Answer:
When a computer is assembled at the factory, it is preloaded with an OS (operating system), some basic applications such as CD/DVD burning programs, and a bunch of pesky trial offers. But PC manufacturers don’t take the time to manually install the OS and software. Instead, they simply load a complete system image from a CD or DVD directly to the system’s hard drive. The PC is shipped with a self-booting, self-installing copy of the disc that includes the entire factory-fresh image. This is the PC’s restoration (or recovery) disc.
A restoration disc is not a conventional Windows OS disc (and vice versa), therefore it often cannot be used as if it were a true Windows disc. The restoration disc includes the OS, but it also includes every driver and other software product that came with your system. If Windows were the only item loaded on your system, then a Windows disc could serve as a restoration disc, but these days, using a typical restoration disc is an all-or-nothing process.
A restoration disc is your ultimate troubleshooting tool. Suppose that your copy of Windows becomes damaged from a virus or key applications become corrupted. Symptoms such as instability, crashing, indecipherable error messages, and impaired performance are extremely hard to diagnose by yourself—even if you have the help of a customer support technician on the telephone. If the most common corrective steps fail, you can always use the restoration disc to recover your PC back to its known-good, factory-fresh state. |