Almost four years ago, NeoSmart Technologies published a Windows Vista repair and recovery CD that could be used to treat common boot issues and recover from catastrophic system failure in case you didn’t have a Windows setup CD handy.
Over the years, we’ve added more recovery CDs to the collection, ending up with a complete portfolio of repair CDs for Windows Vista and Windows 7 in both 32- and 64-bit flavors. We’ve had the good fortune of being able to host these CDs on our site in one form or the other for free download to millions of users around the globe.
Three months ago, we were contacted by the legal department at Microsoft Corporation asking us to discontinue hosting these files. Until this point, we were not aware that Microsoft was displeased with our hosting of the CDs and in fact enjoyed a rather healthy relationship with the Microsoft support forums where victims of PC crashes would be directed to our site to download a copy of the repair CDs.
Since then, we have been in talks and negotiations with the Microsoft legal and licensing divisions, trying to work out a method whereby we could provide our users and visitors with access to these CDs once again. Today we’re excited to announce that these CDs are once more available for download!
There’s some mixed good and bad news, however. The good news is that all downloads will be direct HTTP links, so no need to learn how to use a torrent client or fiddle around with open network ports: just plain, standard, direct, and very fast HTTP downloads for all our ISO images. We’ve also taken this opportunity to update the repair CDs and add a virus scanner (powered by ClamWin) as well as some command-line tools and utilities that were missing from some of the images.
The bad news is that there will now be a nine dollar download charge for each CD. There was no way for us to avoid charging this, as we now pay a licensing fee to Microsoft in exchange for making these CDs available, and also pay per download to outsource the high-speed web hosting for these large CD images (150 to 200 MiB, each) to an outside service.
We look forward to updating these repair and recovery CDs over time and adding more tools and utilities to help you save your PCs from the brink of death. We thank you for your patience with us over the past few months during which the downloads were suspended, and truly appreciate your understanding of the situation.
Download Links
Download Windows Recovery Disks (x86/x64)
- Using Windows Vista?
Download the disk for Windows Vista from here - Using Windows 7?
Download the disk for Windows 7 from here - Using Windows 8?
Download the disk for Windows 8 from here
It would be nice if you provided technical info on what’s included on these discs and how they differ from a Windows recovery disc made from the installed OS itself.
twokatmew: System Recovery, Windows Restore, automated startup repair, automated blue screen diagnosis, memory health checker, antivirus, and all the command-line tools one needs if Windows is misbehaving.
I downloaded the recovery disks for Windows 7, I’m running Windows 7 Ultimate but when I tried to run the check for problems it came back saying that the OS doesn’t match the program running. It appears that when I tried to run this tool it is reading my OS as Vista and not Windows 7. Do you have any suggestions or a fix to this problem?
Kenneth, sounds like you need the 32 and not 64 bit version. Or vice versa. Send an email to sales@neosmart.net and we’ll send you the other link for free.
mahmoud i need free software for my pc..im having a system recovery problem..2 days ago,my sister used my pc and the next day i use my pc something appears on the screen..need to repair system recovery..can u plss help me???
Archilles: I’m sorry, but we cannot give away free links to these products as we are licensing them from Microsoft.
I have this laptop
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/hp-pavilion-dv9627cl-turion/1707-3121_7-33394465.html
Yesterday I was trying to restore it to factory settings to clean it up and give to my daughter to use. I put in the recovery cd that I made when I first got the computer. It did nothing. It acted like the disk was blank and wanted me to prepare it for use. So then I went to the system recovery on my computer and went to set to factory settings without the cd. It started and in less then 5 minutes came up with an error.
Now, every time I turn on the computer I get this Message: BOOTMGR is MISSING, press ctrl, alt, delete.
Will this program fix this problem? I have Windows Vista Home Premium. How do I know if mine is a 32 or 64 bit before I purchase the program? Thanks for any help you can supply!
I just downloaded your windows 7 x64 recovery disc thinking that you would have tools on there to repair my MBR. I was not happy when the first screen I see is the exact same as the repair option from an OEM disk (called System Recovery Options). When I try the OEM repair as well as your disk it hangs there with the wait cursor just spinning and no OS partitions showing up. Then I am not able to go any further to even try anything else that might be on the disc. I know the drive is in tact as I am able to boot in and using ghost see the partitions, folders and files it just seems that the MBR is messed up. Some advice as to how your disc has more capabilities that the OEM repair would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Matt,
While the CDs we offer are similar to the ones that you can make with your PC (and share a similar welcome screen), they have more commandline utilities for advanced repair functionality (repair instructions at http://j.mp/BcdRepair), and feature an antivirus scanner. I hope this clears things up somewhat.
