How to Make an XP Recovery CD

A Windows XP recovery CD is used to restore a corrupted or damaged installation of XP. Many computer manufacturers provide recovery CDs with the computers that they sell, though these discs can become misplaced or damaged over time. While it is generally possible to receive a replacement disc from the manufacturer, it is much quicker to simply make a recovery disc on your own. Creating an XP recovery CD should only take a few minutes, plus the time that it takes for your computer to burn the CD.

Things You'll Need

• Windows XP installation disc
• Genuine Windows XP product key
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 network install package
• Boot image extraction software
• CD writing software

Instructions

Setting Up the Recovery CD

1. Create two new folders on your hard drive, one named "XP" and the other named "SP3."

2. Open your Windows XP installation disc in Windows Explorer. Highlight the contents of the CD, dragging them to the folder named "XP" that you created in order to copy the CD.

3. Download the Windows XP Service Pack 3 installer and place it in the folder named "SP3."

4. Open the Start menu and select the "Run..." command.

5. Type "C:\SP3\WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU /integrate:C:\XP" into the Run prompt, making sure that the file path for the folders is properly formatted and that the only space in the line comes between the Service Pack 3 installer and the "/integrate" command. Press the "Enter" key and wait for the Service Pack 3 installer to be integrated into the XP installation files.

6. Click "OK" when the "Completed" message box appears.

Creating an Automated Installation

1. Open the Windows XP installation CD in Windows Explorer again and locate the "System" folder. Double-click it, then double-click on the "Tools" folder to access the advanced installation tools for Windows XP.

2. Double-click the "deploy.cab" archive file in order to open it, then double-click "setupmgr.exe" in order to launch the Setup Manager Wizard.

3. Select the option to "Create a New Answer File," then click "Next."

4. Choose the "Windows Unattended Installation" option, then click "Next" again.

5. Choose "Provide Defaults" when prompted for the user interaction level. Click "Next."

6. Mark the "No" option when prompted about a distribution folder, then click the "Next" button again. A new window will open to allow you to specify defaults.

7. Click the "Providing the Product Key" option on the left side of the window, then enter your Genuine Windows XP product key in the appropriate field on the right. Complete the wizard.

8. Save the "unattend.txt" file that is created by the wizard in the "XP" folder that you created previously; it will allow the recovery CD to fully reinstall Windows XP without you having to interact with the installer or enter the product key.

Creating the Recovery Disc

1. Extract the boot image from your Windows XP installation disc using your disc image extraction program; the option to extract the boot image should appear in the "Bootable Disc" section of the program. Save the BootImage.ima file that is created to the "SP3" folder.

2. Open your CD burning software. Select the option to create a bootable CD.

3. Set the load segment for the disc to "0x7C0," then set the sector count to "4." Make sure that the program is set to use the Joliet file system and that bootable disc emulation is turned off.

4. Choose BootImage.ima from the "SP3" folder as your boot image, and set the disc label to match that of your Windows XP installation disc.

5. Add the entire contents of the "XP" folder to your CD project, making sure that you include only the files and not the "XP" folder itself.

6. Burn the disc, then open it in Windows Explorer to make sure that both the installation files and the "Unattend.txt" file have been successfully burned to the CD.

Tips & Warnings

• Unattended installations are only possible with Windows XP Professional, as XP Home does not have the "System/Tools" folder that is used to create the Unattend.txt file on its installation disc.

References

• Microsoft.com Support: How to use System Files to Create a Boot Disk to Guard Against Being Unable to Start Windows XP
• PCMag.com: Build an XP SP3 Recovery Disc

Resources

• ImgBurn free boot image extraction and burning software
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 network installation package