Are you using a Dell laptop or desktop? You can create a Dell Windows Recovery USB to restore or recover Windows. Here’s how.
Give enough time, and a computer fumbles, making it almost impossible to use. That’s what happened to me.
Recently, my Dell laptop started acting funny. I’ve tried many things but couldn’t identify or solve the problem. So, I chose the next obvious solution. i.e., to nuke the system and reinstall Windows.
There are several ways to restore or recover Windows. However, if you are using a Dell laptop or desktop, you can create the Dell recovery USB drive in Windows using the Dell USB recovery tool. This allows you to reinstall or recover Windows 11 and 10 when needed quickly.
Compared to other solutions, the Dell USB recovery tool makes it easy to create a recovery tool and reinstall Windows on Dell laptops.
So, without further ado, let me show you how to create a Dell USB recovery drive on a Dell laptop.
The steps below work the same in Windows 10 and 11.
Table of contents:
System requirements to create a Dell USB recovery drive
Dell provides its first-party software called Dell USB Recovery tool to create a recovery USB drive. All you have to do is, install the software and create a dell recovery USB.
However, as with most things, you must meet some mandatory requirements. The system requirements are as follows.
- Ensure that you have your device’s service tag ready. Generally, you will find the Dell service tag under your laptop or in the invoice.
- Have a USB drive that is at least 16GB. Make sure to back up the data on the USB drive. The recovery drive creation process will format the USB drive.
- Your system should have .Net framework 4.5.2 or higher installed. You can find the .Net framework download links here.
- Your PC should have at least 16GB of free hard disk space so that the Dell USB recovery tool can download the latest Windows 11 or 10 image.
Once you confirm these requirements, proceed to create the Dell USB recovery tool in Windows.
Steps to Create Dell Windows Recovery USB
Important note: The steps below will only work for Dell laptops.
Creating the Dell recovery drive is pretty straightforward. Let me show you the exact steps.
- Get the Dell recovery tool software.
- Install and open the Dell recovery tool application.
- Connect the 16GB+ USB drive to your desktop/laptop.
- Select the “This Computer” option.
- Click the “Next” button.
- Type the Service Tag if prompted.
- Choose between “Automated by SupportAssist” or “non-Automated by SupportAssistant version.”
- Click the “Download” option under it.
- Choose the USB drive from the dropdown menu.
- Select the “I understand that the selected drive will be reformatted and existing data will be deleted” checkbox.
- Click the “Download” button.
- Wait for the download to complete.
- Once done, close the application.
- Keep the USB drive plugged in.
- Reboot the computer to boot into the Dell USB recovery drive.
Download Dell USB recovery tool: https://www.dell.com/support/home/drivers/OSISO/recoverytool/
Steps with more details:
First, get the official recovery tool from the Dell website. You will find the download link above. After downloading, install the software and open it from the Start menu.
Connect the USB Drive. As I said earlier, the USB drive should be at least 16GB.
Select “This Computer” if you want to create a recovery drive for your current computer. Select “Other Computer” if you do the same for another Dell laptop. If you select the “Other Computer” option, you must type the Service Tag of that other laptop/desktop.
In my case, I’m selecting the Other Computer option.
You will now be prompted to select the recovery type. Choose between “Automated by SupportAssist” or “non-Automated by SupportAssistant version” and click the “Download” option under it.
If you are wondering, the Automated by SupportAssist has additional features like Scan Hardware, Repair System, Back-Up Files, Restore System, and Cloud Image Restore. You can learn more about it here – https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/000177401/restore-your-system-using-dell-supportassist-os-recovery/
Choose the USB drive from the dropdown menu, select the “I understand that the selected drive will be reformatted and existing data will be deleted” checkbox, and click the “Download” button.
Depending on your internet connection speed and the selection earlier, downloading all the files can take some time. So, sit back and wait until the download is complete. Of course, you can also do other work on your computer while the tool runs in the background.
Once done, close the application, keep the USB drive plugged in, and reboot the computer.
This action boots the system into the Dell recovery USB drive. After booting into the Dell recovery media, you can recover or reinstall Windows. Remember that when you reinstall Windows, it will erase all the data in the C drive.
That is all. It is that simple to create Dell USB recovery media in Windows.
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I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.
