I have Vista operating on a Compaq Presario desktop. Shortly after purchasing the computer (over a year ago), the CD burner stopped working, so I never created any system recovery disks. I only have the disks that came with the PC. Yesterday the PC shut off due to a power outage. When it started back up, it was thrown into a Vista Update loop "Configuring Updates 3 of 3...." It goes through the cycle, shuts down, repeats, etc. Trying to start in safe mode elicits the same scenario. After looking for solutions online and not finding anything that works, I went into System Recovery. It prompts me to back up my files files first, so I checked all (music, photos, etc.) and created a backup to a Seagate Free Agent Hard drive. I tried checking on another computer to make sure all the files copied correctly, but the file list just shows "Backup files" with today's date and can't open them. I'm assuming you need the software on the HP to recover them. So, I haven't proceeded any further for fear of losing my data. No excuses, but I had just downloaded music and over 1000 photos from flash cards recently and hadn't had a chance to back them up before this happened.

I've never used the HP Recovery Manager, so I'm not sure if I will be able to recover any of the backup files once I restore the system or if the recovery will re-install the HP recovery manager software. Any suggestions or advice on what to do next? Thanks!

Normally the .exe should import your files to the PC HDD. But if you are not on your HP/Compac system, it may do something different. I had a similar experience as yours. Unfortunately I lost all my files. I imported the stuff that was backed up (with said .exe) - but those were only system files and a very few of my own (maybe 2%).
You have the option to go back to HP/Compac and ask them for an installation disk. Given that their optical drive died during the warrenty period, they should help you. My HP optical drive also died after 4 months. But they got me a new one ASAP (no charge).

newagepirate, It can, if it happens during an update configuration phase. That's why one should always have a battery backup with surge protection. This little investment can save you a lot of trouble.