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Create USB Recovery - Failed
Have a new Inspiron 13 5000. It has completed all of its updates. I have tried several times with a couple of different USB thumb drives and each time the result is the same message that something has gone wrong -FAILED. The USB drives are 32 GB
johnptd
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March 8th, 2017 00:00
This has been a common problem. It was very prevalent with the initial release of Windows 10. I had exactly the same issue when I attempted to create the Recovery Drive on an old Lenovo laptop after installing the initial release of Windows 10. It finally worked after installing the November 2015 Update. Unchecking the "Backup systems files" will allow the RD creation to complete. I don't know if any solution to the problem has ever been found.
The Recovery Drive without the system files allows you to troubleshoot or reset your system. You might be better off downloading the Media Creation Tool and creating a USB drive with that. This will give you the option of troubleshooting, resetting, or reinstalling Windows. I highly recommend using this tool to install the upcoming Creators Update instead of using Windows Update to perform the upgrade (if the new tool is available before you are forced to do the upgrade). I have used this tool on numerous machines and it makes the installation a lot easier.
Another thing to consider is to get some system imaging software such as Macrium Reflect. It can create a bootable USB version so if your hard drive or system and you cannot get the Windows 10 troubleshooting steps to work, you will be able to restore your system to a state prior to that crash. They have a free version available.
Good Luck,
JohnD
Saltgrass
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March 6th, 2017 11:00
Have you made any changes to the OEM drive configuration?
Have you run a system File Check? Admin command prompt sfc /scannow
You might try cleaning or removing any current partitions on the flash drive. Do you know if it has any proprietary software on it?
Are you checking the box to copy over system files?
WhtnWrench
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March 6th, 2017 15:00
* Made no changes to the OEM drive config.
* Have yet to run a system file check
* The flash drive has only one partition. Believe that the flash drive was reformatted as part of the process creating the recovery drive.
* Yes, I am checking the box to copy over the system files.
Examining the flash drive at the point where the create recovery disk failed, shows the following files on the USB drive.
folder BOOT
folder efi
folder sources
file bootmgr
file bootmgr.efi
file reagent
Saltgrass
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March 7th, 2017 08:00
You folder listing seems to be correct. The sources folder holds the Win 10 image and OEM components.
When you try creating the drive, does it take a long time, like 15 or 20 minutes or longer? Are you watching the system and making sure the display does not turn off or the system does not sleep?
The reason I bring up the flash drive is because I have seen exactly the same as you are seeing but never found out why, Redoing the drive may help.
Are you seeing any messages in Event Viewer at the time of the failed attempt? There may be some log created but you would need to find one with entries at the time of the failure.
WhtnWrench
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March 8th, 2017 07:00
John,
Thank you for the response. I had not seen the ability to create recovery USB drive on my other Windows 10 system. This pc started out as a Windows Vista system and after a hard drive failure, the MS store installed Windows 10 and it doesn't have it. My new Dell laptop had this feature and believed it was a Dell product.
I have been considering software that would create an image of my hard drive. Will look into Macrium Reflect.