Windows only 
I received a tip from Mark over the weekend that NeoSmart had posted their Windows 7 recovery disc ISO images just like they did when Vista was released. These discs are extremely handy to have especially if you didn’t receive any installation media with your new computer, which is a common occurrence when purchasing from a majority of manufacturers including Dell and HP.
Why are these recovery discs useful? They include the most important part of what you can find on the Windows 7 installation disc if you purchase a retail copy of the OS. These recovery discs strip away everything except for the recovery portion, which brings the size down to about 5% of what the normal disc weighs in at. With it you’ll able to do things like restore your computer from a backup, repair the startup, roll back to a System Restore point, run diagnostics, open the command prompt, and more.
I’ve used the Vista Recovery Disc numerous times to fix my own machine when the startup has become corrupt (namely because of installing and uninstalling several different Linux distributions). All I have to do is throw in the CD/DVD, run the Startup Repair, and Windows always manages to diagnose and fix the problem within minutes (example). This is something Microsoft got right in Vista… it’s a recovery tool that shockingly works, and the same functionality has been carried over into Windows 7.
So what do you have to do? Well, you simply download the ISO image below, burn it to a disc, boot your computer with it, and begin the recovery process. Here’s the 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) versions of the recovery tool that I’ve uploaded to MediaFire so that you don’t have to download them through a torrent:
- Windows 7 Recovery Disc 32-bit (x86) – 144MB
- Windows 7 Recovery Disc 64-bit (x64) – 166MB
If you want to download it through a torrent jump on over to NeoSmart where you’ll find the links you need. Thanks again to Mark for the tip!
Ahhh…I wish I had known about the Vista one 3 weeks back, see what happens when you out of the Windows loop for 4+ years. I had to work on my father’s boss’ laptop, but since I didn’t have a Vista disc to restore and he didn’t have the disc that came with the laptop ultimately we choose to install Ubuntu on it as he only uses Firefox. This is good to know, thanks.
i had a “vista” partition on the drive and no vista software disk with a new pc,this is paid for but they wont let you have one at zoostorm,or from reading any pc manufacturer.its not on just to rely on that partition.
they send out a recovery disk but thats about it for problems.
On my newer laptop i have an hidden recovery partition with OEM Vista. Boot menu and it can be activated.
I recently installed a fresh “7″ because i hated my Vista experience (7 has only crashed twice in about 2 months, while Vista crashed a lot) but decided to keep that hidden partition untouched.
I also made some OEM backup recovery dvds when i bought it, but as i decided to install a fresh copy of vista on that moment (XP would work but it had some driver issues) without crapware and bloatware, i installed a clean system.
I am not much supporter on recovery for an working operating system. Sure its more easy and fast, but there’s nothing more cool than a new fresh copy of windows. Sure it takes a bunch of time tweaking and installing additional software, but as you finish it … brand new fresh look.
Anyway, for emergency situations i believe recovery mode is awesome, to install an os … not for me.
Good post, thumbs up.
Thanks for this. Insurance is good to have.
Thanks,
Without unselfish and honest people like you guys us newbies would really be up a creek.
thanks alot was so badly stucked wid startup problem..got solution…
Thanks for this you are a life saver this works a treat and has got my systems backup and running 10/10
hope this works for the wifes new laptop if so a big thankyou
I need to recover my win7 RC so i can save some files and load the full version. Will this work for the RC as well?
The x86 recovery iso file is no longer present.
Thanks for the heads up – I’ve re-uploaded the file
downloading now, i would advise people to download both 32 and 64-bit and then to burn them to discs, just for a back up if you ever need them again… i deleted linux (ubuntu) and when i tried to restart i get the linux boot and win7 doesnt even load. biggest mistake ever installing linux. hopefully this will work will get back if it does, hopefully thx
I totally agree – people should definitely download these and have them handy. Because when you’ll need them is when you won’t have access to a working machine so that you can burn them.
try linux ubuntu version 10. its so interesting and very good OS than windows 7.
It was crashing because windows and linux do not get along that well together you shouldve installed ubuntu into a separate partition and then windows in another and have a 3rd partition with all of your files that they can both read
thank you so much for this tutorial. i downloaded the 64-bit one off my other laptop burned it using imgburn to a cd-r. switched on my other computer GRUB boot loaded and i put my repair disc in, switched it off then powered back up
then it came up, boot from cd or dvd press any key….
then went through the steps.
selected the command promt and typed exactly bootrec.exe/fixmbr
then it came up it had finished a second later restarted without the repair disk in and it now works fine without losing any data.
thankyou for this tutorial and download links 100% genuine. thankyou so much
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. LOVE U for this post! IT HELPED ME SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH! U ROCK!
You really saved my life with that post, I had all my studies work on my computer and now finally I can work with that. thanks a lot.
Can you provide download links for the Vista versions as well?
Thanks!!
We posted that awhile back: [cybernetnews.com]
Do you know a different between any Recovery Disk and any Repair Disc? Hey, Guru, these are not the same.
Do you really think about yourselves a guru?
