Superguide

Our first recovery disc is — as it’s always been — the humble Windows installation disc. Can’t boot into Windows? Boot from this instead, choosing the ‘Repair your computer’ option when prompted. From here, you can attempt to fix startup problems automatically, launch System Restore to try rolling back to a previously working installation, or even restore Windows from a disk image. Advanced users can dig deeper, with access to the command prompt, too.

These days, most of us don’t bother with DVDs, so it’s unlikely that you’ve got any installation media to hand. Let’s begin, then, by rectifying that situation. Start by typing “recovery” into the Cortana search box, then choose ‘Create a recovery drive’. You’re prompted to back up system files to it, which effectively creates a full-blown reinstall disc — you need an 8GB flash drive if you go down this route. Alternatively, uncheck the ‘Back up system files to the recovery drive’ box, and make do with the basic repair options — in which case, all you need is a 512MB USB flash drive, although you won’t be able to reinstall Windows if you go down this route.

(Note: If you want to create a bootable DVD, you need the Media Creation Tool — download the latest version from www.microsoft.com/ software-download/windows10, and choose the ISO option when creating media for another PC, then right-click this file, and choose ‘Burn disc image’ to burn your disc.)

From here, if Windows fails to boot, pop in your installation disc or drive, and either make it your first bootable device in the BIOS, or look for an option to choose the boot device at startup, choosing the rescue media when prompted — note, if you’re shown two options (typically UEFI and USB), choose UEFI. From here, you can follow the prompts to hopefully bring your PC back to life, or — if all other avenues fail — reinstall Windows from scratch.

BEYOND THE BASICS

The Windows repair tool is all well and good, but there are times when it can’t help. It can’t disinfect your malwareinfested drive, for example, and neither can you easily copy files from a badly mangled Windows installation, before formatting the drive, and starting again.

If you want to protect yourself (and your PC) against either of these two possibilities, you need to augment it with something else.

Most anti-malware vendors offer a recovery disc solution that specialises in rooting out malware — see the box opposite for details about creating a fourth recovery disc if you decide against the full-blown Live CD option later on in this feature. In the meantime, our second recovery disc takes things one step further than the Windows install disc. Lazesoft Recovery Suite Home Edition is free (for non-commercial use), so start by downloading and installing it from www.lazesoft.com/lazesoft-recoverysuite-free.html.

Lazesoft Recovery Suite contains four key components, all of which can be run directly from Windows (even in Safe mode). Of course, we’re interested in building recovery boot media, so after launch, click the ‘Burn CD/USB Disk’ link. You’re asked to specify the target version of Windows — leave the default ‘DO NOT specify’ setting applied for Windows 10 support, then click ‘Next’. Choose your target media: CD/DVD, USB or ISO file, then click ‘Start’. Once created, check out the box over the page to find out what sort of problems Lazesoft can attempt to fix.

ONWARD AND UPWARD

Lazesoft Recovery Suite is well worth using in case it can fix your problem with just a few clicks, but what if it can’t? In an ideal world, you’d be able to boot into a more complete Windowslike environment — one that employs the familiar point-and-click interface, while giving you access to a wider range of tools, full internet access