Windows 10: Created A Recovery Drive - Where Did The Space Go ?

I created a Recovery Drive on an external hard drive with 1 TB capacity. After the drive was created, it shows only a capacity of 31.9 GB. Where did the rest of the space go ?

:)

 

creating a recovery drive!

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused. I will assist you with this.

To better understand the issue please let us know

• What exactly happens when you try to create a Recovery drive ?
• Do you receive any error message ?

I suggest you to try the steps below and see if It helps to resolve the issue.

Creating a recovery drive

A recovery drive can help you troubleshoot and fix problems with your PC, even if it won't start. To create one, all you need is a USB drive.

• From the taskbar, search for Create a recovery drive then select it. You might be asked to enter an admin password or confirm your choice.
• When the tool opens, make sure Back up system files to the recovery drive is selected, then select
  Next.
• Connect a USB drive to your PC, select it, then select Next > Create. A lot of files need to be copied to the recovery drive, so this might take a while.
• When it's finished, you might see a Delete the recovery partition from your PC link on the final screen. If you want to free up drive space on your PC, select the link, then select
  Delete. If not, select Finish.

Hope the above information helps. Reply with necessary information and the result to help you further. Thank you.

 

Create a Recovery Drive?

Hi Kaspaz,

Let us first check the recovery drive creation process that you have done. Below is a step by step process of creating a recovery drive:

• From the taskbar, search for Create a recovery drive and then select it. You might be asked to enter an admin password or confirm your choice.
• When the tool opens, make sure Back up system files to the recovery drive
  is selected and then select Next.
• Connect a USB drive to your PC, select it, and then select Next > Create.
  A lot of files need to be copied to the recovery drive, so this might take a while.
• When it’s done, you might see a Delete the recovery partition from your PC
  link on the final screen. If you want to free up drive space on your PC, select the link and then select
  Delete. If not, select Finish.

If you have done the same steps above and the rest of your file is still not showing.
Please post back some details:

• Which drive are you referring to?
• Can you send us a screenshot of what you are seeing?
• Besides creating a recovery drive, have you done any other changes on your computer?
• What is the make and model of your USB hard drive device?
• Have you tried plugging it on another port?
• What is the current version and build number of your Windows 10 Computer? To know these details, follow the steps below:
  • Select the Start button.
  • Type About your PC.
  • Press Enter to find out the version and build number of your Windows 10 PC.

Let us know the result after performing the troubleshooting steps and if your concern was left unresolved, kindly get back to us with the answers to our inquiry, so that we can assist you further.

 

Windows 10 Recovery drive error - Can't create a recovery drive on this PC

Hi Andy,

Thank you for posting the query on Microsoft Community. I am glad to assist you on this.

• Do you have enough space in your external drive or disk?
• Did you make any changes to the computer prior to this issue?
• Have you created a recovery media previously on the computer?

As per the issue description, it seems like you are unable to create a system image recovery driver using a USB drive on the computer as it prompts an error message “We cannot create a recovery drive on this PC. Some required files are missing.

I would suggest you to follow the below steps and try to create a recovery drive and check if it helps.

• From the taskbar, search for Create a recovery drive and then select it. You might be asked to enter an admin password or confirm your choice.
• 
  When the tool opens, make sure Back up system files to the recovery drive is selected and then select Next.
  
• 
  Connect a USB drive to your PC, select it, and then select Next > Create. A lot of files need to be copied to the recovery drive, so this might take a while.
  
• 
  When it’s done, you might see a Delete the recovery partition from your PC link on the final screen. If you want to free up drive space on your PC, select the link and then select Delete. If
  not, select Finish.
  

You can also use Windows 10 media creation tool to troubleshoot problems when your PC can't start.

Here is the link:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10

Kindly let us know if you need any further assistance with Windows. We are glad to assist you.

Thank you.