I do realize that some users relate “recovery disc” to a disc provided by the manufacturer to restore a system. These, however, are more recently being called “restore discs”. I work with a lot of technical people on a regular basis, and recovery and repair discs have been being used interchangeably meaning the same thing. I’m sorry if you use different terminology.
Ryan,
That was a nice response to a rather snotty post. Thank you for the nice role model response.
Agreed. Too many snotty posts online in general, and it’s refreshing to see someone rising above that.
Thank you a lot – my startup problem was solved, and saved me a $15,000 deal that I would’ve missed out on.
HELP. My windows 7 was running fine until an update needed to restart. It brought up the BSOD. I was able to go on the safe mode once. Then I tried system restore. It said it was successful, but it gave me the BSOD once restarted. I then grabbed the recovery disc that I have — but not realising that I grabbed the wrong one. I put it in the machine and it ran — but my desktop is a 32-bit. The start-up repair disc I grabbed was the 64bit. Ever since, now my desktop gets nothing but a blank screen but can move the mouse cursor around. Any help would be appreciated.Thank you.
Bro – use the 32 bit iso, works a charm!If you read the whle thread you would understand i think
Dude! you saved me from so much pain, I had partitioned to to run 7 dual booting to xp, ran it from ISO and didnt make a system restore typically enough you dont do it and stuff goes backwards this post saved my machine from being a pavement bomb – thank you so much!!!!!!
I did bootrec/fixBoot and I also tried bootrec/fixbr
it said operation successfully.. but whenever my computer starts.. the windows logo shows up and the cursor(no background just black) shows for one second and my computer just restarts itself automatically. I’m in real mental pain..
Does anyone have a fix or anything? PLEASE Help me!
THANK YOU VERY MUTCHHHH IT WORKEDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Brand new pc with Windows 7 on it. When trying to start the pc a message comes up “To start windows recovery process” with like a click here and also “To start windows normally” When I click on either of these it just goes to a blank screen?? What do I do??
Could I download this and install windows 7 without a product key?
Hope help still alive… 8-D
No, these discs only include recovery tools. They do not include the full install.
Thank
When I download the file, and burn it to a disc, do i have to unzip it first? Because I’ve burned it, and nothing is happening for me when I pu tthe disc into my laptop…..?
Just make sure that the OPTICAL DRIVE (DVD/CD/BluRay Drive) is the first boot option in your laptop BIOS.
to go to BIOS menu, press f2 while booting…
Thanks
great utility. the ISO burned perfectly. can I restore the boot loader? first time repairing win 7 and there is no fdisk/mbr command. thanks
Hi Guys,
What happens when your hard drive dies and you need to buy a new one, how will this help you?
I am with Howard. My laptop is under warrentee & HP has sent new hd but it is blank and I called so they are sending me a Repair Disc. Do not know how this is going to help if I need to reinstall Windows 7 64-bit. How would your download help Howard and myself as well?
Thanks, great work.
thank you so much dude
this is just a great tool
everything is working again
thanks thanks thanks
2 words: THANK YOU. Especially for the torrent alternative which I couldnt find online just 2 weeks ago… THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
My windows 7 OS crashed, hence why I’m here. I downloaded, burned, booted, ect. ect. ect. Everything seems to be going fine, according to the step by step pictures shown above. Except after I select which keyboard I wish to use, no new windows follow it. I simply remain on the fancy windows 7 screen with a pretty little plant growing on the right side of the screen. All I can do is move the mouse around. I don’t know what to do =(
Please help!
does anyone know where to get a iso of the windows 7 64bit full install. Ive tried both startup repair (which has begun failing) and recovery (which doesnt give me an option to go back far enough to fix the problem) so I want to do a clean install. Anywhere I can get this free?
Cannot think you enough for posting this. You are a life saver!!
It is 1:30am, and I was stuck on boot due to me experimenting with Ubuntu. I was about to not have access to another pc for quite some time after tomorrow morning, so thank you very very much for this. Popped it on a usb drive and wow, so much easier than I thought.
Will the Windows 7 Recovery CD help if I’ve installed Ubuntu to dual boot, yet it somehow took over Windows 7 and no longer gives me the option to boot up in Windows? I only get the option for Ubuntu! I figured out how to retrieve all the windows files and app info, but it’s as though I lost Windows 7 forever! HELLLPP!! Thanks
Thanks you guys!
Hi, I have bought a computer with windows 7 home that its language is in German. If I want to change the language in English or French how I can do that. I want to receive all messages and menus language either in English or French.
Thank you.
Damn thanks alot now i cant fix my computer
Dang both links are gone
They are back
This is a keeper!
Glad you posted the Vista link as well.
Will these work with brand names like Lenovo and HP?
Thanks Ryan, i owe you a beer or two!
Ha – no problem. It should work fine with both retail and OEM installs of Windows 7.
Can you please re-upload the files? The torrent doesn’t work for me.
It should be working for you now.
Is this this method different from making a recovery disc following instructions on nearly new hp laptop (windows 7). I am not very good at this technical stuff.