Difference Between System Repair Disk And Recovery Drive

[Don Frasr]

Thanks for your reply. But what I am saying is that the 'simple volume selection' is greyed out.

Hoping you know of a work-around.

Don

 

[Trouble]

Hoping you know of a work-around.

Unfortunately I do not, and.......
I do not have a 64 gig thumb drive to test with to see if I could duplicate your problem.
Normally, I would suggest that you explore some third party utility, like.... https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
To see if that might address the problem and allow you to utilized the unallocated space on the drive but I'm not certain what effect that might have on the device or your ability to use it as intended, I'm reluctant to do so.
It might be worth experimenting with, but I would absolutely test afterwards to make sure that you could still use its' full functionality.

 

[Trouble]

OK, so my buddy stopped by to show me his newest acquisition http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZYNWU9M?psc=1
I ordered one, but mine won't be here till Tuesday, so I used his, and.....
Can confirm that I experienced the same issue. After the Recovery Drive was finished I attempted to use disk management to format the unallocated portion of the drive and got the same results as you have reported.

Thinking that my earlier experience might have been some sort of happy accident. I placed another SATA spinner into my USB 3.0 dock / caddy and proceeded to use it to create another Recovery Drive.
Afterwards, I went into disk management and was able to create a new simple volume in the unallocated portion of the hard drive and format it without any problem, so.......

Evidently the type of media does make a difference.

One of the reasons I love participating in these forums. I learn something all the time.

 

[Don Frasr]

Thanks Trouble - interesting! But I have decided to buy a smaller thumb drive and forget about trying to create a formatted partition.

Do you know if there is anyway to validate the Recovery Drive? I would hate to be sitting on my laurels and find that it failed when I needed to use it.

Don

 

[Trouble]

Do you know if there is anyway to validate the Recovery Drive?

I would just make sure that I could boot from it. That's the idea boot from it and then avail yourself of some of the advanced troubleshooting options. I would assume that if it boots, it'll do what it is intended to do.
It's a far cry from my personal choice of rescuing a problematic PC.
I much prefer a disk image that supports a bare metal restore to a point in time, complete with programs, drivers, etc.
https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/please-for-your-own-peace-of-mind.794/
I really don't like starting from scratch, unless I really have to or choose to.

 

[Don Frasr]

Trouble,

I took your advice and booted from the Recovery Drive.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing - Win7 Home Edition!

I couldn't get out quick enough and upon rebooting it came back to Win10- phew!

How the hell did it load Win 7 from the Recovery Drive when it supposed to be inactive on a Win 10 setup.

I think I will be giving the Recovery Drive a miss.

Back to the drawing board........

Thanks
Don

.

 

[Trouble]

How the hell did it load Win 7 from the Recovery Drive when it supposed to be inactive on a Win 10 setup.

IDK, as I am not familiar with all the more subtle machinations of what the process does.
I suppose that it is possible that the computer had an existing Manufacturer's Recovery Partition and it may have used that to produce what you ended up with.
OR, possibly if you are dual booting then it may have gotten some boot configuration data through that somehow.
As I've said, it is definitely not my preferred choice of utilities that are available to address a problem Windows 10 computer.
I use the installation media to boot if I need to use some of the Advanced Troubleshooting Options and Acronis True Image to image all my disks, in the event that something really goes south.

 

[Don Frasr]

Trying trial Acronis 2016 as I write.

Question - can you backup 2 pcs on the same external HD?

Thanks

Don

 

[Trouble]

Sure. The backup files will almost certainly have different names by default, but.....
For your own peace of mind, just configure your data structure prior to performing the backups. Set the external to contain a distinct folder for each computer (PC1 and PC2) whatever you want to name the folders and then click the destination box and point the backup to the correct folder on the external.
I usually do mine manually and avoid scheduling, so watch that, if you intend to schedule the backups so they don't conflict.
Use the options button to get into the various minutiae

AND shop around you can usually catch a good deal on Acronis if you wait and watch. The other day Newegg had a 3 PC deal that was pretty attractive.

 

[Don Frasr]

Thanks Trouble for your advice. It seems a big improvement on a previous version I tried in 2013.
Rgds
Don

 

[Swallowbrook]

You know, I gotta say i think Microsoft really screwed up here. With just a little more effort they could of made this topic confusing. - greg

 

[davehc]

You know, I gotta say i think Microsoft really screwed up here. With just a little more effort they could of made this topic confusing. - greg

Good idea to have a quick look at the dates of previous contributions, before resurrecting a dead thread.

 

[KlaRo]

Great link from trimful. This quote is helpful.
"In short, the System Recovery discs return your PC to the state it was when first purchased, scrapping all your data while along the way. The System Repair disc, by contrast, offers tools to help bring your ailing PC back to life, keeping all your valuable files safe.

When in trouble, always try your System Repair disc first, as it may solve your problem. Only use the System Recovery Discs as a last resort, as they wipe out everything you’ve created since buying your PC.. "

In the link, Andy Rathbone mentions "System Image" very briefly which is what I was going on about in my convoluted posts. I still think a system image drive made with Acronis is the best way to go.

"Scapping all your data while along the way" ... nonsense! Only if you have your data on the same drive as the operating system. Usually, one would think, people keep their OpSystem on the C Drive and all personal data on D. So, repairing, or completely replacing C Drive to a previous stage does NOT touch any of your data.