Create a Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc in Windows 8 and 8.1
Windows 8 and 8.1 allow creating a bootable Recovery Drive - USB disk that boots right into Recovery Environment (aka Limited Diagnostic Mode), allowing to repair startup, file system and other problems, running System Restore and Refreshing or Resetting your PC.
The drive or media cannot be used to install Windows. It is very similar to Windows 7's System Repair Disc.
Recovery Drive (the USB version) or System Repair Disc (the CD/DVD version, only available in Windows 8) is meant for those who do not have a bootable Windows 8/8.1 DVD - this is a common case as there is no DVD bundled with computers that have Windows 8 or 8.1 preinstalled (the OEM versions of Windows).
It is strongly recommended to create the drive or disc before getting into trouble - if you cannot start Windows 8 or 8.1, you might be out of luck in repairing your PC.
Please bear in mind that a 32-bit (x86) Recovery Drive can only be used to fix 32-bit Windows 8/8.1 editions and a 64-bit (x64) Recovery Drive works with 64-bit Windows 8/8.1 editions only.
A good thing is that you can repair any edition of Windows 8/8.1 with this disc, as long as it is meant for the same hardware architecture (32-bit or 64-bit).
And last, but not least - do not try to use Windows 8.1 Recovery Drive for repairing Windows 8, and vice versa!
Remember that you cannot use Refresh or Reset Your PC features if Windows is installed on a drive with GPT (not MBR) partition table until you force "UEFI only" boot setting in BIOS/EFI. Windows 8 and 8.1 will not detect GPT partition alignment correctly if BIOS booting is enabled.
CD or DVD in Windows 8 must really mean blank, because the program is not capable of overwriting rewritable media. You can blank a CD or DVD by opening Computer (keyboard shortcut Windows Key+E), right-clicking a CD/DVD writer in the list and selecting Erase this disc.
USB drive can be a simple pen drive (stick) or a USB hard drive. Please note that this drive will be formatted and you will lose all files on it. Do make a backup copy of your important files first!
After creating the Recovery Drive, you must test that your PC is actually able to boot from it. Some older USB sticks do not support booting at all. Also, remember to check your computer's boot order to verify that booting from USB devices is enabled and listed before hard drive booting.
If your computer has both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 or newer ports, connect Recovery Drive to an older USB 2.0 port - this resolves many boot problems.
As expected, User Account Control pops up. Click Yes to verify that you know what you're doing.
Create a recovery drive window opens. First, tick the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive check box. Then connect a USB drive, wait about 10 seconds and click Next.
Windows will then warn you that all contents of the selected drive will be deleted. To continue, click Create.
The drive formatting and file copying process might take several minutes, depending on the speed of your USB drive. After the drive is ready, click Finish.
Now test that your device is really able to boot from the Recovery Drive: some older USB drives do not support booting. If this is the case, create Recovery Drive on a newer stick and re-test.
If your computer has both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 or newer ports, connect Recovery Drive to an older USB 2.0 port - this resolves many boot problems.
If you cannot find the item, open Command Prompt (use Windows Key+X shortcut), type sdclt.exe and press Enter key to launch the program.
In the left side of Windows 7 File Recovery window, click Create a system repair disc.
Create a system repair disc window opens. Select the correct drive and click Create disc.
You can then safely close all open Create a system repair disc and Recovery Drive windows.
To see the sources\boot.wim file in File Explorer, you might have to disable the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) option temporarily. See the Change folder views and options in Windows article for instructions.
The drive or media cannot be used to install Windows. It is very similar to Windows 7's System Repair Disc.
Recovery Drive (the USB version) or System Repair Disc (the CD/DVD version, only available in Windows 8) is meant for those who do not have a bootable Windows 8/8.1 DVD - this is a common case as there is no DVD bundled with computers that have Windows 8 or 8.1 preinstalled (the OEM versions of Windows).
It is strongly recommended to create the drive or disc before getting into trouble - if you cannot start Windows 8 or 8.1, you might be out of luck in repairing your PC.
Please bear in mind that a 32-bit (x86) Recovery Drive can only be used to fix 32-bit Windows 8/8.1 editions and a 64-bit (x64) Recovery Drive works with 64-bit Windows 8/8.1 editions only.
A good thing is that you can repair any edition of Windows 8/8.1 with this disc, as long as it is meant for the same hardware architecture (32-bit or 64-bit).
And last, but not least - do not try to use Windows 8.1 Recovery Drive for repairing Windows 8, and vice versa!
Remember that you cannot use Refresh or Reset Your PC features if Windows is installed on a drive with GPT (not MBR) partition table until you force "UEFI only" boot setting in BIOS/EFI. Windows 8 and 8.1 will not detect GPT partition alignment correctly if BIOS booting is enabled.
