Automated System Recovery [ASR]

The Windows XP Automated System Recovery Feature allows you to boot into a computer that has experienced catastrophic failure. ASR works by installing a working copy of Windows XP and then restoring from a backup of your OS that you made when everything was working perfectly. This backup doesn't happen automatically, so you have to do it yourself. Here's how:

1. Click Start and then click the Run command.
2. In the Run dialog box, type ntbackup in the Open text box and click OK.
3. In the Backup Utility, click the Automated System Recovery Wizard button. If this is the first time you started the ntbackup program, tell the Wizard that you don't want to see the Wizard again, and then restart the ntbackup program.
4. The Automated System Recovery Wizard appears. Click Next to continue.
5. On the Backup Destination page, type in a path for the backup file. Be careful! Don't use the C:\ drive or it might not work. Click Next.
6. Read the text on the final page of the Wizard. Make sure you have a floppy disk available for the Wizard to write recovery information to. Click Finish.
7. All system files on the partition that contains the operating system are backed up. Click Close on the Backup Progress dialog box after the backup is completed. Then close the backup utility.

If you find you can't start you system because a disk died or you installed something that prevents the operating system from starting, you can boot the Windows XP CD and then press F2 when the statement as the bottom of the screen asks you to press F2 to start ASR. Don't have a Windows XP CD? Demand that your reseller give you a real CD. You paid for it. If they won't, demand a refund for the cost of the OS, and go get a real CD from a local computer store.