Technology in terms you understand. Sign up for the Confident Computing newsletter for weekly solutions to make your life easier. Click here and get The Ask Leo! Guide to Staying Safe on the Internet — FREE Edition as my thank you for subscribing!

How Do I Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disk, and What Can I Do With It?

Windows 7 includes the ability to create what’s called a “System Repair”
disc. On the created disk are placed a set of tools that can be used to repair
several different types of system failures or problems.

Creating a repair disc is actually very easy, if you have the right
equipment.

Unfortunately there’s also a lot of confusion as to what a system repair
disk is, and is not.

For example, it’s not something you can be assured will in fact repair your
system.

Become a Patron of Ask Leo! and go ad-free!

How to create a Windows 7 System Repair disc

We start in the Windows 7 Control Panel, selecting the Back up your
computer
item:

Back up your computer in Control Panel

Off to the left side in the resulting Backup and Restore window is a link
to Create a system repair disc:

Create a system repair disc in Control Panel

Click that, and we run into our first problem:

No CD/DVD burner present

Windows 7 can only create a System Repair disc if you actually have a CD or
DVD burner on your machine. If you do not, Windows 7 cannot be coerced into
creating a disc some other way.

With a CD or DVD burner, Windows will simply ask which drive you want to use
to burn the disc (typically, there is only one – the drive that is your CD or DVD
burner). Once you insert blank, writable media into the drive and click OK,
Windows proceeds to burn the disc.

Burning the System Repair Disc

When done, you now have a System Repair disc for your computer.

A System Repair disc might not be all you think

Reboot your machine from the System Repair disc that you’ve just created.

After confirming your preferred language, the repair disc will search your
hard disk for any Windows installations and then present you with this
dialog:

System Repair Disc System Choice

In most cases, you’ll have the option to choose the single Windows
installation found on your machine or to restore the hard disk using a
previously created system image.

Select the correct (or only) Windows installation and click Next.

System Repair Disk Options

This is the list of things that a System Repair disc can do.

  • Startup Repair – If your computer is having problems booting
    due to issues with the hard disk’s boot sector, master boot record or other
    low-level items, this process can often fix them.
  • System Restore – If your computer is having problems running
    due to recent changes made or programs installed, System Restore may
    be able to restore parts of the system back to a working state.
  • System Image Recovery – You can use this option to replace
    the system currently on your hard disk with a complete system image backup
    taken previously using Windows own backup program. (Note that this only works
    with Windows own included backup program. If you use a different backup
    program, then you’ll need to make sure to make a System Rescue disc for this
    purpose using that program.)
  • Windows Memory Diagnostic – If you suspect that your RAM may
    be causing problems, this diagnostic can determine if there are in fact
    issues.
  • Command Prompt – The Command Prompt is meant for advanced
    usage and allows access to several command line utilities that can be used to
    examine, diagnose, and possibly repair certain types of issues.

That’s it.

A System Repair disc is not a System Installation disc

You cannot use a System Repair disc to reinstall Windows or install it from
scratch on this or any other machine.

A System Repair disc can only work on an existing installation, or
restore a backup image of an installation.

If you actually need to reinstall Windows, a System Repair disc will not
help. You’ll either need to restore to an image backup of the system when it
was working or boot from an actual System Installation disc.

A System Installation disc IS a System Repair disc

If you actually have the original installation media for your system, then
you may not need to create a System Repair disc.

When you boot from your System Installation disc, after choosing your
language, you are given an option to Install Windows or you can click the link to Repair near the bottom of the screen:

Repair link on the Windows installation screen

Click that link and you’ll be taken to the same set of tools that are
available on the System Repair disc.

Thus, if you have your original installation media, you can probably skip
making a repair disc. On the other hand, if you don’t have the original CDs or
DVD from which Windows was installed, making a System Repair disc before you
need it can be very helpful later, should your system be in need of repair.

Do this

Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week.

I'll see you there!

Leave a reply:

Before commenting please:

  • Read the article.
  • Comment on the article.
  • No personal information.
  • No spam.

Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam. All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication.

I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read.