While knowing that you have a system image provides you with a certain level of comfort, using it is another story. Figure A The System Recovery Options menu displays a list of system recovery tools that you can use to repair startup problems, run diagnostics, or restore your system.

If for some reason neither Startup Repair nor System Restore is able to get you back up and running, you can use the System Image Recovery option to revive an unbootable system. Have you used Microsoft Windows 7’s Backup and Restore to create a system image of your hard disk? If so, do you update it on a regular basis? If you do, then you are prepared for a problem that leaves your hard disk in an unrepairable predicament, such as the one that I described in my recent blog post “ Access More Troubleshooting Tools with Windows 7 System Recovery Options.” This is the predicament where the Startup Repair Tool can’t repair the problem and you then access the System Recovery Options menu, as shown in Figure A, which provides you with a set of tools that can help you revive your system. In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how to use System Image Recovery to revive an unbootable Windows system.

Use Windows 7 System Image Recovery to restore a hard disk

Win 7 recovery disk