Windows tip of the week: Create a recovery drive
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Windows tip of the week

Create a recovery drive

By Ed Bott

Do you have an up-to-date recovery drive for Windows 10? A bootable USB flash drive that contains the files needed to repair or reinstall Windows should be part of your troubleshooting toolkit. And if your computer is working well right now, this is a perfect time to create that recovery drive.

For starters, you'll need a USB flash drive. A basic recovery drive must be at least 512 MB in size, but I recommend that you use a drive with at least 8 GB capacity instead; the larger drive will allow you to add Windows setup files and third-party drivers for ready access. The process of creating a recovery drive formats the drive and erases all data, so copy any important files from that removable drive before you proceed.

Use the search box to locate and run the Recovery Drive utility (RecoveryDrive.exe), which is located in the WindowsSystem32 folder. On the first page, clear the Back Up System Files To The Recovery Drive check box. Then click Next and follow the wizard's prompts, selecting your destination drive.

After the wizard finishes, you can copy Windows installation files to the recovery drive. Double-click the Windows ISO file to mount it as a virtual drive; then select its entire contents and drag them onto the recovery drive in File Explorer, choosing the option to replace existing files.

Remove the drive, label it, and store it in a safe place. You never know when you'll need it.

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