Requirements for Windows 8/8.1 Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc
First, make sure you have a blank CD/DVD (only in Windows 8) or a USB drive with at least 256 MB (megabytes) of total disk space. Many OEM computers have heavily customized recovery partitions that might require up to 32 gigabytes of disk space on Recovery Drive.CD or DVD in Windows 8 must really mean blank, because the program is not capable of overwriting rewritable media. You can blank a CD or DVD by opening Computer (keyboard shortcut Windows Key+E), right-clicking a CD/DVD writer in the list and selecting Erase this disc.
USB drive can be a simple pen drive (stick) or a USB hard drive. Please note that this drive will be formatted and you will lose all files on it. Do make a backup copy of your important files first!
After creating the Recovery Drive, you must test that your PC is actually able to boot from it. Some older USB sticks do not support booting at all. Also, remember to check your computer's boot order to verify that booting from USB devices is enabled and listed before hard drive booting.
If your computer has both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 or newer ports, connect Recovery Drive to an older USB 2.0 port - this resolves many boot problems.
Creating a bootable USB Recovery Drive
To create the drive, open Settings Search with keyboard shortcut Windows key+W and type "recovery" into Search box. Click Create a recovery drive. As expected, User Account Control pops up. Click Yes to verify that you know what you're doing.
Create a recovery drive window opens. First, tick the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive check box. Then connect a USB drive, wait about 10 seconds and click Next.
If you cannot enable the Copy contents from the recovery partition to the recovery drive option while creating a Recovery Drive in Windows 8 or 8.1, you need to copy Windows install.wim file on a hard drive or SSD. Please note that this will raise Recovery Drive space requirements from the default 256 megabytes to about 4 gigabytes.Click the correct drive letter in the Select the USB flash drive window. Then click Next.
In case Recovery Drive creation completely fails with the "We can't create a recovery drive on this PC. Some required files are missing." error, the winre.wim file or System Reserved partition is missing. See the Restore Windows RE in Windows tutorial on how to resolve this problem.
Windows will then warn you that all contents of the selected drive will be deleted. To continue, click Create.
The drive formatting and file copying process might take several minutes, depending on the speed of your USB drive. After the drive is ready, click Finish.
Now test that your device is really able to boot from the Recovery Drive: some older USB drives do not support booting. If this is the case, create Recovery Drive on a newer stick and re-test.
If your computer has both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 or newer ports, connect Recovery Drive to an older USB 2.0 port - this resolves many boot problems.
Creating a bootable CD or DVD System Repair Disc in Windows 8
If you prefer to create a bootable CD or DVD System Repair Disc (possible in Windows 8 only), open Settings Search with keyboard shortcut Windows Key+W, type recovery and click Windows 7 File Recovery (yes, that actually is named Windows 7 File Recovery).If you cannot find the item, open Command Prompt (use Windows Key+X shortcut), type sdclt.exe and press Enter key to launch the program.
In the left side of Windows 7 File Recovery window, click Create a system repair disc.
Create a system repair disc window opens. Select the correct drive and click Create disc.
If you did not insert a CD or DVD, you will see the "System repair disc could not be created, There is no media in the device (0xC0AA0202)" error dialog. Click OK, insert a blank writable disc and the process will automatically start.Creating the System Repair Disc might take several minutes. After the process is complete, label the disc as instructed and click Close.
In case the inserted CD or DVD is not blank, you will see the following error dialog. Click OK. Then open Windows Explorer (keyboard shortcut Windows Key+E).
Right-click your CD or DVD writer and select Erase this disc.
In the Ready to erase disc window, activate the Close this wizard after the disc is erased option and click Next.
You can then safely close all open Create a system repair disc and Recovery Drive windows.
Contents of a Recovery Drive / System Repair Disc
Here's the list of files that a typical Windows 8 Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc contains. Yes, the CD/DVD and USB contents are identical.To see the sources\boot.wim file in File Explorer, you might have to disable the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) option temporarily. See the Change folder views and options in Windows article for instructions.
- bootmgr
- bootmgr.efi
- boot\BCD
- boot\boot.sdi
- boot\fonts\chs_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\cht_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\jpn_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\kor_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\malgun_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\malgunn_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\meiryo_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\meiryon_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\msjh_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\msjhn_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\msyh_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\msyhn_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\segmono_boot.ttf
- boot\fonts\segoe_slboot.ttf
- boot\fonts\segoen_slboot.ttf
- boot\fonts\wgl4_boot.ttf
- boot\resources\bootres.dll
- efi\boot\bootx64.efi
- efi\microsoft\boot\BCD
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\chs_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\cht_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\jpn_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\kor_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\malgun_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\malgunn_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\meiryo_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\meiryon_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\msjh_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\msjhn_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\msyh_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\msyhn_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\segmono_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\segoe_slboot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\segoen_slboot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\fonts\wgl4_boot.ttf
- efi\microsoft\boot\resources\bootres.dll
- sources\boot.wim
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