Recovery disc

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A typical recovery disk for an Acer PC.

The terms Recovery disc (or Disk), Rescue Disk/Disc and Emergency Disk

thumb drive, that includes a self-running operating system: the ability to be a boot disk/Disc that runs independent of an internal hard drive that may be failing, or for some other reason is not the operating system to be run.[2]

The focus of recovery or rescue is not to lose the data files on the hard drive; the focus of restore is to restore the operating system's functionality (and subsequently restore the contents of one's latest backups).[3]

The rescue/recovery tool uses media containing a

hard drive and reinstall the operating system and pre-installed software as it was when it was shipped.[4]
Many modern systems have eliminated use of a physical recovery disc and instead store this software in a separate partition on the hard disk itself.

Overview

As an alternative to using media supplied with a system, it is possible to make one's own rescue/recovery disk. The Macintosh computer tool's name is Disk First Aid; on Windows systems there is a Create Disk function.[5]

Factory reset "recovery"

Main article: Factory reset

When a factory reset is done, user data is lost. The term "OEM recovery" refers to that type of "recovery." What is "recovered" is the original system. [6] Hewlett-Packard, using the term System Recovery, describes it as destructive[7] recovery. [8] They even advise removing "extra hard drives" to prevent loss of this too.

Although non-destructive alternatives do exist,

Windows Recovery Environment's command prompt.[10]

Details

Recovery partitions

Most modern PCs store their recovery (non-destructive) or restore (destructive) tool on a hard drive partition rather than on bundled CD-ROMs or DVDs. They're typically accessed by using a specific key combination during system startup.[11] There's less cost to the OEM, but exposes the user to hard drive failure.

An application used to create recovery discs or

Apple Macintosh
models, permit users to download the recovery partition over an internet connection, enabling successful recovery even if the hard disk fails or is replaced.

Some third-party software has the function to create a factory recovery partition and one key system backup and restore for Windows PC and Server.

Disk image recovery

Main article: Disk cloning

The advantages of

OEMs
even use bootable CDs generated by this software as the actual recovery CD or DVD itself.

Criticism

Many manufacturers do not supply a physical "recovery disc," but instead store the "recovery" (destructive) software tool on a partition of the hard disk. Some software that was preloaded may not be included; likewise some device drivers.

Alternatives

Prior to the use of recovery discs, one would use a boot disk to boot the system, then reinstall software as necessary from the original installation media.

A contemporary alternative, particularly used in Linux, is the installation disc or discs for a Linux distribution, or a Live CD or Live DVD – a bootable disc. These can be used to boot the system and then either manually troubleshoot and repair problems (in the case of a live disc), or re-install or re-configure the operating system. In the case of free software, operating systems can legally be re-packaged and distributed, and thus there is no barrier to making the full installation available. However, in the absence of a backup of system-specific configuration, which is provided on recovery discs, a re-installed operating system may require re-configuration.

Windows 8 includes two built-in recovery options, Refresh and Reset; Refresh re-installs Windows while preserving most user settings, while Reset performs a full restore back to its default configuration, similar to a factory restore function.[14][15]

See also

References

  1. ^ an emergency Disc is for roadside emergency lighting
  2. ^ e.g. to demo an operating system or other software without installing it
  3. ^ Stephen Manes (July 16, 1996). "Disaster Recovery: There's a Catch". The New York Times.
  4. ^ without user-created data files
  5. ^ By J. D. Biersdorfer (October 8, 1998). "Emergency Preparedness". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Accidently deleted OEM Recovery Partition! Help please". August 19, 2017.
  7. ^ THEIR emphasis
  8. ^ a b "HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Performing an HP System Recovery in Windows XP". Archived from the original on 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  9. ^ "Inside the Dell PC Restore Partition". Archived from the original on 2006-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  10. ^ "Inside the Dell PC Restore Partition". Archived from the original on 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  11. ^ after the computer's power-on self-test
  12. ^ "HP PCs – Obtaining HP Recovery Discs or an HP USB Recovery Drive". HP. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  13. ^ "How to Create/Use a Toshiba Recovery CD/DVD-ROM". Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  14. ^ "Refresh and reset your PC". Microsoft. January 2012.
  15. ^ "Making the lives of IT easier: Windows 8 Refresh, Reset, and Windows To Go". Ars Technica. September 2011.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Recovery_disc&oldid=1206386494"