Windows 8 Assist

[Broadback]

Twice since I have had my new PC I have lost the system and needed to use the assist button. In as much as it kept my data it was fine, however all the programs I had loaded were lost. As there are many it takes me ages to re-instate them. Is there an easy way to save the contents of the Programme files (x86) and re-instate it?

[Simon]

I believe there are facilities where you can create a 'ghost' or 'clone' copy of the drive.  Whether it will get around reinstalling programs, I don't know, but someone will.... 

[Simon]

Have you any idea what's causing the issues in the first place?  Obviously, to address that might save future problems from occurring. 

[Broadback]

No idea whatsoever Simon

[psp83]

Once you get windows up and running and everything installed that you need/want.

Create a "image" of the drive, you can use Macrium Reflect for this.. http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

That way, you can just restore the drive with the image when something goes wrong, remember to backup personal files though (E.g. documents, pics etc)

[Steve]

Any OS is very stable these days, you shouldn't lose the system unless you've got a hardware issue,malicious or accidental file deletion or malware/trojan activity.

An imaged drive will restore to the previous state provided any faults have not been carried over to the image.