Set Up a Recovery Drive First, you'll want to set up the recovery drive while Windows is still alive and working so you capture it at its best. Connect a USB drive or insert a DVD into your computer.

I have a Compaq V2405CA (V2000 series) laptop here that I want to prep to give to a local charity. I can't put any more money into it, so I'm trying to find a cheap way to get a Windows CD for it. It ...

Having bootable media ready can be a real lifesaver when you need to do a clean installation of Windows. Thankfully, it's easy to set that up. There are two main ways to create bootable media for a ...