Windows 8.1 system recovery disk. Windows System Restore

With each new version of Windows, its developers offer more and more advanced tools for quickly system recovery.
In this sense, Windows 8.1 is one of the most advanced. For her, there are as many as three levels of recovery:

1. reverting Windows 8.1 to an earlier restore point;
2. restore Microsoft Windows 8.1 without deleting user files and data;
3. deleting all data (system and user information) and

Let's consider each of the recovery methods in more detail.

Restoring Windows 8.1 from an earlier checkpoint

System Restore uses restore points to restore system files and settings to a point in time without affecting the user's personal files and data.

Restore points are automatically created on a weekly basis and before significant system events such as software or device driver installations.

You can also create a restore point manually.

The safest option, in terms of counteracting the loss of personal data and maintaining application performance, is system recovery. Windows automatically creates restore points either by time (every 7 days), or when installing critical updates, or when installing programs that ask the system to do this.

For greater certainty, you should check whether such points are created on your computer. Press Win + Pause - Advanced system settings - System protection. If the recovery system is enabled, then opposite the system disk will be the inscription "Enabled". To check if points are being created, click Restore. In the point selection window, click the "Show other restore points" checkbox.

In Windows 8.1, you don't have to delete old restore points. They are removed by the system itself when the storage space for restore points runs out. But you can manage the amount of disk space allotted for storing them. Click Customize in the System Protection options window. The space allocated for storing backup points is determined by the percentage of the total volume of the disk.

Please note that in Windows 8.1, user files are not deleted when they are restored. Therefore, if you are sure that the problems started at some point, then you can safely return the computer to this point. However, it is more correct to first try to remove the newly installed application. Perhaps the problem will fix itself.

Recovering a computer without deleting files

If your computer's performance has slowed down for some unknown reason, you can restore it without deleting your personal files or changing settings.

If your computer has been upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and has a Windows 8 recovery partition, the computer will be restored to Windows 8 when the computer is upgraded. After the recovery is complete, you will need to upgrade to Windows 8.1.

Applications you have installed from websites and DVDs will be removed. Apps that were originally present on the computer or were installed from the Windows Store will be reinstalled. After restoring your computer, Windows will keep a list of all deleted applications on your desktop.

Windows 8.1 clearly separates system files and personal user files. When something happens to the system: violations of some important files or failure of system settings that you find it difficult to restore, you can quickly roll it back to its original state.

In this gentle reinstallation of Windows, it will restore system files and reset all the default settings that were on the computer at the time the system was first installed. Sometimes this helps, and the health of Windows is restored.

Technically, "saving user files" looks like this. Before starting to reinstall Windows, user data is automatically copied to a separate location, and after reinstalling the system, it is restored from the copy back.
To start the Windows recovery procedure in this way, select "Computer Settings" and find the "Update and Recovery" item.

Please note that if the computer came with Windows 8, and then the system was upgraded to version 8.1, then the restoration will bring the original, eighth version back to life. And you will again have to update it to 8.1. And of course, when reinstalling the system, you may need a DVD or flash drive with an image of the installation disk. Don't forget to write down the Windows key first. She, too, can ask him when reinstalling.

The second important point: all applications that are installed by the user on their own, except for the Windows App Store, will be removed. Actually, this is correct - it is third-party, sometimes unverified applications that most often cause a system crash.

Remove all data and reinstall Windows

This method should be used only in extreme cases, when the recovery according to the first scenario did not help. Copy all your documents, photos and music files in advance to a separate directory. The fact is that Windows will destroy all the user's personal files.

If your computer was upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and has a Windows 8 recovery partition, resetting will restore Windows 8. Once the reset is complete, you will need to upgrade to Windows 8.1.

All your personal files and settings will be lost. All apps you installed will be removed. Only applications that were originally on the computer will be reinstalled.

Loss of personal data is a problem, but all causes of system failure are eliminated. Therefore, in this variant of system recovery, the chances of success are maximum. In this case, you will also need a system image on a DVD or flash drive and a key.

The official Microsoft website reports that deleting all data and reinstalling Windows is required only if you are going to transfer the computer to someone else for perpetual and undivided use. That is, for all other cases there is restore Windows 8.1 without deleting files.

