Solved Windows 11 Recovery Drive


Keith Weisshar

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Location
Hazlet, NJ
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Why doesn't the Windows 11 recovery drive include the cloud download option unlike Reset this PC does?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Digital Storm
    CPU
    Intel Core i9 9900K 3.8GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z390 Maximus XI Hero Wi-Fi
    Memory
    16GB DDR4 2666MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA RTX 2060
    Sound Card
    Realtek Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS VG-245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB
    PSU
    850W
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF-932
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro
    Mouse
    Razer Cobra Pro
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
Why doesn't the Windows 11 recovery drive include the cloud download option unlike Reset this PC does?
What's the point when you can download from cloud using Media Creation Tool and create an installation drive or download iso and "burn" it to usb drive?

Creating a usb recovery drive from "Reset my Pc" using files on PC also includes key drivers from pc. If you use the cloud option, it is same in effect, as above and may not include key drivers if not in the standard download options.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
It takes about 45 minutes to create a recovery drive when including system files.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Digital Storm
    CPU
    Intel Core i9 9900K 3.8GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z390 Maximus XI Hero Wi-Fi
    Memory
    16GB DDR4 2666MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA RTX 2060
    Sound Card
    Realtek Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS VG-245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB
    PSU
    850W
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF-932
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro
    Mouse
    Razer Cobra Pro
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Security

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
It takes about 40 minutes to create a recovery drive when including system files.
I never use recovery drives.

Why not create an image backup using Macrium Reflect Free or similar? Then it will reinstate programs as well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Why does creating a recovery drive including backup of system files take 45 minutes when media creation tool only takes a few minutes on the same USB flash drive with 50mb/s write speed and a gigabit internet connection? Macrium Reflect backups are too big to fit on a USB flash drive and requires an external HDD or SSD. My 2TB SSD contains over 500GB of used space due to large AAA games.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Digital Storm
    CPU
    Intel Core i9 9900K 3.8GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z390 Maximus XI Hero Wi-Fi
    Memory
    16GB DDR4 2666MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA RTX 2060
    Sound Card
    Realtek Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS VG-245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB
    PSU
    850W
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF-932
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro
    Mouse
    Razer Cobra Pro
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
It takes about 45 minutes to create a recovery drive when including system files.
Yes, it's a time consuming process. Your system has to build the Reconstruct.WIM files from the source files in your system's WinSxS component store.

The only time I ever bother to make a recovery drive with system files is for a PC that came with an OEM pre-installed Windows. The recovery drive is effectively a 'factory reset' drive, capable of reinstalling all the OEM drivers, OEM utilities, and OEM customizations. Here's the one I made for System One in my specs below as I received it - before wiping it, restoring my own Win10 system image, then upgrading that to Win11.

1653315425773.png
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Lattitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
Are there any RAM or disk cache software to make it go faster? I have Intel Core i9-9900k 3.6Ghz CPU with Turbo Boost 2.0 of 5GHz and 16GB of DDR4 2666MHz RAM.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Digital Storm
    CPU
    Intel Core i9 9900K 3.8GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z390 Maximus XI Hero Wi-Fi
    Memory
    16GB DDR4 2666MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA RTX 2060
    Sound Card
    Realtek Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS VG-245H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB
    PSU
    850W
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF-932
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro
    Mouse
    Razer Cobra Pro
    Internet Speed
    Gigabit
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Security

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