Create a USB recovery drive for Windows
Create a recovery drive to troubleshoot and x problems that may occur with Windows. An empty USB ash drive with a minimum capacity
of 16 GB is required to create the recovery drive.
NOTE: This process may take up to an hour to complete.
NOTE: The following steps may vary depending on the version of Windows installed. Refer to the Microsoft support site for
latest instructions.
1 Connect the USB ash drive to your computer.
2 In Windows search, type Recovery.
3 In the search results, click Create a recovery drive.
The User Account Control window is displayed.
4 Click Yes to continue.
The Recovery Drive window is displayed.
5 Select Back up system les to the recovery drive and click Next.
6 Select the USB ash drive and click Next.
A message appears, indicating that all data in the USB ash drive will be deleted.
7 Click Create.
8 Click Finish.
For more information about reinstalling Windows using the USB recovery drive, see the Troubleshooting section of your product's
Service Manual at www.dell.com/support/manuals.
Reinstall Windows using a USB recovery drive
CAUTION
: This process formats the hard drive and removes all data on your computer. Ensure that you back up data on your
computer before beginning this task.
NOTE: Before reinstalling Windows, ensure your computer has more than 2 GB of memory and more than 32 GB of storage
space.
NOTE: This process may take up to an hour to complete and your computer will restart during the recovery process.
1 Connect the USB recovery drive to your computer.
2 Restart your computer.
3 Press F12 after the Dell logo is displayed on the screen to access the boot menu.
A Preparing one-time boot menu message appears.
4 After the boot menu loads, select the USB recovery device under UEFI BOOT.
The system reboots and a screen to Choose the keyboard layout is displayed.
5 Choose your keyboard layout.
6 In the Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot.
7 Click Recover from a drive.
8 Choose one of the following options:
• Just remove my les to do a quick format.
• Fully clean the drive to do a complete format.
9 Click Recover to start the recovery process.
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Create a USB recovery drive for Windows 7