Enter an administrator password if prompted. Many new computers don’t include an optical (CD/DVD) drive anymore, so having a recovery USB stick will ensure you can use it with any style of computer or notebook.įrom your taskbar, search for then select “Create a recovery drive”. We recommend using a flash drive versus a CD/DVD. Luckily, it is a simple process for all operating systems including Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS. It is always better to be prepared by making your own now than waiting until you actually need one! Creating a separate recovery on a USB/flash drive is a more reliable way to ensure you’ll always have access to your troubleshooting media. Most computers do allow you to partition your hard drive or designate an extra one as a recovery drive, but if your hard drive is causing problems then that recovery will be useless. However, if your operating system won’t boot or you need to troubleshoot problems, you’ll need recovery media to fix it.
Most manufacturers have stopped providing these disks to both reduce costs and prevent piracy. If you’ve purchased a computer recently, you may have noticed that it didn’t come with a physical recovery or installation disk for your operating system.
