Creating a System Repair Disk on a USB Flash Drive

Written by Barry Dysert (last updated December 7, 2015)

10

Although it takes a bit of time to create a system repair disk, having one will more than pay for itself should you ever find yourself with an unbootable system. Having the original Windows installation disk can serve the same purpose, but many systems do not come with the installation disk. It is therefore recommended that you create your own repair disk, and you may find it more convenient to have this image on a USB drive.

Creating a system repair image on a USB drive is a two-step process. First, you need to create the image on a physical disk. Then you need to get that image onto a dedicated USB drive. To accomplish these steps, follow the process described below.

  1. Go to Start | Control Panel and click the Backup Your Computer link. Windows displays the Backup and Restore portion of the Control Panel.
  2. Click the "Create a system repair disc" option at the left side of the screen. Windows prompts you to insert a blank, unformatted CD or DVD into the appropriate drive on your system. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Create a System Repair Disc dialog box.

  4. Insert the desired disc and then click the Create Disc button. Windows starts creating the repair disc, as requested. During the creation process, Windows keeps you informed as to what is happening. After several minutes you'll be informed that the disc is done and that you should label it. (See Figure 2.)
  5. Figure 2. Your System Repair Disc is Completed.

  6. Click the Close button to dismiss the dialog box that appeared at the end of step 3.
  7. Click the OK button to dismiss the dialog box that appeared at the end of step 2.
  8. Remove your newly created disk from the drive, label it, and store it in a safe place.

Now that you have a system repair disc, you need to copy the information on the disc to a USB flash drive. Insert a blank USB drive into the computer. Get to a command prompt window and type "diskpart" (without the quotes) and press Enter. This invokes the DiskPart utility. Type "list disk" (again, without the quotes) and press Enter. DiskPart will list the disks it detects. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3. DiskPart's listing of the available disks.

I know by looking down the "Size" column that my USB drive is Disk 2. (If you're not sure, unplug your USB drive, and do another "list disk" to see which disk disappeared. Then plug it back in, do a third "list disk", and note the disk number of your USB disk.) Select the USB drive by typing the following:

DISKPART> select disk 2

If your USB drive is different than on my system, make sure you supply the correct disk number for your USB drive. Type the following commands:

DISKPART> clean
DISKPART> create partition primary
DISKPART> select partition 1
DISKPART> active
DISKPART> format fs=NTFS
DISKPART> assign
DISKPART> exit

The last thing to do is to now copy the three items (two folders and one file) from your system repair disc (the CD or DVD you created) to your USB drive. You now have a system repair USB drive.

 This tip (12645) applies to Windows 7.

Author Bio

Barry Dysert

Barry has been a computer professional for over 35 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer. He is currently a software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. When not working with Windows or writing Tips, Barry is an amateur writer. His first non-fiction book is titled "A Chronological Commentary of Revelation." ...

MORE FROM BARRY

Toggling Delete Confirmation

When you delete a file, Windows typically asks you if you are sure you want to make the deletion. You can control this ...

Discover More

How to Password Protect a File or Folder via Zip

If you routinely create ZIP files, you may want to add some protection to those files. This tip shows how easy it is to ...

Discover More

Creating and Using Compressed Folders

If you're low on disk space but still want to keep your files online, you might consider moving them to compressed ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Renaming Multiple Files

Got a bunch of files you need renamed? Windows can help you out, but only in a limited manner. This tip shows you how.

Discover More

Using File History

Backing up your data is an important part of computer management. Enabling File History is a painless way to be able to ...

Discover More

Using the DiskPart Utility

The DiskPart utility is a low-level command-line program that lets you manage disks, virtual disks, partitions, and ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five more than 3?

2016-07-14 05:54:58

anne

followed your instructions for creating a system repair disk in a USB flash drive
didn't recognize my usb drive
Windows 7 premium home
Have created a CD repair disc but cant get it to boot no options in my bios


2016-05-09 02:25:34

Barry

I would go ahead as planned. I can't imagine that simply copying it on another computer would invalidate the data.


2016-05-08 19:47:44

john barto

i created a win 7 dvd repair disk and my dvd recorder broke down. now I want to copy the repair disk to a usb key on another win 7 computer. I am told that it has to be done on the same pc or it will be rejected, but as I created the repair disk on this computer I expect it to work on this computer even though the copyimng was done on another. Should I go ahead as planned?


2015-12-22 22:20:20

Jeff G

Jim: Barry is correct, and just so you know, the files, for me at least, were less than 200 MB in total. Any flash drive sold these days should be able to hold dozens of copies.


2015-12-22 08:47:57

Barry

The size of the USB drive will be about the same as the size of the data written to your DVD.


2015-12-22 08:29:36

Jim

How can I determine in advance the size of the flash drive needed?


2015-12-21 16:30:09

Jeff G

Excellent instructions, thank you so much. I looked at many more complicated methods before I found this. I tried them, and they work very well.


2015-12-07 07:54:54

Barry

I doubt it's the same procedure for Windows 10, but I don't know for sure.

This is not a backup of your data files, so no, this isn't the backup you want to have before upgrading to Windows 10.


2015-12-07 07:34:32

Vincent

Will this not work for Windows 10?


2015-12-07 07:27:42

Barbara

Can this be the back-up you talk about when making a back-up before downloading Windows 10?


Newest Tips