3 Free Ways to Create Windows 10, 11 Recovery Disk or USB

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🌟 Video Guide: How to Create a Windows 10 Recovery USB

The video only provides two methods, but for more ways, please continue reading below.

What is a Windows recovery disk or USB

A Windows recovery disk is a bootable disc that contains advanced recovery options, such as System Restore, Startup Repair, Safe Mode, and Command Prompt, allowing you to fix system errors and reinstall Windows 10 or other OS from startup.

In modern Windows versions, the concept of a "recovery disk" has expanded to include bootable USB drives, as well as traditional CD/DVD discs. With Windows 8 and later, users can create a Windows recovery USB, making it a more portable and mainstream approach. If you don't have a USB drive or prefer not to use one, you can still create a system repair disc on a CD or DVD.

Quick Navigation:

👉 Which kind of recovery disk should you choose?
👉 How to create Windows 10/11 recovery drive (3 free ways)
👉 How to restore Windows 10/11 using different recovery drives
👉 Troubleshoot: A problem occurred while creating the recovery drive
👉 FAQs about Windows 10 recovery disk

Which kind of recovery disk should you choose?

Both a recovery drive and a repair disc can help you access recovery options even when you're unable to boot Windows 10/11. However, they serve slightly different purposes, with a recovery drive being a more modern and versatile tool that can be used to recover or repair a Windows installation, while a repair disc is an older method that was used in earlier versions of Windows to fix issues with the operating system.

Types	Device	Functionality	Compatibility
Recovery drive	Requires a USB drive	The recovery drive is a tool that helps you reset your PC or troubleshoot problems, and also allows you to backup system files for Windows reinstallation.	To create a Windows recovery USB that can be used on another PC, you can create a separate recovery drive that is not tied to the current PC. This can be done by inserting a USB drive into the current PC, going to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery, selecting "Get started" under "Add a drive", and following the prompts to create the recovery drive. This separate recovery drive can then be used to recover Windows on another PC.this way.
Repair disk	Requires CD/DVD	A repair disc is used to boot your computer and contains Windows system recovery tools to help fix Windows or perform a system image recovery.	A repair disc can be used on different computers with the same version of Windows.

✍Consider your needs and choose the best option for you, whether it's using USB or CD/DVD, reinstalling Windows, or using it on a different computer. It's recommended to recreate a Windows installation media every year to ensure you have the latest security and performance updates.

Related Tips:

• In addition to creating recovery media, it's also a good idea to regularly back up your Windows 10 data in case of unexpected data loss. A recovery drive is not a system image and cannot guarantee the safety of your personal files, settings, and apps.
• There's another commonly used bootable drive, namely installation media, which is mainly used to clean install or reinstall Windows 10/11 and can also be seen as a last resort to resolve severe system failures. Details can be found in Windows 10 recovery tools.

How to create Windows 10/11 recovery drive (3 free ways)

There are 3 methods to create Windows 10 or 11 recovery drive for your reference.

💻Way 1. Recovery Media Creator	To create a Windows 10/11 recovery USB using the Recovery Media Creator, follow these steps: Download the tool from Microsoft's official website, run it, and select the Windows version you want to create recovery media for. Insert a blank USB drive, and the tool will format it and copy the necessary files. It is designed to create a recovery USB tied to the current PC.
💿Way 2. Backup and Restore	To create a system repair disc in Windows 10/11, go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup > More options > Create a system image. Then select the drive where you want to save the image and follow the prompts. It is used to create a repair CD/DVD.
🔰Way 3. Qiling Disk Master	To create a Windows 10/11 boot repair drive using Qiling Disk Master, follow these steps: Qiling Disk Master is a free software that allows you to create a bootable USB drive or CD/DVD to repair Windows 10/11. First, download and install Qiling Disk Master from the official website. The device can be used to boot different computers running various systems, including non-system computers, and it supports both USB and CD/DVD drives.

Way 1. Create Windows 10/11 recovery USB with Recovery Media Creator

You don't need to format the USB to make a recovery drive, as the Recovery Drive will automatically create a FAT32 formatted USB that can boot on both BIOS-based and UEFI-based PCs.

To resolve the USB capacity issue, prepare a 16 GB or larger empty flash drive, as the process will copy a lot of files to it, and all data on the USB drive will be deleted.

1. Here are two ways you can use the recovery drive:

To create a recovery drive, type "recovery drive" into the search box and select "Create a recovery drive".

To create a recovery drive, go to the Control Panel, select the "View by smaller icons" option, and then choose "Recovery". On the advanced recovery tools page, select "Create a recovery drive".

2. In the pop-out window, select the option "Back up system files to the recovery drive" and click "Next".

Note: The "Back up system files to the recovery drive" option creates a recovery drive that enables reinstalling Windows.

3. 1. Select the USB flash drive you prepared, and click "Next" to continue.

