Creating driver and application recovery
discs
You can use driver and application recovery discs
to restore device drivers or programs. You can create an
unlimited number of driver and application recovery disc sets.
Before you continue, make sure that your computer has a
recordable drive. If your computer does not have a recordable
drive, see “Copying driver and application recovery files to a
network” on page 5.
To record a set of driver and application
recovery discs:
1. Make sure that you have blank discs ready.
Depending on the type of recordable drive your computer has, you
need either several CD-R discs or one DVD-R or DVD+R disc.
If you are recording to CDs, make sure that they are CD-R and
not CD-RW discs. If you are recording to a DVD, make sure that
it is a DVD-R or DVD+R disc, not DVD-RW or DVD+RW discs.
2.
Click Start, All Programs, System Recovery, then click Create My
Drivers-Applications CD(s). A message asks you if you want to
“Burn ISO” (record recovery discs) or “Create ISO” (copy the
files to a drive).
3. Click Burn ISO. The Recovery CD/DVD
Creator dialog box opens.
4. Click Start Creation. A message tells you
the number of blank discs that are required for the recovery
disc set.
5. Click the type of recordable disc you
want to use.
6. Make sure you have the appropriate number and
type of blank discs, then insert a blank disc into the
recordable drive.
7. Click OK. The program prepares the recovery files, then
records the recovery files to the blank disc(s).
8. If a message tells you to insert another
blank disc, remove the completed disc, then insert a blank disc.
Important Use a permanent marker to label each disc “Gateway
Driver and Application Recovery.” As you remove each disc from
the drive, use the marker to label each disc 1 of x, 2 of x, 3
of x, and so on.
9. When you see the message “The Recovery
ISO Image has been created successfully,” remove the last disc
from the drive, then click OK.
10. Store the discs in a safe
place for future use. You are done.
Copying driver and application recovery files to a
network
You can copy driver and application recovery files to
a network location, so you can burn unlimited sets of driver and
application recovery discs from a different computer that has a
recordable drive.
To copy driver and application recovery
files to a network:
1. Click Start, All Programs, System
Recovery, then click Create My Drivers-Applications CD(s). A
message asks you if you want to “Burn ISO” (record recovery
discs) or “Create ISO” (copy the files to a drive).
2. Click Create ISO, then find the network
location you want to save the driver and application recovery
files to.
3. Click OK. The program prepares the
recovery files, then copies them to the location you specified.
4. When you see the message “The Recovery
ISO Image has been created successfully,” click OK. You are
done.
Store your recovery (ISO) images in a folder that
indicates which computer the files are for. For example, store
the files for a Gateway 7200XL in a folder named GW 7200XL Apps
Recovery.
To create discs from the files you just copied, see
“Creating discs from recovery files on a network” on page 6.
Creating discs from recovery files on a network
Before
you continue, make sure that your computer has a recordable
drive.
To create recovery discs from recovery files stored on
a network:
1. Make sure that you have blank discs ready. If
the ISO filenames start with CD, you will need blank CDs. If the
ISO filenames start with DVD, you will need blank DVDs.
If you are recording to CDs, make sure they are CD-R and not
CD-RW discs. If you are recording to DVDs, make sure that they
are DVD-R or DVD+R discs, not DVD-RW or DVD+RW discs.
2.
Insert a blank disc into the recordable drive of any networked
computer. You need one blank disc for each recovery (ISO) file.
Use the correct type of blank disc for the recovery (ISO)
file. For example, if the recovery (ISO) file was created for a
DVD, make sure you use a blank DVD+R or DVD-R disc.
3. Click
Start, then click My Computer.
4. Open the network location
of the recovery files.
5. Double-click the file for the first disc.
Your media burning software opens.
6. Follow the on-screen
instructions of your media burning software to complete the
burning of the recovery disc(s).
7. When the disc is
complete, remove that disc and insert another.
Use a
permanent marker to label each disc “Gateway Driver and
Application Recovery.” As you remove each disc from the drive,
use the marker to label each disc 1 of x, 2 of x, 3 of x, and so
on.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 for each recovery file until each
file is recorded onto a disc. You are done.
