In the past, PCs would ship with a CD/DVD disc that included an image of the system. If the OS has problems someday, you could easily restore the OS to the factory settings. But nowadays, manufacturers start to simplify the way of restoring Windows. They just put an image of the system on a hidden partition of your main drive, so does a Windows recovery USB drive. In addition to letting you reinstall Windows, it includes several troubleshooting tools for emergency use, especially when your system won't boot.
In Windows 10, for example, there are several Windows recovery tools (options) that solve different OS problems.
Windows Recovery Tools (Options) | Solve What Kind of Problems |
---|---|
Reset your PC | Your PC isn't working well and it's been a while since you installed an app, driver, or update. |
Windows recovery drive | Your PC won't start and you've created a recovery drive. |
Windows installation media | Your PC won't start, you haven't created a recovery drive, and resetting your PC didn't work. |
Windows 10 recovery tool is used to create a Windows 10 recovery USB or CD/DVD disc. You should make a Windows 10 recovery drive before your PC dies. Both Microsoft and third-party software manufacturers provide reliable recovery tools. Here we picked up two of the best Windows recovery tools for you regarding the effectiveness and ease of use. One is the Windows 10 built-in tool and the other is Qiling Backup, a third-party backup and recovery software.
Next, you'll learn how to create a Windows 10 recovery USB with both the built-in tool and third-party software. Each way is able to solve a none-bootable Windows OS issue and revert your OS back to a working system point.
Applies to: Windows 10 32-bit and 64-bit operating system
Reference: Microsoft Official Support
The recovery drive created this way can help you troubleshoot and fix problems with your PC, even if it won't start. If you back up system files to this drive, you'll also be able to use it to reinstall Windows. If you chose not to back up system files when you created your recovery drive, Reset this PC and Recover from a drive that won't be available.
Step 1. Insert the USB drive into your computer. In Windows 10 Control Panel, click "Recovery".
Step 2. You'll arrive at the Advanced recovery tools area, choose "Create a recovery drive".
Step 3. Tick the option "Back up system files to the recovery drive" if you wish to use the drive to reinstall Windows or restore a previous version of Windows. Click "Next".
Step 4. Wait until the wizard prepares to copy files to your flash drive.
Step 5. Select your USB flash drive as the recovery drive and click Next.
Step 6. Confirm the warning message that "everything on the drive will be deleted. If you have any personal files on this drive, make sure you've backed up the files" and click "Create".
Step 7. When the final message "The recovery drive is ready" appears, click "Finish".
Step 1. Connect the recovery drive and turn on your PC.
Step 2. Select "Troubleshoot" and choose one recovery option.
Step 1. On a working PC, go to the Microsoft software download website.
Step 2. Download the Windows 10 media creation tool and then run it.
Step 3. Select Create installation media for another PC.
Step 4. Choose a language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit).
Step 5. Follow the steps to create installation media, and then select Finish.
To use Qiling Backup to make a Windows 10 recovery drive for the purpose of restoring from the OS crash or corruption, you'll first download the Windows backup software on a working PC. Then follow the below step-by-step guide to create a bootable USB drive. Don't forget to proceed to create a Windows 10 system backup image for the future Windows 10 recovery to a working restore point.
In a word, the standard procedure of creating a third-party Windows 10 recovery drive includes:
Create Emergency Disk is only for data & system restore when your PC can't start properly and you wish to restore from a backup image. It's not for any system repair purpose.
Step 1. Prepare a USB drive which can be written and read.
Step 2. Launch and install Qiling Backup on the Computer B
Step 3. Open the tool and click "Tools" > "Create bootable media".
Step 4. Select a bootable media type: here we choose USB drive.
Step 5. Click "Proceed" to create a bootable disk.
Now you have created your own Qiling Backup bootable USB recovery disk. Go back to the main window of Qiling Backup. You need to create a backup image according to your demand. For example, system backup, file backup, etc.
Step 1. To backup only Windows 10 on your computer, please directly choose the option "System backup" on the "Backup and recovery" page.
Step 2. Now in the next window, where you can customize your own Windows 10 backup by choosing a backup location(HDD, USB hard disk, network drives, Cloud drives...), adding a plan name and text description to it.
You'd better create the backup file in some other storage media or in some other drive. If not, there may be a risk of the backup file getting corrupted or destroyed.
Since it's about backing up OS, it's significant to turn on the "Schedule", where you can enable an automatic Windows 10 backup at a set time like daily, monthly...or upon an event, telling the Windows 10 backup to start when system startup, system shutdown, user logon or user log off.
Step 3. Once all the basic settings were made, click "Proceed". Wait for a while you will create a full Windows 10 backup to protect your system from unexpected disasters.
Step 1. Connect the recovery drive and keep tapping "F2" while turning on your PC. Choose to boot from Qiling Backup.
Step 2. After accessing Qiling Backup, choose your system image or other backup images and click "Recovery".
Windows recovery tools are useful, and sometimes essential to have one when your operating system gets something wrong and crashes, freezes, gets stuck in the black screen of death and blue screen of death. As Windows 10 has occupied the largest market share nowadays, it's good to know how to use the Windows 10 recovery tools within the OS or from third-party tools to create a risk-free recovery USB drive/disk.
Moreover, there are some other frequently asked questions that might arouse your interest. Read on and get the answers.
Go to the official download website (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10), and there you can download the Windows media creation tool on Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 computers.
To use the recovery USB drive, all you need to do is to change your boot drive to the bootable USB drive.
Windows 10 uses troubleshooters as the general repair tool to help you solve problems with your PC. To run a Windows 10 repair troubleshooter, select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot.