How do I make a Windows installation or recovery USB stick?
The stick that gets you into recovery when the machine's own recovery is gone. How to make one on a working computer, what size it needs, and the difference between installation media and a recovery drive.
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Time
- 1 hr
- Read
- 6 min
- Safety
- caution
Short answer
On any working Windows PC, download the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft's own download page, run it, and choose to create installation media on a USB stick of at least 8 GB. That stick will boot a broken machine into the same recovery environment its own hard drive can no longer reach, and it can also do a clean install. Make one before you need it, not after.
Most Windows machines keep a recovery environment on a hidden partition of their own drive, which is fine until the fault is the drive. At that point the recovery tools are as unreachable as everything else, and the machine can present as completely dead when the fix is fifteen minutes of work. A USB stick made on any other Windows computer solves this, and it is genuinely worth making one while everything is working. There are two different things you can make and the distinction matters: installation media, which is generic and works on any PC, and a recovery drive, which can include your own machine's manufacturer image and only works on that machine.
Safety
Step by step
- Find a USB stick of at least 8 GB and empty it.Sixteen gigabytes is more comfortable. Everything on it will be erased. A slow stick works but makes the whole process tedious — this is one place where a modern USB 3 stick genuinely saves an hour.
- Download the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft directly.Go to Microsoft's Windows download page rather than following a search result or a link in a forum post. The tool is free and Microsoft publishes it for the current version of Windows. Never pay for it and never take it from a mirror site.
- Choose to create installation media, not to upgrade this PC.The tool offers both. The first screen's default is to upgrade the machine you are sitting at, which is not what you want. Select the option to create media for another PC.
- Accept the recommended edition and architecture.For a home machine the defaults are right. The tool matches the version of Windows to your Microsoft account and hardware, and modern PCs are all 64-bit. There is no need to know a product key — a machine that came with Windows carries its licence in the firmware and reactivates itself.
- Let it download and write, and expect it to take a while.It downloads several gigabytes and then writes them. Half an hour is normal and an hour is not unusual on a slow connection or a slow stick. Do not unplug it or let the machine sleep.
- Make a separate recovery drive for the machine you actually own.Windows has a built-in Recovery Drive tool, separate from the Media Creation Tool, which can copy the manufacturer's recovery image from your machine to a stick. That version can restore the machine to how it left the factory, drivers and all, which generic installation media cannot. It needs a bigger stick — often 32 GB.
- Test that the stick actually boots before you file it away.Restart the machine, hold the one-time boot menu key at power-on — often F12, sometimes F9 or Esc — and choose the USB device. If it reaches the Windows setup screen, stop there and cancel. An untested rescue stick is not a rescue plan.
- Label it and note the date.Media goes stale. A stick made three years ago will install an old version that then downloads a very large update. Remaking it annually takes half an hour and keeps it useful.
Common mistakes
- Waiting until the computer is broken to make one — You need a working Windows computer to make it. If yours is the only one in the house, that moment is exactly when you cannot.
- Downloading an ISO from a third-party site — Modified Windows images circulate widely and some carry malware that survives a reinstall. Microsoft publishes the genuine files free of charge, so there is no reason to look anywhere else.
- Confusing a recovery drive with a backup — Neither kind of stick contains any of your documents. They restore the system, not your life. A rescue stick and a backup are two separate things and you need both.
If it doesn't work
The machine ignores the stick and boots normally
Cause: Boot order, or Secure Boot rejecting the stick — Fix: Use the one-time boot menu key rather than changing the permanent order. If the stick is not listed at all, check it was written as UEFI-compatible; the Media Creation Tool does this correctly by default.
The tool fails partway through the download
Cause: Connection interruption or lack of space on the system drive — Fix: It needs several gigabytes of free space on the computer as working room as well as on the stick. Clear space and run it again — it starts over rather than resuming.
Setup says it cannot install to the disk
Cause: A partition style mismatch with the firmware boot mode — Fix: Booting the stick in UEFI mode rather than legacy mode resolves most of these. The boot menu often lists the same stick twice, once with a UEFI prefix — pick that one.
Windows asks for a product key
Cause: The installer cannot read a licence from the firmware — Fix: On a machine that came with Windows, choose the option to skip and it activates itself once online. Buying a cheap key from a marketplace is a well-known way to end up with a licence that stops working.
The stick works on one machine and not another
Cause: Firmware differences, or a stick written for legacy boot only — Fix: Remake it with the Media Creation Tool, which produces media that boots both ways. Very old machines may need legacy mode enabled in their firmware.
You only need to rescue files, not reinstall
Cause: Using the wrong tool for the job — Fix: The installation stick can reach a command prompt for copying files, but a small Linux live USB is easier for that specific job, and reading the drive in another machine through a caddy is easier still.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between installation media and a recovery drive?
Installation media is generic Windows and works on any PC — it can repair or install. A recovery drive is made from your own machine and can include the manufacturer's factory image with its drivers and, unfortunately, its preinstalled software. If you only make one, make installation media; if you have a laptop with unusual hardware, the recovery drive is worth having as well.
Can I use the same stick for two different computers?
Installation media, yes — it is generic. A recovery drive made from a specific machine, generally no. Keep them separate and labelled.
Will booting from this stick delete anything by itself?
No. It boots to a menu where Repair your computer is a clearly separate choice from Install now. Nothing is written to your drive unless you choose an option that says it will.
Do I need one if my machine has a recovery partition?
You need one precisely because the recovery partition lives on the drive that might be the thing failing. It also disappears when someone repartitions the disk or fits a new one. The stick costs a few pounds and half an hour.