Skip to main content

Boot disk for Windows 10 upgrade

Thread needs solution

Hi. An upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 comes with the following problem: One cannot make a boot or repair disk because there are no Windows 10 system files on the computer, so to speak. Windows 7 files, no doubt, but if you attempt to make a boot disk all you get is instructions for a virtual image. Useless. I've conversed with an HP technician and he agrees - cannot make a boot or repair disk or USB unless you buy a new full version of Windows 10. Now, Acronis gives instructions on how to make a media repair disk or USB, which was something of a relief to me I can tell you, so I have diligently done that successfully on a CD and also on a USB stick. But when the crunch comes and I have a computer failure, will these items work considering that MS says the system files are not there? Tks.

0 Users found this helpful

Hi Graham.  I think that HP guy was giving you bad info.  Once Windows 10 has been registered on your machine, the license is stored on MS servers. You can wipe and reload Win10 from scratch anytime... as long as you install the same version again.  If you had OEM Win 7 Home or Pro it would upgrade you to the like version of Windows 10.  

As for recovery, you can use the Micrsoft USB or ISO creation tool to download and create your own installer/recovery media.  You can even use it to install clean.  If you do that, just skip the license part and when you boot into Windows and connect to the Internet it will license so long as you already upgraded to Win 10 on the same machine and are installing the same version again (home if you had home or pro if you had pro).  Justt to be safe though, take a backupof your existing full disk, or pull it out and put in a new disk instead and then use the new MS installer to install from scratch (if you want).  The installer has the repair tools as well on it.

The Acronis repair media is not for Windows.  It is only for booting to Acronis outside of Windows so tht you can restore your backups in case Windows is not loaded or cannot load. 

Hi Bobbo

Tks for that. I am still a little warey (a bit of a cynic!!) I downloaded the Microsoft Media Creation tool earlier, but have not used it because (could be wrong) I get the impression from the instructions that using it will create a fresh download of Windows 10 and not a simple boot disk. 

It can do both.  You are correct though, it is a full installer of Windows 10.  However, all of the repair tools are on it as well.  

You can also go to control panel (not the new Settings) >>> Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Backup and Restore (Windows 7) and create a system repair disc.  I've never tried it on Windows 10 though.  I can tell you the tool above though, works just fine and will do what you're looking for for fresh installs, repairs, and/or upgrades. I made one that has home and pro and it includes 32 and 64 bit by default.  If you have an 8GB flash drive, just make one with everything (especially if you have, or plan to have different Win 10 systems... I have home, pro and education so it's nice to have one USB stick for all of them).

Okay, so what you are telling me (Thomas the doubter here haha!) is that using the MS media creation tool I can make a boot USB or disk and won't be led down the garden path to a full recovery at the present time?

Correct.  You don't have to do a full recovery with it right off the bat.  When you download and run it, it will give you 3 options - upgrade the current OS (don't do that one), build an .iso or bulid a USB.  You want the USB one (it will download everything to the root of your C: drive in a hidden folder and then copy it to the USB and make it bootable.  If you get into trouble down the road, you can boot to it and try to recover, "refresh" the OS which is basically a new OS but keeps your data, or fresh re-install the OS with not user data.  It should be exactly what you want, but if not, that's the best you're going to get if you don't have recovery partition on your hard drive already.  

You can also try these instructions for creating a recovery drive in Windows (worth a shot) - still applies to Win 10:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-usb-recovery-drive

To create a USB recovery drive

  1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
    (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Search.)

  2. Enter recovery drive in the search box, and then tap or click Create a recovery drive.  You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.

  3. After the recovery drive tool opens, make sure the Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive check box is selected, and then tap or click Next.

delete double post - sorry.

Thanks Bobbo, that's a load off my mind. Just a note on the Windows10 recovery or repair tool. It may well work fine in a paid version, but the free upgrade from Win7 t0 Win10 only comes up with copying to a virtual drive, at least on mine it does, which is useless. I see no way around that. However, with your instructions I don't need that. The media creation tool will be the way to go. Thanks again, enjoy!

Yeah, I never tried recovery from upgrading.  I upgraded all my systems, got them licensed and then fresh installed, built my base build and then took a default Acronis image to restore to in case things ever go south.  I've gotten used to taking a full offline image with ATiH on a weekly basis as a fall back point.  Probably more than most people want to do, but it's nice to have the ability to completely restore (vice having to rely on a repair.. just in case).  Anyway, after upgrading and then reinstalling Windows fresh after that, both my OEM "home" OS and my "pro" licenses all seem to have full functionality of Windows Repair/restore.  I'm just not a big fan of upgrades, it's nice to have a fresh starting point every now and then to keep things running smoothly.

HI Bobbo. Windows 10 repair etc. all dowloaded successfully via media tool onto USB. Great stuff. Thanks again.