Create rescue partition containing image of windows install

[kevyn]

I was wondering how easy/hard it is to create a rescue partition on customers computers?

Sometimes I do a fresh install of windows+ software on a customers computer, I think to myself 'I wish I could create an image and leave it on the customers computer'

- you know when you just know that the customer will make the same mistakes again and bring the machine back to you in 12 months time full of junk/viruses/malware/pirated software etc

so yeah, is there a simple way of wrapping up your installation and creating a little partition for it to sit on until next time you need it?

 

[Martyn]

You could Ghost an image to your own external hard drive and label accordingly?

 

[iptech]

I've left a copy of the disk image on some PCs on a WAN I've done for a customer as there are now three three different builds required for their network. I haven't bothered to make it a boot option though, it'll cause too many problems as the builds need final localisation and customisation and why would you want to give your work away?

I also keep backup copies of their images on a hard drive so I have a copy ready-to-hand should I ever need to reimage one of their machines or if they introduce new machines onto their network.

Don't make life hard for yourself and easy for the end-user or local pizza tech to come in and take work from you.

 

[kevyn]

yeah that's a good point about leaving my work for someone else to come and 'repair' - although they might not appreciate the www.leamtech.com branding if another company does the work!

Perhaps I'll see how big these images are and invest in some more storage

 

[PC Problems]

Hi,

If the customer is paying you for your time, and they then download 100's of virus and spyware and trash it again - why are you doing yourself out of work and money?

Simply charge them to re-install again?

Doesn't make much business sense to me...

Just my opinion, you may think differently.

 

[MobileTechie]

I agree - unless you charge extra for that image.

 

[vdub12]

Heres the thing. A big OEM warranties the hardware so it does not matter to them much to restore an image to fix a computer. However, you are not an OEM and you work and care about the software and data. You honestly have no reason to make an image. When the customer messes it up again they can pay you for your time again. When I am done cleaning up a computer or reloading it I delete all past restore points and make a customer restore point with my business name on it. That way it gives the customer an option to restore the computer back to when I gave it back to them. However, if that does not work they can call me and have me fix it again.

 

[NeutronTech]

When I am done cleaning up a computer or reloading it I delete all past restore points and make a customer restore point with my business name on it. That way it gives the customer an option to restore the computer back to when I gave it back to them. However, if that does not work they can call me and have me fix it again.

That's a good idea! Also, nothing wrong with making an image to keep for yourself on the server. If it ever does come back in again and needs a reload, you can still charge what you would normally charge for a reinstall but just use the image instead. There is nothing wrong with charging full price when you have an image stored. It's just being more efficient.

 

[vdub12]

That's a good idea! Also, nothing wrong with making an image to keep for yourself on the server. If it ever does come back in again and needs a reload, you can still charge what you would normally charge for a reinstall but just use the image instead. There is nothing wrong with charging full price when you have an image stored. It's just being more efficient.

That is true and how cheap storage space is you would need less then 10Gb per customer, Less if the image is compressed.

However, I would only do this with "High risk" customers.