Recovery Drive - Create with USB Flash Drive in Windows 8

How to Create a USB Recovery Drive in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

If you run into problems with your PC, a USB recovery drive can help you troubleshoot and fix those problems, even if your PC won't start.

This will show you how to create a bootable recovery (system repair) USB flash drive in Windows 8 to use to boot to the system recovery options that can be used to help recover Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, or Windows RT 8.1.

This is basically the same thing as a system repair disc, but is on a bootable USB flash drive instead.

You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to create a recovery drive.

   Note

A recovery USB flash drive cannot be used to install Windows 8 unless this is an OEM PC that came with Windows 8 preinstalled, and you checked the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive box at step 5 below.

If your PC came with Windows 8 and you upgraded it to Windows 8.1, your recovery drive will include Windows 8, and you’ll need to upgrade to Windows 8.1 after you refresh or reset your PC.

A created 32-bit recovery USB flash drive can only be created in a 32-bit Windows 8, and used to repair a 32-bit Windows 8.

A created 64-bit recovery USB flash drive can only be created in a 64-bit Windows 8, and used to repair a 64-bit Windows 8.

EXAMPLE: System Recovery Options
NOTE: After you boot from the recovery USB flash drive, you will need to select your language and keyboard layout (if displayed) for Windows 8, then select Troubleshoot to see the system recovery options.

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(On some newer OEM PC's with Windows 8 preinstalled, you may have the option to reinstall in the OEM manufacturer's tools like below if the Recovery Partition is still in place.)​

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Here's How:

1. Connect a USB flash drive that is at least 256 MB (8 GB if copying the recovery partition) in size, then do either step 2 or 3 below.


2. Press the :winkey: + R keys, type RecoveryDrive.exe, press Enter, and go to step 4 below.

3. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Recovery icon.

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A) Click/tap on the Create a recovery drive link, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)​

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4. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.

5. Click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

   Note

If you have a store bought OEM computer that came with Windows 8 preinstalled, then you could also check the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive box to be able to use the recovery USB flash drive to do a factory restore/recovery of Windows 8.

If you do not have an OEM recovery partition, then the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive option will be grayed out.

   Warning

If you checked the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive box, then once the Recovery Media creation has completed, you will have an option to delete the recovery partition at step 10 below. On most systems, this partition is about 10G in size.

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6. Select a USB flash drive at least 256 MB in size that you would like to make a bootable recovery drive with, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)
WARNING: Everything on the selected USB flash drive will be deleted, so be sure to backup anything on it that you do not want to lose first.

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7. Click/tap on Create. (see screenshot below)
WARNING: This is your last chance to backup anything on the USB flash drive that you do not want to lose before doing this.

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8. The USB recovery drive will now be created. (see screenshot below)

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9. Do step 10 or step 11 below for what you would like to do.

10. If you wanted to Delete the Recovery Partition

   Warning

It is recommended to NOT DELETE the recovery partition. It has been reported by many that they were unable to restore Windows 8 to the hard drive using the recovery USB drive without the OEM factory recovery partition still intact.

You can free up some drive space by deleting the recovery partition, but you won't be able to refresh or reset your PC again without the recovery drive.

A) If you checked the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive box at step 5 above, click/tap on the Delete the recovery partition link. (see screenshot below)​

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B) Click/tap on Delete to confirm. (see screenshot below)​

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C) Click/tap on Finish. (see screenshots below)​

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11. Click/tap on Finish. (see screenshot below)

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Create a "System Repair Disc" in Windows 8
• How to Create a Bootable USB or DVD with the Windows 8 ISO
• How to Create a "Startup Options Menu" Shortcut in Windows 8
• How to Boot to the "System Recovery Options" in Windows 8
• How to Boot to the Advanced Windows "Startup Settings" in Windows 8
• How to Create a Bootable UEFI USB Flash Drive for Installing Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1
• How to Boot from a USB Drive within Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Boot from a USB Drive on Surface

 

[sygnus21]

Hi Shawn & Drew

ASUS now have a recovery app .

http://www.eightforums.com/installation-setup/32122-create-factory-restore-disc.html#post286310

Update: I e-mailed ASUS support and they gave me a Windows program to do it. Thanks!