Shortly after Win 7 was released, I needed a recovery/repair disc. I burned the one that was offered within Win 7, it did no good.
I lucked up and found these on this site (free at that time, and a direct download), as well as a Vista one. The Win 7 64 bit disc that I obtained from this site did the trick. So far, whenever I needed it, it’s always worked for me.
Cat
I just downloaded the recovery ISO for Vista 64-bit, and I’m finding myself utterly unsuccessful at using it. I came back to this site to try to troubleshoot my issues, but the screenshots of the program on this site look nothing like what the program looked like on my computer.
Just to be clear on the situation, my computer decided to blink out on me one day mid-use, and since has been unable to boot. I can’t access Windows or my recovery partition. I thought that this tool would allow me to boot in and use auto-repair, but after fixing one problem, then having me restart, when I attempt further repairs, I’m given a message that there is no OS installed on the harddrive. Having run the virus scanner before attempting to repair, I saw that all the files are still on the harddrive, so I’m sort of confused.
Any advice would be welcome.
Hi, I tried to download the 32bit Windows Vista recovery Disc and the download was interrupted, because of an unscheduled PC reboot. Is there a way that I could start the download again? My Order Number is [censored]. I would appreciate it if you could help me.
You can always access your order on this page: http://systemdiscs.com/orderstatus.php
I’m running into a problem using my Windows 7 install DVD as a recovery disc. My system is Windows 7 SP1 64bit and it is installed on a Intel z68 RAID 1 volume. The problem is when I boot from the DVD and select “repair your computer” — after the keyboard/country selection screen I get an error message stating that the version of recovery that I’m attempting to use does not match the version of OS on my system. Obviously this isn’t true — but I’m stuck at that point.
Would your repair CD have any more success in this area? I’m wondering if the problem is that the Intel RST drivers need to be loaded in order for the recovery OS to see the partition properly? Have you tested your recovery discs on an Intel z68 Sandybridge based RAID volume?
Aaron, it sounds like you’re using a 32-bit CD on a 64-bit PC or vice-versa.
Hi Mahmoud, nope…I’m using my install DVD to boot into Win 7 recovery mode. Strictly 64bit — and the exact same DVD that installed the OS in the first place.
Hi again. Problem Solved! My DVD drive was connected to the same controller as my RAID 1 volume — and thus in RAID mode. I moved the DVD drive to a secondary controller in IDE mode and I was able to boot to a screen that allowed me to install the RST drivers and select the RAID volume. The “wrong version” error seems to have been a red herring.
I have the same original problem as Mary above does. I never made a recovery disk from the “Factory_Image” partition (drive D) and I can’t get the old HP to boot. I down loaded your Win Vista 64 bit last night and tried it. This is an HP with quad processors and 6 gig of RAM so I’m sure it was 64 bit.
First thing I tried was the Automatic Repair option….no good. Finally I went to the command prompt and tried to run the bootrec.exe repair. Typing the whole file name got me the help screen (as seen in a You Tube video that led me to this site) but when I tried to do “bootrec /fixmbr” command, it says “invalid parameter”. I did then try the “bootrec /fixboot” command and it appeared to complete. On a roll….right? So I did the “bootrec /ScanOS” and it said there was no OS.
At this point, I just did a C: to see if it showed anything. To my surprise, it showed me the “Factory_Image” partition that is supposed to be on D drive. When I type, D: it shows me my folders that should be under C drive. If I try changing to a directory with the cd foldername it tells me “Access Denied”. I’m about to pull out the last few hairs I have left on my head? Any idea how the drive letter designations got reversed or how I change them. I can get into the “Setup” screen but that doesn’t seem to be the actual BIOS window.
Any help would be appreciated.
My son turned off my computer using the on/off button. My screen is now black and white. It says “Windows Boot Manager” It tells me to insert my installation disc, yada yada yada. I read on a few websites that your program will do the same thing as the factory disc but instead of wiping the computer clean I can just go to a recovery date and save all my data. I bought your Windows Vista 32bit, burned it from another computer and put it in mine. I hear it run, but nothing happens.
