How do you reinstall an OS if manufacturer doesn't include a recovery disk?

Factual Questions
21

Question: My recovery drive occupies 9MB and I have a USB stick that holds 16. If I copy it can I boot from that?

The only time I backed up the OS on DVDs, when I needed to restore, at least one of them was defective (although I had used the option to check the accuracy of the copy when I made them) and I had to take it back to the guy (a local free-lance OEM) to get it restored.

22

One of the first things I always do with a new machine is run PC Decrapifier on it.

This handy tool uninstalls most crapware.

23

depends on if your machine can boot from USB. in the CMOS/BIOS it will show the bootable locations and the order to try them.

24

As a gamer I can’t do that. D:

25

When I get a new computer that someone else built, I do the following:

[ol]
[li]Set up the hardware.[/li][li]Attach an external hard drive and boot to SystemRescueCD.[/li][li]Create an “Out-of-Box” image.[/li][li]Boot to the PC’s hard drive, delete shovelware, repartition the hard drive to my liking, add basic applications I use on all computers (Firefox, OpenOffice.org, etc.).[/li][li]Boot to SystemRescueCD, create a “Day One” image.[/li][li]Boot to the PC’s hard drive, add any additional applications specific to the function for that PC.[/li][li]Boot to SystemRescueCD, create a “Gold Disk” image.[/ol][/li]
The “Gold Disk” image is my initial full backup of the PC’s everyday operating condition. The “Day One” image is valuable if I ever repurpose the PC for a different primary function, to easily rid it of old function-specific applications and prepare it for new ones. I’ve never had to use one, but after restoring to “Day One,” I would upgrade any of the basic applications and create a new “Day One” image for that box before proceeding. The “Out-of-Box” image is valuable should I ever need to send a machine back to the manufacturer to ensure that they didn’t try to slither out of a warranty claim because the software wasn’t the same as it was when they warrantied it.

Obviously, when I build a computer from scratch, I don’t bother with the “Out-of-Box” image.

26

Also, this doesn’t address the OP, at all. Imagine the OP purchased a Linux desktop that didn’t come with an OS disk?

If you want backup optical media or even a startup disk to use on other machines, you still need to burn it.