Reinstall of Windows 7

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I just finished Sunday a “in place reinstall” per Fred Langa’s article of my WIN7 HP 64bit computer.
First i did a full back up and made a image of my system.
I then downloaded and burned to a DVD the ISO file.
All went well i am happy to say including reactivating however as others have said it is time consuming. It took
close to 4 hours including installing all the updates.
My question is do i need and is it necessary to make a new recovery disc?
I did make a new image after i was done.
Barry

Barry
Windows 11 v23H2

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No, the Recovery disk has the Repair Console and such and that will not change with your reinstallation.

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I recommend you keep that image you took after installing and updating VERY close and safe. Maybe once everything is configured and installed/updated – take another one and save it. SO, next time you need to format/reinstall when windows crashes, you just need to recover your old data from the HDD and reimage your computer from the previous backup and BAM, you just saved yourself half a day of updating software installing and driver fighting…

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Not really the question asked, but creating a new Image after changes in a PC is a great idea. I create new Images at least once per month right after patch Tuesday. I am now using File History in Win 8 to back up data. In Win 7 your data should indeed be backed up separately as it will change far more often than your OS.

The Win 7 Recovery Disk will not change with the OS reinstallation. If you change the OS, i.e. Win 7 to Win 8, you would need a new Recovery Disk, unless you have an installation disk, which includes the Recovery Info as well.

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no, you’re right… this will TOTALLY eliminate the need for the recovery discs altogether thus my lack of info in prev post. I am a firm believer in a bit of preventative maintenance. this preventative procedure which may seem like a bit of a hassle…. may take a while considering having to boot to an imaging tool… blah blah blah

but I can honestly say that it has saved me TONS of time…
do a bit of research with sysprep.. make yourself a universal image and you can use this method to create an image that will work on any computer that can handle Win7

…Theres no place like 127.0.0.1

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Actually, since my data is on a separate drive and is not affected by an OS crash, using an Image that is up to date with OS changes lets me get back in less than 10 minutes.

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That brings up something i was very curious about. I am new to imaging and am limited to free programs right now.
I tried Macrium but when i tried to test it by reinstalling it wouldn’t work. keep giving me a error message that something was running.
At any rate i used the built in tool in Windows 7 and it worked fine how ever it took 45 minuets to reinstall.
Is acronis that much faster than Windows 7 are is there another variable that i don’t know about?
i have about a hundred Gigs on my system mostly music and movies.
Barry

Barry
Windows 11 v23H2

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Most often, especially with the free versions, you have to restore by booting to the Rescue Disk you have to create from the Imaging app. I believe Macrium Reflect has 2 distinct Rescue Disk options. I do not use Macrium Reflect so I cannot expand more on this.

In Acronis, my Rescue Boot Disk allows me to either Create or Restore Images from the boot disk outside of Windows. It’s not necessary, but I prefer it.

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