Creating A Backup Partition?

Urzu1000

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Dec 24, 2013
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On my work computer, there's an option when it boots up to start "Windows 7" or to start "Recovery". The former boots into Windows 7 normally, but the latter basically does a clean install of Windows 7 with some additional programs pre-installed.

After looking in Diskpart, I learned that this "backup/recovery" thing is located on a separate partition.

I would like to do the same thing on a friend's laptop which I just repaired. What is this called?
How do I set it up? Can I have it reset the PC to the exact way I have it set up now, with all the programs and codecs I've installed?

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the newbie question. :D