Back up a notebook without a disc drive

Q I am considering buying a mini-notebook computer loaded with the Windows XP operating system. My main concern, though, is that these computers do not seem to include a CD drive.

I use disk imaging backup software on my current computer and wonder how it could be used on a
mini-notebook should the hard disk fail. I understand that Windows XP will not boot from a USB device and so I cannot see how I would start the computer. Also, should the hard disk fail, how is it possible to reload Windows?
Barry White

A Disk imaging, for the benefit of other readers, is a way of backing up a computer’s hard disk in its entirety so that, if it fails, you can just restore a complete copy to a replacement disk and keep working as though nothing had happened (you will of course lose any files changed or made since the last image, but that’s the same with any kind of backup).

The point here is that usually, when your hard disk fails, you will need to use a CD in order to restore the hard disk image, and these small computers don’t have CD drives. The answer here is to use a USB device. Some computers have trouble using USB memory keys at startup time but it’s increasingly rare and a new computer should be fine. If you can get hold of a USB CD drive, though, that should allow you to boot from a CD.

Alternatively you can create a bootable USB memory key and then set the computer to use it at startup time – there are several methods available on the internet, one is for the HP Mininote and another is for Asus Eee PCs, but the method will work on all mini-notebooks or even other PCs. These instructions explain how to install Windows XP from a USB memory key.

Once Windows is installed you can install the backup software and recover the backup image.