Conclusion

If the health of Windows 8.1 on your computer is broken, you can try the recovery methods indicated in this article, starting from the very first one. We proceed to the next one only if the previous one did not work. If you have any problems, you can contact our specialists. The fact is that the performance of Windows can be lost not only due to a failure in the software part, but also due to the failure of any hardware components of the computer. Therefore, if it was not possible to restore Windows using the indicated methods, a comprehensive one is required.

In Windows 8, unlike previous versions of the OS, it became possible to burn USB and CD / DVD drives, which will help to completely restore the working configuration of the system in the event of a serious failure and the inability to boot in the usual way. Booting from the created media allows you to use advanced OS startup options.

Windows 8 Recovery USB Drive

In previous versions of the OS, you could press F8 to select the startup mode, but in Windows 8 this is no longer possible, so creating a recovery disk for this system is an urgent issue.

This function is available in the "Recovery" window, which can be accessed in the following way:

1. Open the Charms Bar (the side slide-out panel of the "eight") and select the icon labeled "Settings";
2. In the system settings, launch the control panel, to display a complete list of its elements, select the view mode as small icons and open the desired tab "Recovery".

In this window, follow the link leading to a system utility that allows you to create a Windows 8 recovery disk. You can do it even easier if you activate the search function in the same Charms Bar and enter the desired query in the form that opens. In this case, you can start creating a disk immediately after the corresponding window opens in front of you.

Click "Next" and the program will search for devices that can be recorded to. You just have to choose the one you need, in our case it is a flash drive and click on the button confirming the selected action. This is how a flash drive is created with a boot image and system recovery tools.

Recovery CD/DVD

For Windows 8, unlike version 8.1, along with USB, it is possible to create an emergency CD/DVD. To do this, you also need to go to the repair function of the control panel, open the link to launch the rescue disk creation utility and run the program. In the eighth version of the OS, the disc burning window will prompt you to create a CD / DVD drive instead of USB. If the user agrees with this action, then at the next step, the optical media selection window will open.

But you can get to this stage in Windows 8 in a not so long way if you use the Run window. For this:

• press Win + R and in the input field write the command recdisc.exe;
• a window will open in which you need to select the desired disk and let the system create a recovery disk.

After booting the computer from this disk, the user will see the recovery mode interface, where in the advanced options you can select one of the ways to fix problems with starting the system.

Transferring the Recovery partition to a USB flash drive

You may notice that in the rescue disk creation window there is a small line with a suggestion to copy the recovery partition from the device to our media. It will be active, that is, you can only check the box that allows the system to take this action if you purchased a laptop or PC already with Windows 8 preinstalled. This means that there is a hidden system recovery partition on the device’s hard drive.

Under the concept of “Windows 8 recovery”, users often mean different things: someone just restore factory settings, and someone - remove previously installed updates or undo changes that occurred after installing a suspicious driver. Today it is customary to consider several useful methods that will help you roll back Windows versions 8 and 8.1. We will talk about them in today's article.

It is not necessary to reinstall the system to return the PC to working capacity.

Such points are very often used to get the system back on track. They are created without the participation of the user, after installing various utilities, drivers, etc. You can create them yourself, manually. The method helps in situations where errors occurred during the boot or operation of the machine after installing some program.

You can use the method like this:

• get to the control panel (first select the "Start" button), click "Recovery";
• click on "Start System Restore";
• turn on the renewal process by selecting the point you are interested in by date.

Cancel updates

Sometimes our computer, after installing basic updates, starts to behave incorrectly: the Internet may disappear, errors appear when working with individual programs. To avoid such a development of events, experts recommend using rollback updates. Restoring Windows 8.1 using this method is quite fast. To do this, use the Windows Update Center, where you click on "Uninstall updates". An alternative way is to use the command line.

So, after going to the Update Center, you must select the "Installed Updates" link. Here you will see all the updates installed at the moment, the date of their installation and the code. Having figured out after which period the problems with the machine started, calculate the update and delete it by pressing the appropriate key. The PC will ask you to confirm your decision, to do this, click "Yes".

