Data Recovery Digest

Windows 8 introduces a variety of new features aimed at file safety, security and storage. One of these methods involves the use of a USB recovery drive, which is useful in troubleshooting and fixing any errors. In fact, a USB recovery drive may even offer you access to a PC that will not even boot up properly.

Recovery Partitions

Windows 8 requires the use of a recovery partition before you can create and utilize a USB recovery drive. To check for an existing recovery partition, swipe in from the right edge of your screen and tap or click "Search." Type "Command" into the search box, located the Command Prompt icon, and tap or click "Run As Administrator."

Next, simply enter "recimg /showcurrent," and press the Enter key. If an error message appears stating there is no active custom recovery image, you can then proceed to the next step of creating your Windows 8 recovery partition.

Creating a Recovery Partition

A new recovery partition should only be created if one does not already exist on your hard drive. If a recovery partition already exists, you should proceed to the next step to proceed with creating your actual USB recovery drive.

To create a new recovery partition, swipe in from the right edge of your screen and tap or click "Search." Enter "Command" into the search box, highlight the Command Prompt icon, and tap or click "Run As Administrator."

Next, create a folder for your recovery partition by typing "mkdir C:/RefreshImage" and pressing Enter. To create the actual image within the folder you just created, enter "recimg –CreateImage C:\RefreshImage" and press the Enter key. You are now ready to proceed with creation of the actual USB recovery drive for Windows 8.

Creating a Recovery Drive

There are some important things to keep in mind when creating your USB recovery drive. Windows 8 will inform you regarding the size of your hard drive's recovery partition, so you will need a USB drive with a capacity that is large enough to hold all the data. Also, it is important to note that the creation process of the USB recovery drive will delete everything that is already on your USB flash drive, so you'll want to backup and transfer any important files you may have.

When ready to begin the USB recovery drive creation process, simply swipe in from the right edge of your screen and tap or click "Search." Enter "Recovery" into the search box, tap or click "Settings," and finally tap or click "Create a Recovery Drive."

Once the recovery drive tool has loaded, make sure to check the box that reads "Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive" and press "Next." Locate the size of your recovery partition on the next screen, and insert the USB flash drive that you wish to use for your Windows 8 USB recovery drive. Select the drive by tapping or clicking on it, then tap or click "Next" to proceed. Finally, click "Create" to begin the creation process. When this process finalizes, you can then remove your USB flash drive and use it as your personalized Windows 8 USB recovery drive.