How do I do a clean install without an OS install disk?

This may be a dumb question. I've just moved over from Windows. My 27in iMac came pre-installed with Lion and no install disks. In the event of a drive failure how would I re-install the operation system? In windows with a fresh drive I would have to load up Windows, then reload my backup software and then load up my backup. I'm backing up with Time Machine to an external drive but can that restore direct to a clean drive? Am I missing something, surely I should have been given an OS-X install disk?

Hello:
This article explains, in detail, all about Lion recovery - a new feature built into OS X 10.7:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
In my own case, I also have external drives that I use for backups. I have both Time Machine and a bootable clone (made with SuperDuper!) on one drive and a bootable clone on the other. I am paranoid about backups, I admit.
Since you indicate you just moved over from the "dark side" (welcome ), you may not have heard that there are NO viruses that affect a Mac running OS X - none. A/V software is unnecessary. At a minimum, A/V software on a Mac wastes resources and frequently causes serious harm to software.
While I am on a roll, there are basically no "regular" maintenance activities required on a Mac under OS X. The operating system performs them in the background. For example, files of less than 20 MB are "defragged" on the fly.
Barry
P.S. There are no dumb questions...annswers, yes, but not questions.
Message was edited by: Barry Hemphill

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