Now reboot the system - this will help to understand if the error has disappeared or if you need to look for another way out to solve the problem.

Recovery Image

To roll back to normal, the system may need a backup with all drivers, programs, and, if necessary, files. Such images are present on all devices on which the OS was installed by the manufacturer. The images are located in a hidden section of the hard drive, contain programs installed by the manufacturer, as well as the system itself.

The user can create such an image on their own at any time. It is best to do this after installing and performing basic settings. If the hidden partition is missing or was previously deleted, you can create it again.

So, you need to select "Delete all files and reinstall Windows" in the "Recovery" section. No preparation is required, because everything goes automatically.

Reset

If a computer running under Windows version 8 (8.1) does not work properly, you can “throw off” the main settings, while your important files will not be deleted. It is preferable to do this when all other options have not helped. The method is highly efficient, but you can use the reset only if Windows starts by itself.

In the panel on the right side of the monitor, find "Settings", then find the item "Change settings". Next, it is important to select the "Recovery" section in the "Update and Recovery" list.

Here are the options offered:

• deleting all files and reinstalling Windows;
• recovery without deleting files (what we are interested in now);
• special download options (does not apply to this article).

If you click on the second option, you will reset all system settings without affecting the files that are on the computer. In other words, videos, documents, music and a number of other downloads will remain intact. However, third-party utilities that you installed on your own will be removed. Programs from the Windows 8 store will be reinstalled automatically.

The first item will allow you to return the car to factory settings. By selecting it, you may lose important data. If the disk is divided into a pair of disks (C and D, for example), then non-system partitions can be left untouched.

Specifications:

When performing a factory reset, the computer uses the recovery partition, which is present on all devices with Windows preinstalled. If the OS is installed on its own, a reset is also possible, but you will have to use the distribution kit of the installed Windows, from which the necessary files will be taken.

Many users upgrade to version 8.1 after receiving Windows 8. They need to update again after resetting the settings, because in this case you will receive a “clean” version. During these steps, you may be asked for a product key (the system may ask you to enter it at one of the stages).

In this article, I will tell you how to create a recovery disk with the Windows 8 operating system. It can come in handy in several cases: if your computer crashes and becomes unstable, if your computer or laptop does not start at all, if you need to enter safe mode.

On a computer or laptop, move the mouse cursor to the upper right corner and select "Search" in the side pop-up panel.

Enter a phrase in the search field "Recovery Disk".

The search results will be displayed on the left. Click on the icon "Creating a recovery drive".

Now we need a disk or flash drive with a capacity of at least 256 MB. Insert the selected device into the computer.

The recovery disk is created using the wizard. In the next window, click "Next". If you bought a computer or laptop with pre-installed Windows 8, then the device has a recovery partition. In this case, the field "Copy recovery partition from computer to recovery drive" will be active. If you wish, you can check the box in it, then the files from this partition will be copied to the disk or flash drive. Just keep in mind that you will need more free space on a removable device. For example, a flash drive will need to take at least 16 GB.

Select the flash drive connected to the computer. If you want to create a CD, then do not connect a USB flash drive, but insert a disk into the drive, then there will be an item below "Create a system repair disc on CD or DVD instead". Click "Next".

The wizard will warn you that all data from the device will be deleted. If important files are stored on the flash drive, it is better to interrupt the creation of the disk and copy all the files to a safe place. Click "Create".

Wait until the wizard finishes the formatting process and copies all the necessary data to the USB flash drive.

This completes the process, and the recovery disk with the Windows 8 operating system is ready.

If you have problems with the operation of the operating system, then using the recovery disk, you can restore the working state of Windows 8. To do this, you will need to change the boot priority in BIOSto boot from a USB flash drive or disk, and then select the desired menu options.

I also wrote about how to change the boot priority in the BIOS in the article installing Windows 8. Follow the link and read more about it.

With the help of the created recovery disk, you can also enter safe mode. For many users, this will be very useful, since in Windows 8, it is not always possible to do this by pressing F8 or Shift + F8 as usual.

If the computer does not start Windows 8 at all, then you can create a recovery disk on a friend's computer, with the operating system we need installed. In this case, the disk or flash drive from which you installed the operating system can also help.

