Windows 10: Unable to create Windows 10 recovery drive on 2 computers so is there an alternative?

To All,


I am unable to create a Windows 10 recovery drive on 2 different computers. Both of these computers came with the original release of Windows 10 and have gone through several Windows 10 upgrades. For background, I wanted to create the recovery drives as a precaution before upgrading to 1903, which actually went very well with only some minor network and sound issues to fix afterwards. On both computers, I have "Back up system files to the recovery drive" checked on the recovery drive tool.

On my laptop, I was repeatedly unable to create a Windows 10 recovery drive, with the recovery drive tool stopping with the message "A problem occurred while creating the recovery drive".

On the desktop, the recovery drive tool repeatedly completed but the system files were not copied over as the USB flash drive held less than 6 GB.

On both computers, I:

1. ran the system file checker with "sfc /scannow" to correct for any system errors before running the recovery drive tool
2. tried different 32 GB flash drives
3. tried both standard and quick formatting of the flash drives to FAT32 before running the recovery drive tool with "format E: /V:RECOVERY" and "format e: /Q /V:RECOVERY" - but this should not matter as the Recovery Drive tool formats the USB flash drive to FAT 32 anyway.

I have seen posts on the Internet about others having similar problems creating a Windows 10 recovery drive. Is there a solution? Can the Windows 10 media installation creation tool be used as a (partial) solution if I cannot create a Windows 10 recovery drive?

Thanks,

:)

 

Unable to create a recovery drive on Windows 10

Hello Mike,

As you are unable to create a system recovery drive on your operating system we will help you with this issue.

Do let us know the following to assist you better with this issue:

• Have you installed any third-party anti-virus software on your device?
• For how long time does the process stuck with loading circle?
• Were you able to see any error code/ error message with this issue?

Try few of the below troubleshooting steps and check if it helps.

Step 1: Disable the third-party anti-virus software and try to create a recovery drive.

NOTE: Antivirus software can help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn't disable your antivirus software. If you
have to temporarily disable it to install other software, you should re-enable it as soon as you're done. If you're connected to the Internet or a network while your antivirus software is disabled, your computer is vulnerable to attacks.

If the issue still persists, I suggest you to uninstall the third-party anti-virus software.

Step 2: Follow the below steps to create a recovery drive on your device.

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.

Follow:

• 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.

Reference: Create a recovery drive

Hope it helps. Get back to us with an updated status of this issue and required information for further assistance.

Thank you.

 

Unable to create a recovery drive on Windows 10

Hi

Thanks for trying! did turn off Avast, no change; got rid of Avast and cleaned the registry, no change.

There are no error messages, the 'create a recovery drive' procedure appears to enter an endless loop as it searches for available drives.

I also have a carousel of screen backgrounds - when the background changes some processes reset (during a file renaming, or, from the middle of a large group of files to the first file in the folder)

Sometimes I lose the availability of the bottom toolbar and need to restart Windows Explorer by using task manager.

Are these in any way related? my update was not clean enough? I should reinstall Windows10?

Cheers

 

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.