We can't create a recovery drive when trying to create a NEW recovery drive.

Anonymous
2023-03-23T20:01:10+00:00

When I created my recovery drive the only drive available with the necessary space available was a removable hard drive. I ordered a new flash drive that was big enough and today I tried to create a new recovery drive.

App comes up no problem but after checking my system for available drives it returns the error
"We can't create the recovery drive" A problem occurred while creating the recovery drive.

I checked the forum for help and saw a reference to regagentc /info so I ran it and compared to the one posted mine actually had a drive listed. I disconnected the drive and restarted the system; but got the same error and information.

So basically, how can I create a new recovery drive? How would anyone create a new one if say their old one became unusable? There must be some information somewhere.

Thanks in advance,

Pamela

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Recovery and backup

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2023-03-23T21:01:01+00:00

Hi, MissPam_Samm,

Sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue.

This error is usually related to the option "Back up system files to the recovery drive", sometimes creating the recovery drive with this option unchecked first and then recreating with this option checked may fix the problem.

1-Click on Start, search for the recovery drive, and click on that

2-In the Recovery Drive wizard uncheck the "Back up system files to the recovery drive" option

3-Click on Next

4-Select the USB drive that you intend to use as a recovery drive

5-Click Next to continue

6-Click the Create button to confirm the action. The utility will format the drive and copy the required files to the storage device

7-Regardless of whether you see an error or the process completes successfully, don’t click the Finish or Close button

8-Instead, click on the back button in the upper left corner

9-Now check the option "Back up system files to the recovery drive"

10-Then click on Next and follow the instructions to create the recovery drive

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-01-24T19:03:12+00:00

    Ditto. Microsoft's create recovery disk app overwrites ANY pre-existing usb drive partitioning with its own upon your selection of a target USB drive. I suspect for some of us, when the "backup system files to the recovery drive" box is checked, the Microsoft generated 32GB FAT32 partition isn't quite big enough to hold the system files the app wants to copy. So the app fails to complete the process successfully. I see no way around that for now, but maybe a patch will be forthcoming.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-01-18T12:14:17+00:00

    So do I now try to create a recoevry drive or with the resulting USB drive is that it?

    By the way that process has just turned my 64Bg USB drive into a 32 Gb USB drive!

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-04-16T03:46:07+00:00

    This is exactly what is happening to me on my brand new Dell desktop.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-02-15T19:54:34+00:00

    Instead, try using the Windows Media Creation Tool. It's (currently) the second "Download Now" button on the following page.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11

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