The Windows 8 Recovery Disc or Windows 8.1 Recovery Disc is designed to troubleshoot operating system problems when the computer cannot be booted. The recovery disk launches recovery tools to carry out work to restore Windows to working order.

In the process of working on a computer, sometimes problems arise due to various reasons. Malfunctions happen due to abnormal operation of the equipment, software errors, and, perhaps, the most common cause: incorrect user actions.

If serious problems occur, the user can start System Restore in different ways:

• Restore system files and settings using previously created system restore points.
• Restoring a computer (Refresh) without deleting personal data.
• Deleting all data and reinstalling (Reset) Windows.

These recovery options run directly from the operating system. If it is impossible to start Windows, it is possible to start recovery by booting from a bootable USB flash drive or from a DVD with an image of the operating system, and if the user does not have a Windows image, then by booting from the recovery disk.

A Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) installation DVD or bootable flash drive can also be used as a recovery drive by entering the operating system's recovery environment.

You will need a Windows 8.1 system recovery disc in the following cases:

• the user does not have an installation disk or a bootable flash drive with the Windows operating system1 (Windows 8);
• in case of a serious computer failure;
• when it is impossible to boot Windows.

After booting from the recovery disk, using the recovery tools, the user can carry out the necessary troubleshooting work on the computer.

Create a Windows 8.1 recovery drive

The user can independently create a Windows 8.1 recovery disk and burn it to a USB flash drive.

When creating a Windows 8.1 recovery drive, follow these steps:

1. Enter "Settings", then click on "Control Panel".
2. Enter "Recovery", select "Create a recovery drive".

1. The next window prompts you to copy the recovery partition from your computer to the recovery drive. If there is such a partition on the computer, the user can check the box next to "Copy the recovery partition from the computer to the recovery disk" in order to use it to restore or restore the computer to its original state.
2. Click on the "Next" button.

1. The application will check your computer for connected drives. Windows 8 has the ability to burn to a CD / DVD disc (for this you will need to run another application), in Windows 8.1, a recovery disc is created only on a USB flash drive.
2. Then a window with available disks opens. Select the desired USB drive. The size of the flash drive must be at least 256 MB, all information from the USB device will be deleted.

1. Agree to delete all data from the flash drive. Transfer the data (if any) from the USB device to another drive in advance.
2. Click on the "Create" button.
3. Next comes the formatting and copying of service files.
4. The recovery disk is ready, click on the "Finish" button.

Remove the USB flash drive containing the Windows 8.1 recovery disc from your computer.

A bootable USB flash drive with a Windows 8.1 system recovery disk has been created. Now, in the event of an operating system failure, the user will have a chance to return the computer to a working state.

Bootable USB flash drive Windows 8.1 for system recovery

Now let's see how to start recovery in Windows 8.1 from an installation disk or from a bootable USB flash drive. The recovery disk (not the installation disk) will start in a similar way, only without windows for installing Windows 8.

Select in BIOS or UEFI the system boot priority from the connected drive (USB drive or DVD drive), or immediately enter the boot menu to start the drive from there.

In the "Install Windows 8" window, click on the "Next" button. Here, by default, the language and keyboard layout are already correctly selected.

In the next window, click on System Restore.

The "Select Action" window offers two options for action:

• Diagnostics - restore the system, restore the computer to its original state, or use additional tools.
• Turn off computer.

Select "Diagnostics".

The Diagnostics window offers the following actions:

• Restore - restore the system while saving personal files.
• Revert to original state - reinstallation of the system with the loss of personal data.
• Advanced options - use other recovery tools.

Select Advanced Options.

The following system recovery tools are available in the Advanced Options window:

• System Restore - Restore Windows using previously created restore points.
• System Image Recovery - Restore Windows using a previously created backup system image.
• Startup Recovery - Troubleshooting a failure that prevents the operating system from loading.
• Command Prompt - Run Command Prompt for troubleshooting.

Choose the right tool to solve the problem with your computer.

Article Conclusions

The user can create a bootable Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) recovery disk, which will help launch the system recovery tools if there are serious problems with the computer, the inability to start Windows.