Creating recovery media

2mindless

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Leamington
I have some questions & a complication with my HP Pavilion computer regarding the imbedded recovery drive program. There is an option to create a recovery USB flashdrive...I want to do this but the program says that the drive will be deleted once the files are copied. I don't fully understand if the warning means that anything on the USB flashdrive will be erased or if it means the recovery partition on my computer will be erased? I'm terrified to launch the application before I'm certain of this..it says to make sure all files are backed up first.

Well...that's the next thing. I have a backup device, but it's been my experience even after doing a "restore". If anything is corrupted or erased in the OS then I never seem to get things work out how they're supposed to & I don't want to wreck my system.

There's also a thing imbedded in the Windows 8.1 which is a ONE SHOT deal...it's for creating a bootable USB (I presume) it states that it's a one use application. It's an HP media creator...it says I need about 16 gb's of space on the storage device. Well, I overshot & purchased a 64gb stick. I can't create the bootable USB; the next is "greyed" out & it wasn't before. Idk if I ruined my chance trying to launch it before & I didn't know you couldn't combine storage space [has to be all on one] & I was trying to use 2 flash drives. But that shouldn't matter, it doesnt' tell you that affects your ability to "relaunch" because it wasn't successfully done. But now I can't launch the application...have to be able to click "next". It's greyed out & it tells you the only reason it would be "greyed out" so you can't click "next" is if you have insufficient storage space. Well, this is bonkers because the USB flash I'm trying to use is more than ample GB's...I'm so frustrated & confused. Anyone else know anything about these imbedded media recovery programs to create a recovery disk? Why I can't. [when I first got the computer 11 months ago I was able to access the "next" but I didn't have a proper sized flashdrive].
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 23
    CPU
    AMD A6 5200 APU
    Motherboard
    ??
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon HD 8400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23 " led back-lit flatscreen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 landscape
    Hard Drives
    1TB HDD
    PSU
    external black box
    Cooling
    fan located inside device
    Keyboard
    HP wireless chiclet style
    Mouse
    HP wireless optical mouse
    Internet Speed
    6.02 mbps download .62 upload (Bell sympatico/Fibe 5)
    Browser
    Comodo Dragon
    Antivirus
    AVG 2014
    Other Info
    dual layer optical drive. DVD/RW/CD; 6 in 1 card readers, 6 USB ports...3-2.0, 3-3.0.
The flash drive is formatted during the create process so that is what they are talking about, not the files on your hard drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Usually the included program by the OEMs allow only one set of Factory Restore discs to be made. Most times it can be cancelled and done later or try again if it fails in the process. If it does complete once it is done. All I've done had a choice of DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+R/DL or USB, I always used DVD-R or DVD+R, the DVD+R/DL discs are harder to find in local stores and more expensive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WinXP, WinVista, Win7, Win8.1, Win10, Linux Mint 20
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Customs and 12 OEM/Brands
    CPU
    AMD and Intel
What works for ME---

I use the paid standard version of

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

screenshot_169.jpg

Once you get used to it, it is well worth the money.

Format your USB as NTFS to get 1 big image file instead of a bunch of 4 GB files if formatted as Fat or Fat 32.

Use high compression too---

screenshot_169.jpg

My image is about 20 GBs to backup all local drives.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
I received information from the Windows eight forum administrator with a link to either microsoft or HP website [I forget which] that says you can't create the bootable USB with a flash drive that is greater than 32 gb's. So this explains "why" the option was 'greyed out' & unable to be selected. I overshot the amount of media storage I would need [gb's] & purchased too large; I'm not loaded with cash thereby unable to run out & purchase a 32 gb stick.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 23
    CPU
    AMD A6 5200 APU
    Motherboard
    ??
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon HD 8400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23 " led back-lit flatscreen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 landscape
    Hard Drives
    1TB HDD
    PSU
    external black box
    Cooling
    fan located inside device
    Keyboard
    HP wireless chiclet style
    Mouse
    HP wireless optical mouse
    Internet Speed
    6.02 mbps download .62 upload (Bell sympatico/Fibe 5)
    Browser
    Comodo Dragon
    Antivirus
    AVG 2014
    Other Info
    dual layer optical drive. DVD/RW/CD; 6 in 1 card readers, 6 USB ports...3-2.0, 3-3.0.
I'm still not sure what the difference is...because system recovery information is a little difficult to differentiate if a bootable system USB is completely different from a recovery image. Even with the 64gb flash drive, through a different automatic launcher I was able to do a recovery image [copied the :D// drive partition] onto the disk. Systems information says this can suffice to restore the computer after a failure....some type of crash. But now I have a completely different mess. Idk what happened how or why. One minute I'm using my windows 8.1 app's fine. Today, Windows update notified me of a load of updates...idk why so many cause I have the updater on automatic; but I think it installed 53. Anyhow...power crashed tonight so my computer wasn't properly shut down. I found after I started it back up, complications. I can't get my app's to launch....the tiles are live but nothing opens. I went through some troubleshooters & I have to access my PC settings. I clicked on PC settings & got the strangest type of error thing...it has to do with the PC settings app not being available. It's as if multiple things have gotten corrupted somehow.

I googled for solutions. One thing led to another & I got more confused, found more complications. I can't refresh my system, that's not accessible...brings up some other strange notification. Something else said to purge the windows reset cache...I tried doing this & got an notice that the purge cache is inaccessible because c://app data/local....something like that isn't found.

I'm totally freaked out what happened...but I can't get anything to do with my app's to reset & go back to normal. I was using them this afternoon now this. System restore doesn't work...it sits til infinity saying it's restoring but it's not doing anything [broken circular line spins around forever & nothing happens then the restore fails & says it can't be done]. I absolutely don't want to go messing around in anymore settings because I don't want to completely screw up my windows system....I tried to find a download for Windows 8.1 to "reinstall" it [refresh that way....hoping it would reset & unlock all the microsoft/app/data, whatever seems to be blocking functions. Can't do that either cause all weblinks tell you to do it via the Windows store...& the store won't open now. When I click a tile, the whole start screen (with the app's flicks & I'm right back to where I started....at the app tiles but nothing happened.)

Making me nuts.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 23
    CPU
    AMD A6 5200 APU
    Motherboard
    ??
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon HD 8400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23 " led back-lit flatscreen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 landscape
    Hard Drives
    1TB HDD
    PSU
    external black box
    Cooling
    fan located inside device
    Keyboard
    HP wireless chiclet style
    Mouse
    HP wireless optical mouse
    Internet Speed
    6.02 mbps download .62 upload (Bell sympatico/Fibe 5)
    Browser
    Comodo Dragon
    Antivirus
    AVG 2014
    Other Info
    dual layer optical drive. DVD/RW/CD; 6 in 1 card readers, 6 USB ports...3-2.0, 3-3.0.
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