Recovering your system
If you have
problems with your computer and you need to recover your system,
you can restore specific drivers and programs from a set of
recovery discs, roll back your system to a previous condition
when drivers and programs were working correctly, or reinstall
everything from the computer’s hard drive.
• To selectively
restore device drivers or programs, see “Recovering specific
files and software” on page 9.
- OR -
• To recover your system to a previous condition when software
and device drivers were working correctly, see “Recovering your
system using Microsoft System Restore” on page 10.
- OR -
• To reinstall everything, see “Recovering your system from the
hard drive” on page 12.
If your hard drive has failed and you
cannot restore the software from the hard drive, contact
eMachines Customer Care for help. For a fee, Customer Care may
be able to provide a set of recovery discs to restore your
computer.
For more help, you can find the eMachines Customer
Care contact information on the label located on the front or
side of your desktop computer or on the bottom of your notebook
computer.
Recovering specific files and software
You can perform a partial recovery by recovering specific files,
such as device drivers and most pre-installed software. If you
need to recover software that did not come pre-installed on your
system, you need to follow the software’s own instructions for
installation.
You can recover specific files using either the
Start menu or a driver and application recovery disc that you
have created.
To restore your system from the driver and
application recovery discs:
1. Click Start, All Programs,
System Recovery, then click Application & Driver Recovery. - OR
-
Turn on your computer, then insert the driver and
application recovery disc #1 into the CD or DVD drive. The
Application Recovery program opens.
2. Click the driver or application you want
to install. To select multiple items, press and hold CTRL while
clicking each item.
3. Click Next. The items you selected are
installed. When the installation is finished, a message asks you
if you want to install more drivers or applications.
4. Click
Yes to install more drivers or applications, or click Quit to
exit.
5. Store the discs in a safe place for future use. You
are done.
6. If your system still has problems, follow the
directions in “Recovering your system using Microsoft System
Restore” on page 10.
Recovering
your system using Microsoft System Restore
Before
using Gateway System Recovery, you should try Microsoft System
Restore to determine whether you can restore your system to a
previous condition.
Every time you install new device drivers
or software, and every 24 hours (while your computer is turned
on), Microsoft System Restore takes a “snapshot” of your system
settings and saves it as a restore point. In most cases of
hard-to-resolve software problems, you can return to one of
these restore points to get your system running again.
To
restore using Microsoft System Restore:
1. Press F1. The
Microsoft Windows XP Help and Support Center opens.
3. Click Restore my computer to an
earlier time, then click Next. The Select a Restore Point dialog
box opens.
4. Click a bold date on the calendar (Step 1 on
the screen), then click a restore point in the list (Step 2 on
the screen).
5. Click Next. The Confirm Restore Point Selection dialog
box opens.
6. Make sure that you want to use the restore point you
selected, and read all notices on the screen.
7. Click Next,
then follow the on-screen instructions to finish the
restoration. If completing Microsoft System Restore does not
solve your problem, restart Gateway System Recovery. See
“Recovering your system from the hard drive” on page 12 for
instructions.
Recovering your
system from the hard drive
Because of virus and
spyware activity on the Internet, you should disconnect all
Internet connections before recovering your system. After you
recover your system, you can reinstall antivirus and firewall
software, then re-enable the Internet connection to update
antivirus definitions and install Windows Updates.
To
recover from the hard drive:
1. Remove all CDs and DVDs from
the disc drives, disconnect all USB devices except the keyboard
and mouse, then disconnect your Internet cable.
2. If you can
still run Windows, click Start, All Programs, System Recovery,
then click System Recovery. Go to Step 3.
- OR -
Turn on or restart your computer, then press R
when prompted to start the recovery process. Go to Step 5.
3.
Insert the Operating System Recovery CD/DVD when prompted. The
System Recovery program starts.
4. If you have not yet tried
to recover your system using Microsoft System Restore, click
Microsoft System Restore, then follow the instructions starting
with Step 3 in “Recovering your system using Microsoft System
Restore” on page 10. We recommend trying Microsoft System
Restore before using Gateway System Recovery.
- OR -
Click
Yes. Your computer restarts, then the System Recovery
program starts.
5. Click a system recovery option:
Unofficial eMachines Tech Info