4. On the next screen, you will be told everything on the drive will be deleted, so please make sure there is no important data, then click "Create" to begin creating a Windows 10 recovery USB drive.

After completing the process, you'll see an option to "Delete the recovery partition from your PC" if you have a Windows recovery partition on your Windows 10/11 computer. Clicking this option will delete the recovery partition, freeing up some space on your computer.

Windows bootable USB may not work in all cases, such as using a Windows 8 recovery disk to restore Windows 10 or a 64-bit recovery drive on a 32-bit computer. This means a Windows 10 recovery USB created in this way cannot be used on another computer.

Way 2: Create system repair disc in Windows 10/11 using Backup and Restore

You can create a Windows 10 repair disk using either a CD/DVD or Windows' built-in utility. This allows you to boot your computer and access various repair and troubleshooting tools, even if Windows itself is no longer functioning properly.

1. To access the backup settings, type "backup settings" in the search box and select it. Then, scroll down to "Looking for an older backup" and click "Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7)".

2. To create a system repair disc, click the "Create a system repair disc" option at the left panel of the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) page.

3. You will be prompted to insert a blank CD/DVD disc into a CD/DVD drive on your computer, and then select that drive to continue the process. Please follow the on-screen instructions to complete this step.

4. To create a Windows 10/11 recovery disk with a CD/DVD, click the "Create disc" button, which will initiate the writing process. This process typically takes just a few minutes to complete.

Way 3. Create Windows 10/11 boot repair drive via Qiling Disk Master

The repair USB created by the recovery media creator won't work on computers with different systems or non-system computers. For a more flexible option, you can use a third-party media creator like Qiling Disk Master Standard.

With this tool, you can create a Windows 10/11 recovery USB for your current computer, as well as another PC, and it supports all Windows PCs, including Windows 11/10/8/7 (both 32 bit and 64 bit).

✭ This software allows you to create a bootable DVD, CD, or USB drive that can be used to start a computer from various brands, including HP, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, and Dell. The created media can boot in both BIOS and UEFI modes.
✭ If your system crashes before making a recovery drive, you can create a Windows 10 recovery disk from another computer to boot the problematic one.
✭ This solution provides a comprehensive data protection system, allowing users to schedule backups of their entire system, individual disks, files, and partitions to various destinations, including local disks, external drives, network shares, and cloud storage locations.

How to create Windows 10 recovery USB with Qiling Disk Master:

1. Download the Windows 10/11 recovery USB media creator, Qiling Disk Master, and install it. Once installed, launch the program to proceed with the process.

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7, 100% Secure

2. To recover Windows using this tool, you can create a regular system backup in the "Backup" tab, and then click "Tools" to select "Create Bootable Media".

3. Select a CD/DVD or USB drive to create Windows 10/11 bootable recovery media and click Proceed to run the process.

Note: If you don't have a CD/DVD or USB drive, you can choose to export the Windows 10 recovery image file instead.

With Qiling Disk Master, you can create a Windows 10 recovery USB that allows you to boot a computer into WinPE, from which you can then restore your system from a previously created system image.

Advanced Features You May Need (Available in Professional edition):

✭ If you didn't make a system backup before the failure, you can create a system image on another working computer and restore it to the problematic one using the Universal Restore feature.

✭ If you don't have a CD/DVD or USB drive, you can enable the Qiling recovery environment, which can serve the same purpose as a recovery disk.

How to restore Windows 10/11 using different recovery drives

After creating a Windows 10/11 recovery USB, you may want to know how to use it. There are two common ways to do so: using the Windows recovery drive or repair disc, or a third-party rescue disk.

#1: How to restore Windows from recovery USB or repair disc

1. To recover your computer, insert your recovery drive or system repair disc, then press the displayed F key on the initial screen when you start your computer. Next, change the recovery drive or disc as the first boot option in the BIOS and boot from it.

2. To boot into the Windows recovery environment, first, start your computer and immediately start tapping the F8 key. Then, it will start to the Windows recovery environment, select keyboard layout and hit "Enter".

3. In the blue Troubleshoot page, you will see options to Reset this PC, Recovery from a drive, and Advanced options.

You can choose to reinstall Windows in three ways: the first option lets you keep or remove your files, the second option also reinstalled Windows, and the third option uses recovery tools like system restore, system image recovery, startup repair, and command prompt to repair your computer.

4. To recover from a drive, click on "Recover from a drive" and then select either "Just remove my files" to delete only files on your computer or "Fully clean the drive" to fully recycle the operating system.

5. The system will recover and restart, and then you'll be prompted to configure your preference settings through on-screen instructions. This process may take some time to complete.

#2: How to restore operating system via Qiling bootable drive

1. Connect the backup drive containing the system image and recovery disk to your computer. Boot your computer with the disk created by Qiling Disk Master.

2. Once the file loading process completes, you will see the main page of Qiling Disk Master Standard, where you can click "Restore" and "Select Image File" to find the system image created ahead of time.

