Too many terms... are they meaning the same ?

[Externet]

Hi.

Got a Windows 10 laptop, an OS am not familiar with for the last 17 years.  Trying to ensure re-establish operation when something fails, in order to make a fixing compact disc, found the terms - rescue - install -  repair - recovery - reload - image - restore - reinstall - setup - backup  CDs.  

What does each does, or are they the same named different ?  Which ones do I need to burn to be safe in the future ?

[studiot]

8 minutes ago, Externet said:

Hi.

Got a Windows 10 laptop, an OS am not familiar with for the last 17 years.  Trying to ensure re-establish operation when something fails, in order to make a fixing compact disc, found the terms - rescue - install -  repair - recovery - reload - image - restore - reinstall - setup - backup  CDs.  

What does each does, or are they the same named different ?  Which ones do I need to burn to be safe in the future ?

 

Happily I prepared this list of tips for someone like you  just recently. (W10 is much like W11)

I have emphasised the answer to your question in the list but the others may be of use.

 

Windows 11

Create Local account

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-a-local-user-or-administrator-account-in-windows-20de74e0-ac7f-3502-a866-32915af2a34d

https://pureinfotech.com/create-local-account-windows-11/

Turn off one drive

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0

Create recovery stick

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-a-recovery-drive-abb4691b-5324-6d4a-8766-73fab304c246

Save webpages

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/save-a-document-as-a-webpage-d1cf1c33-e854-4f9d-bd51-93f94da0f4e3

Skype     
some versions of w11 come already loaded some you have to get (free) from Msoft.
So type 'get skype' into the search box and follow the instructions
Recovery Options

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/recovery-options-in-windows-31ce2444-7de3-818c-d626-e3b5a3024da5

https://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-boot-to-windows-11-10-system-recovery-options/

Wordpad

Type wordpad into the search box at bottom left. This will allow you top open, write and save word docs

Initial setup internet bypass

https://www.wintips.org/how-to-bypass-internet-requirement-in-windows-11-22h2/

[Sensei]

You can back up Windows drives on Linux. Use a live pendrive with Linux. Boot your computer from it. Open a terminal and use e.g.:

dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=16M

This operation will make a binary mirror of your drive(s).

/dev/sda is your Windows drive. If you have multiple partitions they all will be stored. You can use /dev/sda0 /dev/sda1 etc. if you have multiple partitions and want to backup just a single one at a time.

/dev/sdb is your second empty drive (it will be overwritten). Let's assume that it is a 2GB external USB drive.

alternatively use image file as of e.g. of=/dev/sdb0/image.img

 

 

If you are not familiar with the dd command in Linux, get some spare empty 120 GB SSD drives and do some experiments first..

 

You can plug in your mirror instead of the original one to see if the OS still boots from it.

 

Have you heard of RAID? It can be configured to create a mirror in real time..

2 hours ago, Externet said:

Got a Windows 10 laptop,

..some modern laptops do not have a CD/DVD drive.. do you have one?

In modern laptop you have to use 1) pendrive (limited capacity) 2) external 2GB drive(s) plugged to USB v3.x (preferably) 3) external CD/DVD drive 4) network drive (NAS) (your own = more expensive, or less preferably cloud - but if you have metered Internet like LTE, it will be expensive too at the end)

Edited March 15, 2023 by Sensei

[studiot]

11 minutes ago, Sensei said:

You can back up Windows drives on Linux. Use a live pendrive with Linux. Boot your computer from it. Open a terminal and use e.g.:

dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=16M

This operation will make a binary mirror of your drive(s).

/dev/sda is your Windows drive. If you have multiple partitions they all will be stored. You can use /dev/sda0 /dev/sda1 etc. if you have multiple partitions and want to backup just a single one at a time.

/dev/sdb is your second empty drive (it will be overwritten). Let's assume that it is a 2GB external USB drive.

alternatively use image file as of e.g. of=/dev/sdb0/image.img

Don't forget that from W10 windows creates a required  hidden partition on your hard drive, partly as a security measure.

Simply copying the win partition will no longer work.

Also many machines these days have machine specific and drive specific signature codes that must be correct.

[Sensei]

3 minutes ago, studiot said:

Simply copying the win partition will no longer work.

It will work with user data like documents, photos, things which are not encrypted, etc

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Sensei

[studiot]

Just type create recovery usb into the search box nxt to the windows button in the bottom left and follow the instructions that open up.

You can see the screens you get in my links.

 

Windows will work out how big the usb stick needs to be, it will probably be in the range of 8Gb to 16GB.

Let Windows make the stick and put it away safely.

Once a month or two or so update it and changes including udates and apps will be automatically included.

 

When in trouble The stick will boot the pc and offer recover, repair, restore and all the other words in your list.

 

[Externet]

1 hour ago, Sensei said:

..some modern laptops do not have a CD/DVD drive.. do you have one?

Yes, and already made/burned the "repair" CD from Microsoft instructions with it.  Is that all or I need to create other CDs with contents as different names suggest ?  Or the "repair" one is also a 'reload' and a 'reinstall' and a 'setup' and an 'image' and a 'setup' and... ?   That is the thread question, a bunch of names for the same use or for different uses each ? Do I need to create a "reinstall" CD too ?  And a "image" too ?  and a ...   and a ...  ?

[mistermack]

There are free programs available online that will back up your system with a click, and they work well.

One good one is AOMEI backupper, I've used it myself and it restored perfectly. ( I bought a SSHD to replace the existing hard disk, to speed the pc up ). 

I made the image of the complete system, and restored it to the new solid state disk, and everything worked perfectly exactly as the original. It's completely free with no drawbacks at all.

Another very similar one is EASUS. I think I've used it, not sure, but it's highly regarded. 

I found the windows own utility a bit limited, it didn't like restoring to a disk that was smaller than the original. 

The feature I used in AOMEI was called the 'clone disk' facility.