ThinkPad E550 - Advanced Startup Options; Recovering OS if Windows 8.1 Fails to Start; Creating and Using Recovery Media

•Toperformaquickformat,clickJustremovemyfilestostarttheprocess.Theprocesswilltake
severalminutes.
•Toperformacompleteformat,clickFullycleanthedrivetostarttheprocess.Theprocesswill
takeseveralhours.
4.Followtheinstructionsonthescreentoresetyourcomputertothefactorydefaultsettings.
Usingtheadvancedstartupoptions
Withtheadvancedstartupoptions,youcanchangethefirmwaresettingsofthecomputer,changethe
startupsettingsoftheWindowsoperatingsystem,startthecomputerfromanexternaldevice,orrestorethe
Windowsoperatingsystemfromasystemimage.
Tousetheadvancedstartupoptions,dothefollowing:
1.Moveyourpointertothetop-rightorbottom-rightcornerofthescreentodisplaythecharms.Click
Settings➙ChangePCsettings➙General.
2.IntheAdvancedstartupsection,clickRestartnow➙Troubleshoot➙Advancedoptions.
3.Selectadesiredstartupoption,thenfollowtheinstructionsonthescreen.
RecoveringyouroperatingsystemifWindows8.1failstostart
TheWindowsrecoveryenvironmentonyourcomputeriscapableofoperatingindependentlyfromthe
Windows8.1operatingsystem.Thisenablesyoutorecoverorrepairtheoperatingsystemevenifthe
Windows8.1operatingsystemfailstostart.
Aftertwoconsecutivefailedbootattempts,theWindowsrecoveryenvironmentstartsautomatically.Then
youcanchooserepairandrecoveryoptionsbyfollowingtheinstructionsonthescreen.
Note:Ensurethatyourcomputerisconnectedtoacpowerduringtherecoveryprocess.
Creatingandusingrecoverymedia
YoucancreaterecoverymediaasbackupsfortheWindowsrecoveryenvironmentandtheWindows
recoveryimage.Ifyoucannotstartthecomputer,youcanuserecoverymediatotroubleshootandfixthe
problemsonyourcomputer.
Itisrecommendedthatyoucreaterecoverymediaasearlyaspossible.Onceyoucreaterecoverymedia,
keeptheminasafeplaceanddonotusethemtostoreotherdata.
Creatingrecoverymedia
Tocreaterecoverymedia,youneedaUSBdrivewithatleast16GBofstorage.TherequiredUSBcapacity
dependsonthesizeoftherecoveryimage.
Attention:CreatingrecoverymediawilldeleteanythingstoredontheUSBdrive.Toavoiddataloss,makea
backupcopyofallthedatathatyouwanttokeep.
Tocreaterecoverymedia,dothefollowing:
Note:Ensurethatyourcomputerisconnectedtoacpower.
1.Moveyourcursortothetop-rightorbottom-rightcornerofthescreentodisplaythecharms,and
clickSearch.
2.TyperecoveryintheSearchfieldandclicktheSearchbutton.ThenclickCreatearecoverydrive.
3.ClickYesintheUserAccountControlwindowtoallowtheRecoveryMediaCreatorprogramtostart.
Chapter4.Relatedserviceinformation39