The other info on the Windows Boot manager screen says File: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Status: Oxc000000f
Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.
Is there a way to get your program to run? I hate to waste money.
Beth, it sounds like it was either not burned correctly (you should see a file called Welcome.exe in the CD drive if you burned it right) or your PC is not configured to boot from the CD in the BIOS. To boot from the CD drive, you typically need to press an F key right when you turn your PC on.
I purchased your windows 7 32bit recovery disk on 10/20/2011. The disk will boot but then upon clicking on next it says that this version of windows 7 will not work with it. The version is Windows 7 Home Preimum. I also bought a vista disk and it worked without any problem. Please look into this.
Thanks in advance Tom Henehan
So Microsoft want money for the tools needed to repair their unreliable operating system? No wonder Mac and Ubuntu are doing so well…
YOU ALL ARE THE GREATEST!! Had to go in and rebuild the MBR from the C Promt but the instructions were easy to follow and my system is WORKING!!! Thank you a thousand times.
HI I’m very excited about finding your site and hopeful now about getting my laptop fixed!! I have a question about downloading the Windows Recovery…the laptop I am able to use Doesn’t have a CD drive, so can I download to the USB Flash drive instead?
The laptop I can download on is a Acer Aspire One Netbook, w/Windows 98, and the laptop w/the problem is a Acer Aspire 7751.
Thank You,
Denise M.
Sorry….forgot to mention, the Aspire 7751, has Windows 7, 64 bit.
Thanks,
Denise M.
Denise, the instructions you are looking for can be found here: http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Step-by-Step+Guide+to+Making+a+Bootable+Windows+Recovery+USB
Good luck!
Hi Mahmoud…Thank You for answering my question so quickly. But I’m sorry I am still a bit confused…..the netbook I am using has Windows 98…the sick laptop has windows 7, 64 bit. Can I download on the Windows 98 netbook….as long as I download right to the USB? If not….can I buy a disk on your site that is already made for Windows 7? If not then I guess I must find someone that has Windows 7…but in that case will the person have to have Windows 7 and have 64 bit as well??
Thank You,
Denise M.
I really do need clarification on this….even though the netbook I would be using as the device to download, has Windows 98….if I downloaded straight to the USB…would it matter? Can I do this or if not can I buy a pre made CD for Windows 7, 64 bit?
Thank You,
Denise M.
Nice job helping Microsoft dick over their paying customer base. I’m switching to Mac or Linux. I’m sick of being penalized and criminalized for trying to follow the rules. HDMI can’t boot with almost anything, my BluRay disc player argues with me when I divert output home-made video because it assumes I’m a pirate, and now I can’t get a Windows 7 recovery disc to use while on a business trip even though I bought Windows 7 legitimately. Good job everyone.
I am attempting to repair my acer aspire one D255 netbook which has windows 7 starter pre installed. After I ran the recovery options built in, I am now getting a message missing operating system. I am looking for a repair disk that I can download and burn to a disk as I do have an external drive. However I do not find a 32 bit option for windows 7 nor a windows 7 starter. Please let me know where I can find this.
Thanks
So I don’t even get to have the free recovery disc that you advertised, and this has been yet another waste of my time? How am I supposed to ever boot Windows again if I can’t run bootrec.exe? Does Microsoft even want people to be able to use their operating system? I thought computers were supposed to make our lives easier or be somehow liberating, but all I ever see is frustrating, dysfunctional fascism, spam, spyware, and viruses, stupidity, and people wasting my time. Thanks a lot.
Paid hundreds of dollars for a laptop that doesn’t come w/a startup or installation disk was the crapiest move I ever made. I’m not a computer genius and yea I went in deleted things I shouln’t have, because after awhile I was so frustrated that it kept shutting off on me in the middle of my work and every time it does that it will not boot back up. I don’t have no problem paying the $9 for the download, but after reading how many frustrated users after they download and not being able to solve their problem…Microsoft is a billionaire company and w/so many frustrated customers, I don’t understand??? I have a Windows Vista Home Premium…you would think the word ‘Premium’ means you’re getting something slightly above an average…go figured. Too many hours I spent looking for answers to no avail.
I purchased your windows 7 32bit recovery disk on 10/20/2011. The disk will boot but then upon clicking on next it says that this version of windows 7 will not work with it. The version is Windows 7 Home Preimum.
