PC help - Creating a Bootable Image

N

nightrider

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
Hoping some of you tech guys still in the know can help me out here..

After having recently formatted and reinstalled my PC to the state I want it to be, I now want to be able to have an image of it that I can restore to at a later time so that I don’t have to endure the countless system updates and restarts all over again. Windows System Restore is not an option as I want it to be as fresh a reinstall as possible.

Is it possible to create a bootable CD image that I can just pop in and have it go nuts and install everything including the XP CD key, service packs, etc right to my desktop. (hop I’m not dreaming here..) I’ve been googling this and some solutions are Ghost or Nero or a combination of both..and most sources are a few years old, so I’m hoping there is a more easier and user friendly solution available now. Please keep the jargon as noob friendly so that it can help me and hopefully others too in case they’d like to do the same.

Some specs in case they help:
Win XP Pro
CD/DVD Rom available
External HDD’s available
USB 2.0 available
System is maybe 3yrs old? (used just for surfing/downloading/MS office/light gaming). 2.5 dual core

Thanks in advance and let me know if you need any info.
 
Ghost would be my first choice, just because I know it works. It has the ability to image a hard drive and create a bootable CD in one shot, all by itself. Don't worry about it being a few years old, Win XP is just coming up on being a DECADE old. Clonezilla is a free alternative, I have yet to try it though.
 
Check out Clonezilla.
Similar to ghost but with way more options etc.
I use it at home and at work.
All you need is a CD with Clonezila and an external USB disk with enough space for the image.
You boot the PC with Clonezilla and clone the entire disk.
It's super easy to do.

http://clonezilla.org/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom