How to Create a System Repair Disk in Windows 7 and Vista

You can create a system repair disk in Windows 7 and Windows Vista to guard against being unable to start Windows correctly. The repair disk loads the Windows Recovery Environment, which contains the recovery tools to repair/recover your unbootable Windows system.

Note that you can also use the Windows 7/Vista DVD to boot to Windows Recovery Environment. This guide is for those who own a OEM computer (with no Operating System CD/DVD), and those who want to maintain a CD exclusively for recovery scenarios.
Creating a System Repair Disk in Windows Vista


Windows Vista users need to use the method listed in the following site to create the System Repair Disk. As the Repair Disk creation tool (recdisc.exe) does not work in Windows Vista Service Pack 1, you need to download and run the pre-beta version of the file. For more information, see article Recover “Create a recovery disc” on Vista SP1 RTM at Long Zheng’s site.
Creating a System Repair Disk in Windows 7

Click Start, All Programs, Maintenance, Create a System Repair Disc

Insert a CD/DVD into the drive and press Create disc

his creates the System Repair Disc. To start the Windows Recovery Environment, place the System Repair Disc into the drive and reboot the PC via the CD/DVD drive (Hint: Set CD/DVD as the first boot device in BIOS).

Select your Windows installation from the list when prompted. The System Recovery Options are now displayed. These are the recovery tools available:
Startup Repair
System Restore
System Image Recovery
Windows Memory Diagnostic
Command Prompt