Creating Recovery CD

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by TerryWood, Jul 16, 2010.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. TerryWood

    TerryWood Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2006
    Posts:
    1,037
    Hi All

    Just bought another PC HP Pavilion with Windows 7 64 bit. Previous PC Win XP.

    The new PC does not have a Windows 7 CD or DVD supplied with it. It just has recovery CDs if you make them yourself. These bring your PC back to factory state.

    Questions

    1) How do I create a Bart PE recovery CD for Macrium Reflect without the Windows 7 installation CD/DVD

    2) Could I use the Bart PE Recovery CD I made with my Windows XP PC to back up and recover on my new Windows 7 system?

    Thanks very much

    Terry
     
  2. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2006
    Posts:
    2,557
  3. Doug_B

    Doug_B Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2005
    Posts:
    120
    Location:
    Central New Jersey
    To be clear on terminology, the BartPE program that compiles the BartPE disc (i.e., the pebuilder executable and support files) is a 32-bit app that gets installed on a Windows host OS. It then requires an XP 32-bit OS source disc / files in order to create the final BartPE disc. Theoretically, the pebuilder app can be installed and run on any Windows host OS, including a 64-bit OS, just like other 32-bit Windows apps can be installed on and run on a Win 64-bit OS (though I assume one cannot go back very far re Windows).

    I have come across info a few times in the past on other forums (sorry, no links) claiming that the pebuilder program had no trouble running on Win 64-bit, such as Win7 x64. As long as you still have an XP x32 source disc / files, the BartPE disc can still be made in such a host OS environment. I would guess that as long as the pebuilder program does not require specific info from the host OS that is unique to a 32-bit system environment when it builds the BartPE disc, then there shouldn't be a problem.

    However, I have yet to install / run pebuilder on the new Win7 Pro x64 system that I built, so I have no direct experience of this process. I have yet to try this because I have a couple of BartPE plug-ins that specifically pull registry entries from the host OS that must be 32-bit entries (for those interested, these are Mustang's BartPE plug-ins for older versions of Acronis programs). I could try this without including these "limited" plug-ins, but I have not gotten around to it yet. I eventually will try it, though.

    That said, I can answer the second question with a qualified Yes:

    As long as you have any needed drivers for your new system's hardware included with the BartPE disc, it should work. In my case, I needed to add the SATA AHCI drivers for my new mboard's SATA chipset, as I have AHCI enabled in the BIOS. I have not yet used my BartPE disc on the new system with the network active, so I haven't added the network adapter drivers yet. I do not have RAID enabled so did not need to add these drivers.

    I have successfully backed up and restored my Win7 x64 OS using the BartPE disc that was built on my old system (with the new system's AHCI drivers included), using the plug-ins from multiple imaging programs. This is how I constructed what is now my latest multi-boot system on the new PC. In my case, each Win7 x64 OS is self-contained on one partition; no separate 100MB system partition applies, as i installed the initial OS myself and avoided it.

    As to WinPE, one can use the Windows AIK to create a PE disc, but one would need the appropriate "plug-ins" from the relevant imaging app vendor to incorporate into the WinPE build. I do not believe that BartPE plug-ins are compatible with WinPE 2.0 or 3.0 as is. You will need others to give you info in this area, as I have no personal experience with anything beyond BartPE.

    HTH.

    Doug
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.