Err, I konw this probably isn't the BEST place in the world to ask this, but you guys and girls are so friendly and helpful, so here goes...

I'm going to be recieving a shinny new computer form a rather well known brand.  It will have Windows XP pre-installed (OEM) which I presume will mean it has no disc with it.   Before I'm linched I better explain I need Windows to play games on...sorry I mean, because of work  :-D .

I've actually resisted getting a PC but now I really have to  :-( .  I'm not computer illiterate, I've used Windows from 3.11 (but not XP yet), Unix, Linux, Amiga O/S etc. but Windows XP has got me worried, if I do manage to completly destroy the installation how do I get it back?  I've been looking around and the Windows Backup program isn't in the standard install only on the disc.  I know XP has 'repair' options, but I'd rather have a CD-R and install floppy with a basic install on which I can return to if needed.  i.e. when I make the thing dual boot and I lose the whole hard-drive by repartitioning, etc!

(The back ground to this is that I got a great deal on the computer bundle but the sales person on the other end of the phone tried to sell me a reinstallation package for £100 !!!!  I almost laughed at him, and explained that I wouldn't need it as I made regular backups.)

So as to turn this into a discussion, this sort of practice seems ridiculous to me, Microsoft are so concerned with people illegally copying their O/S that they make it impossible for the average user to have peace of mind.  The stupid thing is that I could have got hold of a bare bones system and put an illegal copy of XP Pro on it.  Why make it easier for someone to copy their program than actually buy it legally?  I hope a Pegasos hack of Amiga O/S 4.0 dosen't do the same!  (By the way I want O/S 4 for pegasos...could somebody please help me to put these worms back in the can  :-) .

You can make a image of Windows XP with Norton Ghost or Drive Image. The newest version of Drive Image can burn the image on CD immediately.
If you have a spare drive or a partition, you can put it there.

But you could better ask them an original OEM Windows XP version or a recovery CD, because you paid for a Windows XP license.

You do not have to boot from floppy. Most new motherboards let you boot from CD.

It is not very difficult to install Windows.

If you are experimenting with your harddisk, always backup your important data. They are found in the directory Documents and settings.

Per duesi's post, I recommend Drive Image from PowerQuest - particularly the new version 7 of it.  It can create an image of your partition or entire drive, even the one that you boot from, while it is in use.  There is no need to boot to DOS with a startup disk in order to create the image.  Doing it "online" also allows the image to be written to any device that the O.S. can write to (network, CD-R, CD-RW, USB hard drive, etc.) - not limited to specific devices or hardware that's directly connected to your machine or limited to the devices that the very small, limited boot floppy can support.  It also comes with an emergency startup CD that you can boot from for use with restoring the image if you need to.  I use it on my WinXP laptop, and it works great.

ACE wrote:
Windows XP pre-installed (OEM) which I presume will mean it has no disc with it.

There had better be a disc with it!  You paid for that license.

I have owned Gateway's, HP's, Compaq's, and most recently a Dell.  A "restore" disc was always provided.  If they wan't more money for something you should get as a consequence of paying for a Windows license, I say stuff 'em and find a different company to buy from!

If you have a llicence/cd-key why not just download an iso of the net, you could get the corp version with no activation crap.

I've used BackupMyPC a couple of times to do a full backup and it's
worked well for me.

Hmm...  I'd recommend going with the flow and using Norton (symantec, whatever) Ghost 2003.  

It works well with NTFS and FAT32, and can resize the restore on the fly, in case you want to shift around partition sizes,  or need to re-install the drive image to a different size hard drive.

It also has a very strong verify function, and I've never seen it create a bad image.  Plus, with "Ghost Explorer" you can pull a file or two out of a previous backup image.  

Whenever I go to format the Windows box and start over, I first make a ghost of it.  That way, any files I forgot to back up, I have in my ghost, and can restore...  Also, if for some reason (licensing, whatever) I need to restore the machine to a previous state, I could do that, as well... All from one compressed backup set.  :-)  

Personally, I would _NEVER_ pay for an operating system unless the installation media is included. If the whole package is a bargain I might settle with one of those recovery CDs - but what happens if you install new hardware and Windows asks you to "insert the Windows CD into your CD-ROM drive" to copy some DLLs not installed by default?

With Windows being as unstable as it is (viruses, trojans, spyware, registry breakdowns etc.) you shouldn't have to be without some way to reinstall your system.

Of course, the hard drive will come prepartitioned - probably as one huge C:\ - and if something blows up and you have to use the "repair" CD it will most likely wipe out all the contents of your drive.

By the way - if I own a Windows XP license but have no installation media, would it be illegal to use a home burned XP CD with my license key?