boot disk for Windows 7

I do not think I will have my own Windows 7 DVD. I am thinking of buying a computer with Windows 7 preinstalled, so I will not have the Win7 DVD myself. But I want to be able to boot and repair the computer if it crashes.

So with your make/model, HP had given you 2 recovery medias when you bought your HP computer or did you create the 2 medias yourself? Sorry, did not understand. Does your Windows 7 software allow you to create your own boot and repair DVD and restore to factory settings?

If I burn my own DVD of Win7, what is the option I pick to burn it? Will it just be burned as a "Data" media or something else?

What this machine did is not very interesting. It will not be the same on each machine.

"If I burn my own DVD of Win7, what is the option I pick to burn it? Will it just be burned as a "Data" media or something else?"

There should be NO CHOICES HERE. I know this may be hard to accept but in consumer products you can't allow any choices for a few easy reasons. We'd have to discuss product development and support to explain this but let's just say "no." It will make restore media and that's it.
Bob

but many people still check these old posts for answer to questions as windows 7 will be around for awhile.

To answer the previous question, I belive he meant to make a copy of the actual dvd disc. In which case, your normal burning software will probably not do. I know for a fact that my Nero 9 will not copy any dvd that it copy protected. I wont go into the dvd video section, but needless to say you'll prolly have to to hunt around for a another utility if you normal software won't copy it.

Now if you were curious about backing up your data... I can help a bit more. I have 2 hidden partitions on my system, one like yours, and a larger 12Gb one that I have so far assumed contains the recovery section of my windows 7 install. As of March 2010, this may be something they all have now, I dont know, but at least my acer netbook does. If you dont have that, most computers pre-installed with W7 will have a recovery software, unique to the brand, like hp, or acer's eRecovery, dell, etc etc. And as they update their software for such, the recovery software you find on 2 identicle haps, bought 6 mos apart, very well may have differences, so watch out.

You can also call the manufacturer of the product, like hp, acer or dell, etc. and ask them for a recovery disk to be mailed to you. Acer, at least, charges for this.

You'll also find 2 new options in the system restore module that xp didn't have. Namely, "restore from image" and "return to factory".

Where does the image come from? You make, with 3rd party software, the revert to factory I assume contains the the entire core of windows 7 on a hidden partition. I arrive at this assumption as sfc.exe deosn't require me to use any external media to restore items that were deleted by accident. You can see my other posts for more details on that. Word to the wise, if you have an acer, don't waste your time with their support. They are idiots. At least the idiots are free tho. Lol