Vista upgrade

[chernaev]

Hi, i have upgraded Win Vista Home Premium on a Sony Vaio VGN N11S/W and i wonder if i could reinstall my OS in case of needed with the Vista upgrade DVD. I guess not but i have this software "Reinstall Utility" going with the laptop and i don't know if i can make an original copy of Win Vista H.P. with it.
TY

[rich912]

Hi chernaev,

If you have used an upgrade CD then it will be necessary to first return your notebook to factory settings by using your original (XP) recovery CD’s prior to using the upgrade disks once again – this will of course be time consuming.

An alternative is to make either a disk image of the OS (stored on your hard drive) or create a cloned disk (the better alternative but it will cost you an additional hard drive plus an external USB caddy – circa £70). If you wish to go down this route I would recommend Acronis True Image.

[chernaev]

Thank You!
Would you explain me a bit more for the second alternative.
Can't i just make the image and store it on a bootable dvd or something like that?

[kee-lo_]

Hi,

Rich means that you would buy an enclosure with a hard disk. You then connect this to your VAIO and make an image of the hard disk with Acronis TrueImage and store it on the enclosed hard disk.