Can't create recovery drive on this PC

Anonymous
2012-11-10T16:19:44+00:00

Hi guys,

Just tried to create a recovery USB drive. But I find that "We can't create a recovery drive on this PC. Some required files are missing. To troubleshoot problems when your PC can't start, use your Windows installation disc or media."

Uh?

Is a fresh Windows 8 x64 (RTM) installation. Only thing that I can think of is it has UEFI and Secure Boot enabled.

Ideas?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-02-22T20:29:35+00:00

    Hi, thanks for your comments.

    It's limited to my main computer. That is a ThinkPad. Also it's limited to my main OS. That is W8.

    The posts are not related to this. This is a fresh full W8 installation.

    I really don't care about the recovery partition. And I do have backup and all that. I just want the tools as they've always proved to be useful.

    Cheers.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-02-22T19:54:08+00:00

    Your problem seems limited to Lenovo ThinkPads from what I can see.  I see you have posted in that community too, I hope you get some decent feedback from them to pass on to us in this Forum.

    Twist - Create a recovery drive

    http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-Edge-S-series/Twist-Create-a-recovery-drive/td-p/958023

    Cannot make Recovery DVDs for the G580 with Windows 8

     http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-3000-and-Essential/Cannot-make-Recovery-DVDs-for-the-G580-with-Windows-8/td-p/939807

    The Recovery Drive you are trying to create whether it is on USB or DVD is mainly only a troubleshooting aid to problems with starting Windows 8.  The slightly more useful part is that it allows you to copy the Recovery Partition, should you want to, from the hidden Recovery Partition.

    You might be able to get away without the "Recovery Drive" if you have a Windows 8 Retail DVD, or if you are able to  follow the instructions in this article (which wont be possible if Windows wont boot at all).

    How To Access Advanced Startup Options in Windows 8

    http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/open-advanced-startup-options-windows-8.htm

    You could try using a Friends Windows 8 machine to create the "Recovery Drive" (don't add the Friends Recovery Partition to it though).  You should be able to use that "Recovery Drive" for Startup Troubleshooting on any Windows 8 machine.

    You could use Windows 8 to make a System Image backup of your Partitions or Drives too which is always handy to have (and keep updating/creating) in case of disasters.

    Have a look at this location, Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Windows 7 File Recovery.  Look at Create a System Image and see if that is useful for you.  Also look at  Create A System Repair Disc, see if that might work for you as it seems similar to, but a bit different to, the original "Recovery Drive" we are talking about.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-02-22T19:03:15+00:00

    No, it's not...

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-02-22T18:28:57+00:00

    if u cloned over and ur boot went missing, I would expect other things went missing too? was ur HDD going bad or were u just switching over? I can see why this would have gone wrong because each drive is assigned numbers when u hook them to the motherboard. U especially can't go from a HDD to a SSD with out do a little more then cloning over.

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  5. Anonymous
    2013-02-22T14:20:25+00:00

    It's not my type of Windows, because it was working fine in the past, at least before I cloned my HDD to a SSD. Since I couldn't boot afterwards I needed to use bootrec /rebuildbcd, so either the clone failed with respect to this or (as I suspect) Windows doesn't know where to look for the files.

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