System recovery made easy with Vista’s Pre-installation Environment

Recovering from a failed boot or needing to perform other system maintenance functions prior to loading Windows has always been a challenge. But there is good news. With the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft now provides its Pre-installation Environment (PE) to all licensed users. Once available only to volume licensing customers, PE provides easy access to several critical tools. For example, you can repair the master boot record, restore Vista to a previous working state, restore the entire PC from a backup image, test memory, and gain access to the command line tools. To access system recovery option, follow these steps:

1. Boot your system from the Vista installation disc.
2. Select your language, time and currency format, and keyboard type.
3. Click Next, and then click on the Repair Your Computer link to display the System Recovery Options dialog box.
4. Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
5. On the Choose A Recovery Tool page, click on the link corresponding to the task you want to complete.