Windows 10: Reinstall Windows from Recovery USB without losing files

My laptop blackscreened, and none of the normal recovery options have worked. So, I decided to try reinstall Windows 10 from a USB drive. However, the Upgrade option which allows me to keep my files does not work; it says I must do this once Windows is booted, which is impossible because of the blackscreen.

I really don't want to lose my files if possible. Is there a way to work around this and reinstall Windows 10 from a USB drive without wiping everything? Thanks.

:)

 

Windows 10 recovery USB - which size???

Not even that. What creating a recovery drive does (if you select 'include system files') is to construct the files required to clean install Windows. If this is made on an OEM install these file will include the OEM custom apps and drivers - effectively a 'factory reset' drive. It is extracting an install image from your existing system files that takes the time.

The steps in making a recovery drive are shown in this tutorial...

Create Recovery Drive in Windows 10 | Tutorials

• first you choose whether or not to include system files (step 5 in tutorial)
• next the recovery drive files are constructed (this can take a long time if you include system files)
• only after that is complete will you be asked which usb to use (step 6 in tutorial). At this point you will be told how large a usb you need.

Without system files 512 Mb is sufficient. Including system files it will be just over 4GB.

At which step did you get the error? If you were not asked which usb to use then it was the construction of the system files that failed, nothing to do with what usb you had.

 

Macbook system/file recovery [Help!!]

Tear out the drive and then run PhotoRec from a PartedMagic Live CD. PhotoRec recovers anything and everything that has bits and keeps it as it is. Format the drive after recovery, reinstall the OSX and dump the files back on.

 

How to: Create a Recovery Drive for reinstalling Windows 10

When the recovery drive program reaches the step to "select USB Drive" no USB drives are listed even though the USB clearly shows up in File Explorer.