Know where I can get this app from or do I have to call Asus, the link doesn't give much info. I'll check Asus website, but...

Thanks.

 

[theog]

I just copied the contents to the OS drive,

To copy the contents of the Recovery Partition, you had to change the partition ID, which would make the Recovery Partition unusable.

 

[theog]

Know where I can get this app from or do I have to call Asus, the link doesn't give much info. I'll check Asus website, but...

You can call ASUS, but as your Recovery Partition is not usable, the app may not work.

 

[sygnus21]

Know where I can get this app from or do I have to call Asus, the link doesn't give much info. I'll check Asus website, but...

You can call ASUS, but as your Recovery Partition is not usable, the app may not work.

I think I found it (Asus Backtracker), but yeah, I don't think the partition is recoverable. Oh well, more storage space

Thanks.

 

[theog]

Know where I can get this app from or do I have to call Asus, the link doesn't give much info. I'll check Asus website, but...

You can call ASUS, but as your Recovery Partition is not usable, the app may not work.

I think I found it (Asus Backtracker), but yeah, I don't think the partition is recoverable. Oh well, more storage space

Thanks.

ASUS Backtracker download:
http://www.asus.com/supportonly/ASUS_Backtracker/#support_Download_36

 

[sygnus21]

Yeah that's what I downloaded. Haven't played with it yet, I'm in the middle of finishing off my final for my accounting class. Needed a break, so I'm here

 

[Jm44jg39]

I am having a problem creating a USB recovery drive. The problem is the "copy contents....." box is greyed out.
I created a Recovery Partition C:\RefreshImage and I want to copy this Recovery Partition to a USB bootable recovery drive. I formatted my Kingston 3.0 USB 32 gb using Fat32 (long format). The USB shows up in the explorer directory tree. I am running Win 8.1 Pro with all updates.
Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Brink]

Hello JM,

The Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive box is grayed out since it is not a factory OEM recovery partition.

 

[Jm44jg39]

Thanks, Brink.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome.

 

[VulcanSoulPatch]

Hi,
I didn't even started, it asks me for a 32 GB device... whats wrong? thanks
ps I'm sorry for the italian in the screenshot but is the default setting... however is should be quite clear

You are using the OEM manufacturer's version of this tutorial.

What Make & Model do you have?

OK, I just finished making my Recovery USB per the instructions in this tutorial, but as biosub mentioned above, when I checked the "Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive" box, I was prompted for a device that would hold 16GB. The Next button was even greyed out since the drive I was using was only 4GB, the only available drive I have atm.

When I went back to uncheck the box and proceed, I was told that the drive needed to have 512MB of space, not the 256MB mentioned in the tutorial. I am guessing some things have changed with Win8 that have caused it to need a larger Recovery Drive? Or is it the mfr of my laptop that caused the change?

Specs are below.

I guess my question here is: should I even bother acquiring a 16GB USB drive, or just do the DVDs? Would it require 4 DVDs in light of the requested USB drive size?

TIA!

-VSP

 

[Roland Antonio]

I got the same trouble creating USB recovery drive, can never seem to reach step 8 (Finish). The green progress bar moves across the screen until it reaches about a half inch from the end, then it seems to freeze up at that point. My unit is ASUS KV55V, any help would be appreciated

 

[Brink]

Hello Roland, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Was that supposed to be a K55VM instead? There's no results for a KV55V.

In the worst case you could order recovery media from Asus at the link below for a K55VM if that's it.

Notebook Recovery Software​

 

[Roland Antonio]

Hello Roland, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Was that supposed to be a K55VM instead? There's no results for a KV55V.

In the worst case you could order recovery media from Asus at the link below for a K55VM if that's it.

