“7 Days to Windows 7,” A NetPass Blog Series Day 5: Reliable Recovery

If you have ever experienced a computer crash and attempted to restore your system in Windows XP or earlier using the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), you already know it can be a real chore. Using earlier versions of WinRE requires software and a solid working knowledge of the command line (DOS prompt) typically designed for more tech savvy individuals. Most have no idea how to use these versions of the WinRE so attaining system recovery often results in expensive repair bills or, even worse, throwing the computer away.

By our standards, the integration of a new and improved WinRE is among the more celebrated features in Windows 7. The enhanced WinRE environment is very user-friendly offering an intuitive, mostly self-running recovery and restoration process that can be handled by just about every level of computer user. Moreover, recovery software and additional media such as multiple CDs and DVDs, etc. are no longer required. Windows 7 WinRE is stored in a separate partition on the user’s computer hard drive so that the WinRE easily boots as needed. To give you an idea of how easy it is to use the enhanced WinRE, here’s what you can expect if your computer crashes and Windows 7 fails to boot.

Let’s say there’s an issue with the installation of a particular driver that causes Windows to crash. Windows 7 will detect the boot failure and present a user with a screen (see figure 1) that immediately offers the user a few options to choose from: (1) launch the built-in recovery environment or (2) if the user already knows that the issue was a one-time glitch and should already have repaired itself (unplugging a bad USB device for example), select the option that will attempt to start Windows again normally. Selecting option (1) will direct Windows 7 to make an attempt to repair the issue on its own (see figure 2) and if automated repair is unsuccessful, begin restoring Windows to an earlier restore point (see figure 3). Restore points have been around since Windows XP and typically are created every time a major event happens to the system, such as a Windows update, or installation of new software.

Eventually, the WinRE will ask you to reboot as shown in figure 4. If everything works the way it is developed to, the Windows 7 welcome screen will appear. If not, WinRE will restart the process and make another attempt at restoring the system. Since there are a number of reasons for system failure, this process is not full-proof. However, we instigated several system failures under a variety of normal crash circumstances and found the new WinRE to be reliable.

Since the Windows 7 OS is capable of repairing itself without additional software or additional media requirements, system recovery in Windows 7 is much more user-friendly and will most certainly save users time, money and perhaps most important of all… user sanity.

Tomorrow is day 6 of our 7 days series. With only two days left, we’ll be spending the remainder of the series talking about additional tips and tricks available in the new OS alongside a final checklist of things we recommend you do before installing your new Windows 7 software. So join us again tomorrow and thanks for visiting http://blog.netpass.com.

NetPass, LLC is an Interactive Advertising and Multimedia Agency located in Central Florida. Information contained in this post has been researched and reported individually by the author. Any statements, opinions, or views expressed herein are the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of NetPass, LLC or its ownership. NetPass, LLC is not affiliated with or contracted by Microsoft or any of its affiliates, wholesalers or distributors for the purposes of this series.