How to Copy/Move the Recovery Partition to USB or Another Hard Drive [2 Methods]

Can you copy the recovery partition to another hard drive? On this page, you will learn two different methods to copy or move the recovery partition to USB or another hard drive in Windows 10/8/7. Let's get started.

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Overview of Partition Recovery

A recovery partition is a volume present on the system disk that does not have a drive letter assigned to it. It contains crucial system recovery information so that in case of a catastrophic attack or system failure, you can reset your Windows computer to its factory settings using the recovery partition. It usually comes preloaded on new laptops or desktops and sometimes gets created automatically during the Windows OS installation.

Advantages of Copying the Recovery Partition to a USB or Another Drive

So, why do many users want to copy or move the recovery partition to USB, a new hard drive, or SSD? Here are two common reasons and benefits for moving the recovery partition:

**1. Free up disk space**

Sometimes, the recovery partition can take up a lot of space. Moving it to a bootable USB drive or external hard disk can free up local disk space.

2. Protect and recover partition information

Sometimes, due to logical or physical errors, the entire computer's hard drive can become unbootable. Moving the recovery partition to a new hard drive or a bootable USB can protect the recovery partition information and save your computer in a worst-case scenario.

### 3. Use a bootable USB drive

Moving the recovery partition to another drive enables you to perform system recovery in case of a system crash or if you need to replace your hard drive.

Tutorial: How to Clone Recovery Partition to USB or New Hard Drive [2 Methods]

Depending on your needs, we've rounded up two effective methods to help you copy the recovery partition to another drive. Choose the appropriate one and follow the instructions to safely clone and move the recovery partition to the target device – USB drive or another drive.

Method 1: Copy the Recovery Partition to USB Using Built-in Windows Tools Step 1: Get a Recovery Drive 1.1 Connect the USB drive to your Windows computer. 1.2 Make sure there is no important data on the USB drive, as this process will erase everything. Step 2: Create a Recovery Drive 2.1 Open the Start menu and search for "Create a recovery drive." 2.2 Select the "Create a recovery drive" app and open it. 2.3 In the pop-up window, check the box that says "Back up system files to the recovery drive." 2.4 Choose your USB drive, then click "Next." 2.5 Wait for the process to complete. This may take some time, depending on the size of the recovery partition. 2.6 After it's done, click "Finish." Your recovery partition is now copied to the USB drive. Please note that this method only works with Windows 8 or later, and your computer must have a recovery partition to copy. If you're using Windows 7 or an earlier version, you might need to look for alternative tools or methods to accomplish this task.

Applies to: Copying the recovery partition to a USB.

Windows includes a tool for creating a recovery drive, which is a great way to back up the recovery partition. This is also known as creating a USB recovery drive. This is Microsoft's official method for copying the recovery partition to a USB drive.

What you'll need: A USB flash drive or external hard disk that is empty and at least 16 GB (recommended), formatted as FAT32.

Here are the detailed steps to clone a recovery partition using built-in Windows tools to a USB drive:

Step 1: Right-click the Windows icon on your computer and select “Search.”

Step 2 Type Recovery drive in the search box, and then select Create a recovery drive.

Step 3: When the Recovery Drive tool opens, select “Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive,” and then click “Next.”

Step 4: Plug in your USB flash drive or external hard drive, select it, and click “Next.”

Select **USB flash drive**.

Step 5: Click “Create.” This will start the process of copying the recovery partition to your USB drive or hard disk.

If you want to delete the recovery partition to free up disk space, continue with the steps below. Otherwise, you can stop here.

Step 6: When the process is complete, select Delete recovery partition to free up disk space if you wish.

Step 7. Then select “Delete.” When the deletion is complete, select “Done.”

Step 8: Remove the USB drive.

Now, you can reset or recover your system at any time using a recovery USB, even if your PC doesn't have a recovery partition.

You might also be interested in:

Can't Create Recovery Drive

Sometimes, users may encounter an error "We can't create a recovery drive" and fail to copy the recovery partition to a USB drive. Click here for solutions.

