaaa]

Find, download, and install CDBurnerXP. It's free, and it easily makes
ISO files and easily burns them to CDs or DVDs.

I tried it twice. Both created CDs (XP installation disk(\) were
created, but were not bootable. When I read the web instructions, it
appears that I would need a 'boot image' to make such CDs bootable,
which I do not have.

Thanks anyway

 

[Tony]

That's what you get for buying dogshit blank dvds/cds from India. Don't be so cheap
buy something from this list.
http://www.burnworld.com/dvd/media/burner-media4.htm

That does not get me away from using cd or dvd disks for backup, does
it.

numbskull

--
The Grandmaster of the CyberFROG

Come get your ticket to CyberFROG city

Nay, Art thou decideth playeth ye simpleton games. *Some* of us know proper manners

Very few. I used to take calls from *rank* noobs but got fired the first day on the
job for potty mouth,

Hamster isn't a newsreader it's a mistake!

El-Gonzo Jackson FROGS both me and Chuckcar

Master Juba was a black man imitating a white man imitating a black man

Using my technical prowess and computer abilities to answer questions beyond the
realm of understandability

Regards Tony... Making usenet better for everyone everyday

 

[Tony]

You nitwit if the original cd or dvd is bootable the cd or dvd image will
be bootable unless your cd writer is from the early 1990's and even at that
i doubt there's any copy protection on the cd or dvd in the first place.
USE THE "DISC-AT-ONCE" OPTION!!! If there's copywrite protection and it's a
dvd use anydvd from a warez site.

I tried it twice. Both created CDs (XP installation disk(\) were
created, but were not bootable. When I read the web instructions, it
appears that I would need a 'boot image' to make such CDs bootable,
which I do not have.

Thanks anyway

--
The Grandmaster of the CyberFROG

Come get your ticket to CyberFROG city

Nay, Art thou decideth playeth ye simpleton games. *Some* of us know proper
manners

Very few. I used to take calls from *rank* noobs but got fired the first
day on the job for potty mouth,

Hamster isn't a newsreader it's a mistake!

El-Gonzo Jackson FROGS both me and Chuckcar

Master Juba was a black man imitating a white man imitating a black man

Using my technical prowess and computer abilities to answer questions
beyond the realm of understandability

Regards Tony... Making usenet better for everyone everyday

 

[Dave-UK]

I tried it twice. Both created CDs (XP installation disk(\) were
created, but were not bootable. When I read the web instructions, it
appears that I would need a 'boot image' to make such CDs bootable,
which I do not have.

Thanks anyway

You seem to be making a mountain out of a molehill here.
If you buy a Win7 system which comes with an installation
DVD just copy the DVD. If the original was bootable then
the copy will be bootable.
Use the free Imgburn to read your installation DVD, here
are the steps to do that:
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=6379
You can select to save between iso, bin or img/cue file types.
That will create a bootable iso image file.
Here is how to burn the bootable image file to a blank DVD:
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=61

Download ImgBurn from here:
http://www.imgburn.com/

You say you don't trust DVDs for storage but Win7 will be long
gone before your DVD starts to disintegrate.

As I said in my first post you don't need to mess about with
DVDs for storage/backup, just use Win7 to image itself onto
another hard disk - either internal or external. My Win7 64 C
drive image is 28 G/b.
Then if your C drive crashes or you want to fit a bigger drive,
boot from the Win7 repair CD and restore the image.
You can create the Win7 repair CD anytime, it's 145 M/b and has
repair tools on it as well.

 

[Seth]

I tried it twice. Both created CDs (XP installation disk(\) were
created, but were not bootable. When I read the web instructions, it
appears that I would need a 'boot image' to make such CDs bootable,
which I do not have.

If the disk you made the ISO image from was bootable, then the disk you burn
from the ISO will be bootable too.

Unless instead of making an image, you are mastering your own disk by copy
all the files over via the file tree, then yes, you would need a boot image
to make it bootable with.

The issue is not with the tools, it is something you are doing wrong because
I use the same tools to make a bootable backup of a bootable CD or DVD all
the time with no problems.

 

[Lord Vetinari]

Use one of the .iso programs. They make good .iso images, and I've never
had any trouble with them, aside from the fact that Neverwinter Nights won't
recognize a copy of the play disc. I expect there's a solution to that, but
until I finish moving, I don't have time to mess with it.

If you buy a new computer some come with a partition to restore them to
the factory condition, and a disk. Many will allow you to burn recovery
disks also as a back up. Some will only let you do this one time. I bought
a couple Gateways for Christmas that did not have a patrician but allowed
me to make a couple sets of back up disks.

Fortunately for me, I _am_ the patrician!

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

On Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:33:34 -0800, Gene E. Bloch


I tried it twice. Both created CDs (XP installation disk(\) were
created, but were not bootable. When I read the web instructions, it
appears that I would need a 'boot image' to make such CDs bootable,
which I do not have.

Thanks anyway

Were you careful to choose the option "Burn ISO image"? If you burned
the ISO to the disc as a *data* disc, it won't be bootable. It won't be
much of anything...

 

[Lord Vetinari]

Were you careful to choose the option "Burn ISO image"? If you burned the
ISO to the disc as a *data* disc, it won't be bootable. It won't be much
of anything...

Heh...a couple of times, I accidentally burned to a DVD, when it needed to
be a CD, and vice versa. Took a couple of minutes to figure out what I'd
done wrong.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Heh...a couple of times, I accidentally burned to a DVD, when it needed to be
a CD, and vice versa. Took a couple of minutes to figure out what I'd done
wrong.

Interesting. I had assumed that doing that would just waste a few GB of
unused track and a few pennies.

Meaning that say 100 MB is about 1/7 of a CD and 1/44 of a DVD, but I
thought either one would boot the same.

Needless to say, I never tried that, so I had no way of knowing.