Windows 10: How to create an .iso file out of a USB Recovery Drive

I want to create an .iso file out of a USB Recovery Drive (a bit under 8 GB) I created. I want to do it because it was extremely slow (~2 h) to create the Recovery Drive and I also want to make a backup of the Recovery Drive in case both my C: corrupts and the USB stick corrupts.

I have already previously been successful at making an .iso file out of a USB Windows setup. Then with Rufus I wrote the .iso back to another USB stick and it worked, it booted perfectly. How I did that .iso file was with these instructions: Bootable Media and Images Preparation Guide with How-to Approach starting from section 2.2's UEFI part. It worked, but it has X:\EFI\Microsoft\boot\efisys.bin as the Boot Image. However, the Recovery Drive has no such file.

What is the correct way to make a working .iso out of a Windows 10 USB Recovery Drive? Or can I just simply copy the files to any USB stick and then add a boot sector or something?

:)

 

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.

 

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.

 

Help! Failure trying to create a recovery drive in Windows 10

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community, we appreciate your interest in Windows 10.

I understand the inconvenience caused to you while creating the recovery drive on Widows 10 with error: "We can't create the recovery drive. A problem occurred while creating the recovery drive.", we will help you with this issue.

This issue might have occurred because of the recovery partition is not created during Windows setup, and will be unavailable for Windows to access and use for the purposes of copying recovery files to a CD or USB, resulting in the error above.

To fix the problem explained above, it is necessary to copy the appropriate files from the Windows 10 DVD to your PC, so that Windows can access and use them to create the recovery drive. Then, the recovery agent is configured with the new path to the setup
files and the creation can proceed.

Refer: How
to download official Windows 10 ISO files

Follow the below steps:

• Copy the contents of the Windows DVD to a folder on your C:\ drive.
• Launch an elevated command prompt window by typing in “cmd” in the search menu, and then pressing + + .
• Type in the following to re-configure Windows to point to the correct setup files location:
  

• reagentc /disable
• reagentc /setosimage /path C:\Win10\
• reagentc /enable

4. Verify the commands worked by typing in the following:

• reagentc /info

Later, I suggest you to try creating the recovery drive as suggested in the Microsoft article and check if it helps.

Creating a recovery drive

Hope it helps. Reply to the post with an updated status of this issue for further assistance.