Method 2: Clone the recovery partition to another drive with cloning software

Applies to: Copying the recovery partition to a USB device or another drive, or cloning the recovery partition to an SSD.

Another effective method is to turn to a third-party cloning tool, for cloning can help transfer everything from one hard drive to another, including the recovery partition. Here, we recommend you try the disk cloning software – AOMEI Backupper Standard.

It's a practical disk cloning tool that helps you easily and quickly move your recovery partition to another drive, such as a USB or SSD. It enables you to copy data from one hard drive to another without losing any data.

See what Disk Copy can do for you.

• Copy the recovery partition to a USB drive.
• Transfer Windows to a USB flash drive.
• Clone all contents in the recovery partition to another drive - HDD/SSD.
• Clone hard drive to USB flash drive.
• Straightforward and quick: Copy and move the recovery partition with just a few clicks.

This software, with its disk/partition cloning feature, is more reliable than built-in Windows tools for copying and moving the recovery partition. Download the tool, then see how to copy the recovery partition to a new hard drive or USB drive:

(The following guide will show you how to clone a partition to another drive; you can change the target device as needed.)

Tools: An external USB drive and another blank hard drive or SSD. First, connect the external drive to your computer.

Advance notice:

• Sector-by-sector cloning requires the target disk to be the same size or larger than the source disk. Uncheck this option if you want to clone a larger hard drive to a smaller one. • All data on the target disk will be erased. Proceed with caution.

Step 1: To start copying/ cloning an entire disk to another, select the source disk under “Disk Mode” here and click “Next”.

Step 2: Select another disk as the target disk.

Step 3. Check the disk layout of the two disks. You can manage the disk layout of the target disk by selecting “Fit to disk,” “Same as source,” or “Edit disk layout.”

• "Fit to disk" makes some modifications to the layout of the target disk by default, to optimize it for best performance. • "Copy from source disk" leaves the target disk unmodified, and its layout will be identical to the source disk. • "Edit disk layout" lets you manually adjust/move the partition layout of the target disk.

Check the option "Perform a check if the target is SSD" to ensure optimal performance for your SSD.

A warning message appears, alerting you to the fact that your data will be lost. Confirm this by clicking OK, and then click Next.

Step 4: Click “Proceed” to officially kick off the task.

Additional Tip: Alternative to Recovery Partition – Create an Operating System Backup

For some reason, the recovery partition may not work 100% correctly on your computer when you want to refresh or reset it to a previous healthy state.

So here's an additional suggestion: create a backup of your computer's operating system as an alternative to a recovery partition.

With Todo Backup's system backup feature, the process is easy for users of all levels. Watch this video tutorial to create a backup of your Windows 10/8/7 right now:

 

It is possible to clone or move the recovery partition, and we'll get started now.

On this page, we explain what a recovery partition is and what it is mainly used for. When you run out of space on your system drive or want to protect the recovery partition data, you can copy the recovery partition to USB or another drive.

You can do this in one of two ways: 1. Using the built-in Windows tool – Recovery Drive; or 2. Using a disk cloning utility with disk partition cloning capabilities.

For Windows novices, we recommend trying a disk cloning tool. It will allow you to copy or move the recovery partition to a USB device or another drive. Get started now.

Frequently Asked Questions About "Clone Recovery Partition to USB or Another Hard Drive"

The best and easiest way to move a Windows system from one partition to another is by using professional cloning software, such as Disk Copy or similar tools. These utilities allow you to clone a system, disk, or partition from one drive to another with minimal hassle.

What happens if I delete the recovery partition?

While it is possible to delete the recovery partition, doing so prevents users from being able to use Windows RE or the factory default settings. As such, deleting the recovery partition is risky unless you plan on creating a recovery drive using a USB after deleting the recovery partition.

3. What is the purpose of restoring partitions?

If the system has problems or issues, you can use a recovery partition (a part of your computer's hard drive) to restore it to its factory settings.