But there's a caveat before you make an image of your system so that you are assured that once you restore back your image, the PC is as healthy as expected.
I usually follow these steps:
- Make a fresh installation of the operating system, say Microsoft Windows(tm) on the first partition of your hard disk.
- Install all the software drivers that the hardware of the system would need to operate crisply.
- Setup all the software that you wanted to be a part of the recovery image that would be made. Tinker with their settings so that they would function the way you like them before the entire system is imaged. This should include an updated virus definition for your favorite anti-virus software.
- Do a little diskkeeping task by running a defragging tool to ensure faster access to the needed files when they are run by the system.
- When satisfied with all your settings, shutdown the system.
- Reboot the system but choose not to boot from the hard disk. Instead, use a boot CD which allows you to run the Symantec Norton Ghost(tm).
- Once Symantec Norton Ghost(tm) is already running, choose the option that allows you to make an image of the partition where the entire operating system and all the software that you have installed reside. Save the image file in another partition of your hard disk. Once the image had been successfully done, you are now assured of a healthy recovery image that you can use when things would go wrong with your PC.
This has saved me a lot of man-hours to restore back the health of my notebook and other PCs as well whenever something goes wrong with them. It's quite a tedious task in the beginning but once the image is made, reinstallation, re: restoring back the good health of the PC, is as easy as a breeze. It does not even take 15 minutes to restore back the image.
Wanna try it? Ensure you have the necessary software to use.