Notebook Recovery Software​

Sorry for the typo error, its ASUS KV55VJ, Thank you.

 

[Brink]

In method two at the ASUS link below, it'll show you how to create a set of recovery DVDs for the K55VJ.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Troubleshooting K55VJ

 

[theog]

Hello Roland, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Was that supposed to be a K55VM instead? There's no results for a KV55V.

In the worst case you could order recovery media from Asus at the link below for a K55VM if that's it.

Notebook Recovery Software​

Sorry for the typo error, its ASUS KV55VJ, Thank you.

To make ASUS Recovery disk download BACKTRACKER. (For Windows 8)

http://www.asus.com/supportonly/ASUS_Backtracker/#support_Download_36

Using the Support DVD to restore system recovery.

About the Support DVD :
The Support DVD includes an image of the operating system, installed on your system at the factory.

 

[muzzassmith]

I'm new to this forum, and a novice when it comes to anything other than using a perfectly functioning computer!
I'm looking for information similar to a lot of the other posts on this thread, or rather some confirmation/clarification.

I purchased a laptop with Windows 8 OEM pre-installed onto a 1TB HDD. At the time of purchase I got a 256GB mSATA SSD drive fitted. I want to transfer the OS from the HDD to the SSD, for improved operating speed. As it is an OEM install, I didn't receive any install or recovery discs. Following information in this thread I have created a Recovery Drive, including copying the Recovery Partition onto an external USB drive (& I didn't delete the Recovery partition, as per advice).

Post #65 in this thread (quoted below) encourages me into thinking that I should be able to use this USB recovery drive to perform this re-installation (move?) onto the SSD within the same laptop. Does this seem correct?

In terms of boot-up sequence and needing to get into the BIOS etc. to be able to undertake this transfer/move, is anyone able to provide a simple summary as to the order that BIOS changes need to be made (keeping it simple for a dummy like me)? Also, assuming that I can achieve the OS transfer, at what stage can I 'remove' the OS from the original HDD? The laptop is essentially new so I'm not that concerned about loss of data or any programs requiring re-installing, but rather just ensuring that the OS will work on the SSD (again, which is within the same laptop). Assuming that this all goes to plan, and the OS is working on the SSD, at some stage would I look to format the original HDD?

At this stage I'm not that bothered about upgrading to Windows 8.1 and assume that I can undertake this upgrade in the future if I can get the OS moved to the SSD in the first place.


Any guidance or assistance for a newbie would be gratefully received.

Many thanks.

Hello Speeddragon,

An "OEM" Recovery Drive with the contents of the recovery partition copied to it, is essentially factory recovery media that can be used to restore Windows 8 back to factory conditions on any hard drive on the same PC.

 

[theog]

Any guidance or assistance for a newbie would be gratefully received.

Many thanks.

Hello Speeddragon,

An "OEM" Recovery Drive with the contents of the recovery partition copied to it, is essentially factory recovery media that can be used to restore Windows 8 back to factory conditions on any hard drive on the same PC.

GIGABYTE - Support & Downloads - Utility - Notebook & Netbook

You can use Gigabyte Smart USB Backup to make a OEM Recovery USB Drive.

 

[Retexan599]

Successful USB Recovery Drive Creation (I think)

I successfully created a USB Recovery Flash Drive using the native HP Recovery Media Creation dialog on my OEM Windows 8.1 desktop. The USB drive was a PNY 16GB, USB 2.0 flash drive and the process took about 36 minutes for about 13.5GB of space. Although successful I am a little confused: the properties window for the USB drive says the file system is FAT32 when I thought it was supposed to be NTFS? With FAT32, you can’t store file sizes over 4GB I had thought. I plugged in the USB drive as it came from the store, and did not format it myself; I had read that the HP creation process would do whatever formatting required. Any thought as to why the drive properties would say FAT32 when there is about 13.5GB of recovery files on the drive?

P.S. This is a very useful forum!

 

[Brink]

Hello Retexan,

That would be a 4 GB limit with FAT32 for a single file instead.