Setting up new laptop

[Elizakate1]

I have just taken delivery of this new laptop. I seem to remember that in the past I had to do a back up before I started using the new computer in case it had to be reset in the future?? Is this no longer necessary as I can find no reference to it?

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@Elizakate1 

Taking a System Image backup is a very good idea -- for the reasons you indicated.  But I would not rely on built-in solutions to do that as they are quirky and often unreliable.

I personally prefer to use third-party Backup solutions as they tend to be both more flexible and more reliable than any built-in solutions.

Macrium Reflect (MR) provides a FREE version that can be used to image and restore partitions or entire drives.

What I recommend is the following:
1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR) from here: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
2) Run MR and choose the option: "Create an image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows" to write a full backup to an external drive or USB stick
3) Use the option to create a boot USB stick or CD

My experience is that MR, when using the High Compression option, typically can compress the saved image file to about 50% of the USED space in the OS partition. This means if you have an 80GB OS partition, and 40GB is used, MR only needs about 20GB to store the image file.

I use this all the time and it typically takes less than 15 minutes to do the image backup and about the same time or less to do a restore.

Plus, MR has the option to Add a Recovery Boot Menu entry. This allows you then to boot into WinRE, and you can then use that to do a restore -- when you can't boot into Windows!

NOW, you have the means to restore a full working system from the external drive or USB stick in only a few minutes.

[Elizakate1]

Thank you, WAWood, for your reply. I actually contacted HP before your reply came and was told about the built in version. After thinking this was a good idea I then thought if something went wrong with the computer then perhaps something could also go wrong with the backup. So thank you for your advice and I will follow your instructions regarding Macrium Reflect. your help is much appreciated.