System restore from bootable Windows 11 USB drive
vb95 Posted messages 50 Registration date Status Contributor Last intervention -
Hello everyone.
On my Windows 11 up-to-date PC I’ve gotten used to backing up the entire system with the Control Panel -> Backup and Restore (Windows 7).
I make a backup with every Windows 11 update, with one of my software, or with a graphics, sound, network driver, etc....
This allows me to always have an up-to-date backup.
For about a week now it’s impossible for me to perform a system restore by booting from a USB flash drive made with mediacreationtool.exe (the creation tool to install or restore a Windows 11 environment).
When I restart the PC with this USB drive plugged in I do boot from the USB drive correctly. I have the confirmation of a Windows 11 environment as well as an AZERTY keyboard.
then I have the option to install Windows 11 or to repair my computer. I choose to repair my computer and there: a black screen and the PC reboots.
Has anyone already had this problem and found a solution?
Thank you in advance
6 answers
Hello, good evening,
Would it be possible to use WinRE instead of the USB key?
By powering the PC on 2-3 times in a row with the power button?
The drivers that may be integrated into WinRE may not be integrated into the ISO (If it's a branded PC), they would need to be integrated using NTLite, into all images.
Otherwise we would need to know what changed in the configuration since the last time it worked.
Otherwise, to diagnose, and if you have data to recover, from a working PC you can download the Hiren's Boot CD PE (WinPE) ISO
https://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/
(At the bottom > HBCD_PE_x64.iso)
And Rufus
Create a bootable USB key of Hiren's Boot CD PE from Rufus in GPT mode for EFI
Boot from it using the PC's Boot Menu
Use (In Hiren's Programs) in Hard Disk Tools > Diagnostics > CrystalDiskInfo and see if the disk is detected as Good.
Copy data if possible (Copy > Paste = Copier > Coller)
Hello Fabul
I didn’t specify: The PC works perfectly.
No slowdowns, no blue screen of death as before, the system drive SMART is good.
It's just that with the Windows 11 installation key made with mediacontroltool.exe, if I choose Repair my computer it would open a menu where I could perform a system restore from a disk image made with Backup from the Control Panel.
Right now my disk image in WindowsImageBackup on a non-system hard drive is useless to me if in case of trouble I cannot restore Windows 11 with the installation key from the WindowsImageBackup folder.
In case of a problem I would need to reinstall Windows 11 from scratch as well as all my software and the various settings for all that. This complete reinstall takes about 4 good hours whereas restoration only takes 5 to 10 minutes.
Thank you for your response
Hi again,
If it doesn’t work either from the recovery environment (WinRE).
Request a free license for O&O DiskImage 19 Pro which I have been using for a few years, and which still works well, with more options and flexibility than Windows’ system, and fairly easy to use.
The Giveaway:
https://www.oo-software.com/en/special/klt510?x-clickref=1101lDvYwmW2
The Setup (EN):
https://www.oo-software.com/en/download/archive/index.html?product=OODI19PRO
The Manual (En)
https://www.oo-software.com/en/docs/usersguide/oodi19.pdf
Make backups in the D:\Backups\O&O DiskImage 19 folder
But also sometimes directly on my USB key 3.1 256GB with Ventoy containing the O&O DiskImage ISO (on the same USB key).
It creates the full backup in a single *.omg file, which can be mounted as a virtual disk with the program, if needed.
Hello fabul
It's the option I would choose if I can't find anything concrete and reliable for my problem.
I've seen that Microsoft was going to do a complete overhaul of the System Backup and Restore with automatic backups every 72 hours and we would only keep the 3 most recent in the basic options.
In any case, thank you very much for your response.
Hello again,
But have you tried with Windows Recovery Environment?
If Windows crashes 3 times in a row, you reboot in recovery mode (or voluntarily) if you have a problem,
Otherwise you can see if at least it would work by rebooting on the recovery partition instead of the Windows partition, I think you could easily restore from it.
(Unless you have a more serious problem that prevents you from booting into WinRE as well)
To boot into WinRE you need to go to Settings > System > Recovery > Advanced startup > Restart now
Then Troubleshoot > Advanced options > More advanced options > Restore from a system image...