3. Select the "Restore this system image" option and tick the "Restore system to other location" box if necessary, then click "Next" to proceed.

4. To restore a system to a different location, select a destination disk to store the backup image and click "Next". If the destination disk is new, connect it beforehand.

5. If you're restoring a system to an SSD, check the box for "SSD Alignment" to speed up the writing and reading process on the SSD. Then, click "Proceed" to continue the system image restore using the recovery disk.

Relate tip:
When restoring a system image from one computer to another with different hardware, follow the same steps, but make sure to select the "Universal Restore" option in the Professional edition. This feature ensures the system can boot properly after restoration.

Troubleshoot: A problem occurred while creating the recovery drive

Sometimes, users may find that they are not allowed to create a recovery disk in Windows 10/11 and the built-in tool says, "We can't create the recovery drive. A problem occurred while creating the recovery drive". This issue can be resolved by checking the USB drive, ensuring it's not in use, and formatting it. Additionally, running the built-in tool as an administrator or checking for any system file corruption may also resolve the issue.

Solution 1. Check the USB drive

If Windows fails to create a recovery drive with the error "We can't create the recovery drive", check that your USB drive is properly connected and recognized by Windows. If not, download the Windows 10/11 recovery disk ISO file and burn it to your USB flash drive or CD/DVD. Alternatively, try the following solutions to resolve the issue.

Solution 2. Enable Windows recovery environment

If Windows recovery environment is disabled, running the command "reagentc /info" in an elevated Command Prompt can check this, and typing "reagentc /enable" can reenable it, allowing booting into recovery environment, but if this fails, Solution 3 should be tried.

Solution 3. Create Windows recovery environment with installation ISO file

1. To create a folder named WindowsRE under the Recovery folder of the C: drive, first, ensure the Recovery folder is visible. You can do this by going to File Explorer, clicking on the "View" tab, and selecting "Show hidden items." Then, navigate to the C: drive, find the Recovery folder, and create a new folder named WindowsRE within it. This folder will be used for Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) purposes.

• To show hidden files on a Windows PC, open the File Explorer and click on the "View" tab in the top navigation bar. Then, click on the "Show" dropdown menu and select "Hidden items" from the list.
• In the pop-To access the File Explorer Options, click on the "Show settings" option next to the "Change settings to show hidden and system files" text in the Start window. This will open the File Explorer Options window.
• Check the box next to "Show hidden files, folders, and drives", and uncheck the box next to "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)".

Tip: If you still don't see the Recovery folder, you can create one under the root directory of the C: drive.

2. To create a Winre.wim file, you can either have one backed up or copy it from another Windows 10/11 computer. If you don't have one, you can download the installation ISO file from Microsoft, then double-click to mount it as a virtual drive.

3. In the Source folder, locate the file Install.wim, copy the Install.wim file's location path.

4. In an elevated Command Prompt, use the following syntax:

dism /mount-Copy the install.wim file path, then run the command `wim /wimfile:[the install.wim file path you just copied] /index:2 /mountdir:[a location path to save the mounted file]`.

In my case, it is:

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:"F:\windows 10 ISO\sources\install.wim" /index:2 /mountdir:D:\mount_image_file\

5. Copy the Winre.wim file from the specified location to the C:\Recovery\WindowsRE directory.

6. To create a Windows Recovery Drive, type `Reagentc /setreimage /path C:\Recovery\WindowsRE` and press Enter, then you can successfully create a recovery drive in Windows 10/11.

Solution 4. Fix to failed to include system files

If you're unable to create a Windows 10/11 repair USB drive that includes system files, try checking the option "Back up system files to the recovery drive" when creating the repair USB drive. This option is usually unchecked by default, but enabling it may resolve the issue and allow you to create the repair USB drive with system files.

1. Copy the install.wim file from the Windows 10/11 installation file to a folder on your hard drive, such as "D:\Windows-OS-image".

2. To set the Windows OS image on your computer, open an elevated Command Prompt, type "Reagentc /setosimage /path D:\Windows-OS-image /index 1" and press Enter. This command will set the specified OS image as the default boot option.

To include system files on the recovery drive, you can use the built-in feature in Windows 10/11 called "Create a recovery drive." This feature allows you to create a recovery drive that includes the system files, which can be used to restore Windows 10/11 to a working state without requiring any files from your hard drive.

FAQs about Windows 10 recovery disk

Conclusion

To create a Windows 10/11 recovery disk, follow the steps above. Alternatively, you can use Qiling Disk Master to create a recovery disk for any version of Windows, which is recommended if you need to create one for multiple computers. Qiling Disk Master can help you restore your system from the recovery disk with ease, making it a convenient option.

If you want to protect unlimited computers within your company, you can pick Qiling Disk Master Technician Plus, which allows you to deploy or restore system image files on multiple client-side computers from a server-side computer over a network.

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