>>>>Above is a previous customers complaint<<<<
I have exactly the same problem. Your recovery disk will not recognize Win 7 installation, suggested I use WinRe for unkown Windows instead. " What the".
Do you have an answer to this problem or have I wasted my money as the previous customer did.
Haha, I love this “Microsoft threatened us .. blabla .. so pay 9 dollars to access the file”.
Be brave and tell the thruth (lol.. that bs)
@Someone we send them a check every month.
What about different languages than english ? Can I still use that Recovery CD if I have for egzample sweedish version of Windows Vista Business x86 ? This Vista crashed after SP1 installation and I don’t have any orignal Recovery CD in sweedish language version.
I am getting this error when i start my dell laptop “windows 7 0xc00000e9 unexpected i o error”, will your software be able to fix this kind of issues before buying it. it doesn’t start on safe mode and doesn’t do anything.
@CharlieK: It’ll work for all languages.
To use your Recovery Disk (EasyRE Vista.iso) a login & a password are required. I do not know them.
Is it possible to get them ?
Regards
Hi,
I purchased the recovery disk for Windows 7.
My system is a Windows 7 Home Premium.
Trying to boot from the HD it tells me that no OS is available.
When I start the automated recovery it cannot find any valid Windows partition. How can I proceed from here?
Gparted shows all partitions just fine and I can access the data on them from a ubuntu live CD.
Mine didn’t download in ISO format it came in 2 files, one is labeled BOOT and has ISOLINUX folder, BZIMAGE and ROOTFS. The other folder is labeled boot.images with no_emul.00 in it. Did i download the wrong thing?
never mind i just realized what i did wrong. Force of habit i expanded it
I was planning on purchasing this for my Windows 7 (I’m not whether 32 or 64 bit though) but that’s not the problem. After reading up more on this Recovery CD, I want to know if it would help at all on my HP Inspiron since a black screen with a cursor comes up and doesn’t go past there. I have no idea what it means or how it happened. Would this be the correct software to purchase and fix my computer? Please help. Anyone 🙂 Thank-you
Anyone having issues with the CDs should email support@systemdiscs.com.
This is not a support forum.
I have a recovery disk , made myself from Vista OS . Now the computer is crashed , and While I want to recover the Vista from the bck up disk , it turns off the mouse and keyboard, so on the screen it has select a recovery option, but I can not select .
Now if I buy this recovery disk , what will happen if the mouse and keyboard do not function ?
salam Mahmoud Al Qudsi. I was just wondering if I can download this on DVD instead of CD? And also my laptop is the windows 7 ultimate SP but I am not so sure if it is vista. Can you help me figure out if my laptop is windows 7 or windows 7 vista?
I’ve just run the EasyRe automatic repair in an attempt to rescue a Dell PC sufferîng from the Vista Black Screen of Death. It seems to work except that the windows security is now requesting a password at start-up when previously the PC was not password protected. Just pressing return does not work. Either the domain cant be found or the user is unknown. So what do I do now? The PC is a Swiss German machine and has booted using the German configuation. Thanks.
Thanks, Microsoft … so I got my notebook without a Vista/Win7 install CD/DVD because you were affraid of copies and the “recovery partition” is useless if I don’t want to loose all my data and installations (which, by the way, once upon a time didn’t need a “Registry” so I could copy their directories) … and now I needed a larger disk in that notebook (no way for a second disk) and Acronis DriveCopy made a bad job because of the arcane format of that “recovery partition” and I need to fix my BCD and in order to fix that I need the installation media – which you made unavaillable … I hate you (M$ that is) … Why should I PAY for a disk I already payed for ???? Hell am I looking forward to the app store … THAT will be business from hell … thank you Mr. Jobs for that idea too :-(.
Well, Microsoft, good job. I was gonna download this “legal” version of the Vista Recovery Disk for free. But now, since you are paywalling me, I am just going to go do the sensible thing and torrent it. Here’s a fat middle finger to you and your goddamn lawyers. This is why no one likes your sorry asses, and why the rest of the world would rather use buggy Ubuntu over your bloated, overpriced crap. By the way, Windows 8 = sucks worse than anything you’ve made yet. Handheld phone computers and tablets are for idiots, and you are catering to them. Derp.
Will the old “free” ISO images I downloaded some time ago still work? I don’t have them ‘handy’ for this email, but will have to see their date/build level/OS level of support.