Why you should say no to Windows 8 and stick with Windows 7.

Well Ringsting,I may sound like a computer expert and I have made a lot of videos about Windows 7 and Windows XP mainly. But installing software like Classic Shell and then using Classic Shell and Classic Explorer to customise Windows 7 is just simple stuff. As is my recent achievement of being able to get Windows XP Movie Maker 2.1 running on Windows 7.

But partitioning the hard disk and installing operating systems and creating recovery disks,I don't know how to do. That is the complicated stuff.

If you make a mistake with partitioning the hard disk, like I probably would do,then the computer is out of action. So some things are not so simple as they sound.

How do I reinstall my operating system? Well I just press the F11 or the F3 key and it boots into the recovery partition or system recovery, and I do a restore to factory condition.

But I don't reinstall Windows from a Windows CD or a back up CD like a lot of other people do. I have netbooks so I have no CD drive and have never backed up my system except I have system restore turned on. But that is not the same thing.

So it is a factory restore for me when I cannot fix Windows. Which restores the computer to factory condition. That is the out of the box condition it was in when I bought the laptop. Andrea Borman.

i would try to make a recovery disc andrea , whats the worst that can happen, you can always just press F11 to get a recovey again if it cocks up

How do I reinstall my operating system? Well I just press the F11 or the F3 key and it boots into the recovery partition or system recovery, and I do a restore to factory condition.

And what do you do when your disk breaks ?? F11 won't help.

andreas disc wont break whs,ive just realized she has note books so she cant use disks there for the disk wont break,see its easy when you know how.
she could always install windows 8 dev its free at the moment

Yeah, but she could make a recovery stick - same thing. Or maybe an image to an external disk and a WinPE stick. Great combination for a notebook.

i was pulling your leg WHS by disc you mean hard drive, i was pretending i thought you meant a dvd or cd.

i been on the silly sauce it seems.

Yes,you are right. I should back up my operating system and not rely on the factory restore.But I don't know how to do this.

Even though my netbooks don't have a CD drive, I could buy a plug in CD drive that I can plug into the USB plug socket on my netbook.Like I plug in my USB mouse and USB web cam.That would work. I could also back up my operating system including my files and Windows on a USN thumb drive.

On Windows 7 there is a file back up setting in System Restore or System Recovery,under advanced back up methods. Which is the Microsoft System Recovery. But I don't know if it only just backs up your files, or the whole operating system, which is what I need to do. Not just back up the program files.

But on my Windows XP netbooks,which are Windows XP Home Edition,there is no Microsoft file back up setting in System Recovery. So If I wanted to back up my system on Windows XP,I would probably have to install a third party program. But I don't want to pay for it. I am looking for a free program.

Another option is to buy several Windows CDs. Then I could just reinstall Windows from the Windows installation CD if all was lost. But unfortunently,in England, you can no longer buy Windows XP CDs only Windows 7. And I would want Windows 7 and Windows XP CDs for my Windows 7 and Windows XP netbooks.

But as I have got 4 Windows 7 netbooks and 2 Windows XP netbooks. Does that mean I would have to buy 6 Windows CDs because you can only install Windows on 1 computer? And if you got one Windows CD you cannot use it on 6 computers as Windows will only activate on 1 computer? Andrea Borman.

Don't use CDs or DVDs for images. Those images can be quite big. Mine are appr. 20GBs each shot. A 250 to 500GB external disk and a USB stick for the recovery program will do a much better job. As for programs, I recommend free Macrium or free Paragon. Macrium is a bit easier to use.

Well I don't think I can create a recovery disk or back up my operating system. It is just too complicated,unless there is an easier way. I also don't know how to install operating systems either. Andrea Borman.

There it is again, the phrase "I don't know". I see you say that alot and it all revolves around computers and technology. Partitioning a disk, installing an OS, duel booting an OS, editing the registry, using command line, and the list goes on and on. These are the things that we on this site are adept at and have been for a long time. These little things are the things that we consider simple. Don't get me wrong, I know there are things that the elders on this site can do that I cann't....yet, even though I do have a good size KB of computer wizdom. I have worked and learned things over my time, and yes I have royaly screwed a few things, but that is leaning. You will never get any better unless you are willing to do the work it takes to get better and not just pout and cry about stuff. It serves no purpose to sit in the corner and tell every one that they are wrong when even the novice of the room are saying that you are the one wrong. At one time I would say there is now wrong answer only better answers, then I met Angela...o-errr Andrea. That changed my tone real quick. I do now know that there are wrong answers, and I get to laugh at them every time I read this forum. In a way I would have to thank you for helping me with my blood preasure, laughter is the best meadicine.

If you want to be a power user then you have got to stop with this cry baby crap. Stop expecting every one to spoon feed you the answer that you expect to hear. I don't care how much any of us knows, we have all been in your shoes at one point and time. The difference in us and you is that we Learned the correct information.