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

Can you copy a recovery partition to another hard drive? On this page, you'll learn two different ways to copy and move recovery partition to USB or another hard drive in Windows 10/8/7. Let's start.

Overview of Recovery Partition

A recovery partition is a volume existing on the system disk with no drive letter. It contains important system recovery information so that when a disaster attack or system failure occurs, you can apply the recovery partition to perform a factory reset on a Windows computer. It's mostly shipped with a new laptop or desktop, and sometimes, it is automatically generated when you install Windows OS.

Advantages of Copying Recovery Partition to USB or Another Drive

So why are many users attempting to copy or move recovery partition to USB, new hard drive, or SSD? Below are two common reasons and advantages of moving recovery partitions:

1. Free Up Disk Space

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

2. Protect Recovery Partition Information

Sometimes, the entire computer's hard disk can go down and won't boot due to logical or physical errors. Moving the recovery partition to a new hard drive or bootable USB can protect recovery partition information and rescue the computer from the worst scenarios.

3. Have a bootable USB

To move recovery partition to another drive can help you perform a system restore when your system crashes or you want to replace the hard drive.

How-to Tutorial: Copy Recovery Partition to USB or New Hard Drive [2 Ways]

According to different needs, here we collected two efficient ways that can help you copy recovery partition to another drive. Pick a suitable method and follow to safely copy and move the recovery partition to a target device -  USB drive or another drive now.

Method 1. Copy Recovery Partition to USB with Windows Built-in Tool

Applies to: Copy recovery partition to USB. 

Windows has a built-in tool for making repaired copies of Windows. It's a good way for users to back up the recovery partition. It's also known as creating a USB recovery drive. This method is officially provided by Microsoft and you can apply this method to copy recovery partition to USB drive.

💻Needed Tools:  A USB flash drive, external hard drive, empty, bigger than 16GB (suggested), FAT32.

Here are the detailed steps to copy the recovery partition to USB with the Windows Built-in tool:

Step 1. Right-click the Windows icon on your computer and click "Search".

Step 2. Enter recovery drive in the search box, and then select "Create a recovery drive".

Step 3. Check "Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive" when the recovery drive tool opens, and then select "Next".

Step 4. Insert a USB flash drive or external disk into your PC, select it, and then select "Next".

Step 5. Select "Create". It will start to copy the recovery partition to the USB or hard drive.

Note: If you want to delete the recovery partition to free up space on your disk, continue with the following steps. If not, you may stop here.

Step 6. When the process completes, to remove the recovery partition and free up disk space, select "Delete the recovery partition".

Step 7. Then select "Delete". When the removal is done, select "Finish".

Step 8. Remove the USB drive.

Now, you can reset or restore your system from the recovery USB anytime without a recovery partition on your computer.

You May Also Interest:

We Can't Create Recovery Drive

Sometimes, users may fail to copy the recovery partition to the USB drive with the "we can't create the recovery drive" error. Click and fix it here.

Method 2. Clone/Move Recovery Partition to Another Drive with EaseUS Cloning Software

Applies to: Copy recovery partition to USB or another drive, clone recovery partition to an SSD.

Another efficient way that you can try is to turn to third-party cloning tools for help. This is because cloning can help transfer everything from one hard drive to another, including your recovery partition. Here, we recommend you try EaseUS disk cloning software - EaseUS Disk Copy.

It is a practical disk cloning tool that can help you move recovery partition to another drive, such as a USB or an SSD, easily and quickly. It can help you copy data from one hard drive to another without data loss.

 Check what EaseUS Disk Copy can do for you:

• Copy recovery partition to the USB drive.
• Transfer Windows to a USB flash drive.
• Clone everything in the recovery partition to another drive - HDD/SSD.
• Clone a hard drive to a USB flash drive.
• Easy & Fast: several clicks to copy and move recovery partition.

Compared to Windows's built-in recovery tool, this software, with its disk/partition clone feature, is more reliable in copying and moving recovery partitions. Download the software and see how to copy the recovery partition to a new hard drive or USB drive:

(The guide below shows you how to clone a partition to another drive. Change the target device if you need.)

Tools: An external USB drive, another hard drive or SSD, empty. Connect the external drive to your PC first.

Prior Notice:

• The "Sector by sector copy" asks the size of your destination disk to be at least equal to or larger than that of the source disk. Leave this feature unchecked if you wish to clone a larger hard disk to a smaller hard disk.
• All data on the destination disk will be completely erased, so take care.

Step 1. To start copying/cloning an entire disk to another, choose this disk as the source disk under "Disk Mode" and click "Next".

Step 2. Choose the other disk as the destination disk.

Step 3. Check the disk layout of the two disks. You can manage the disk layout of the destination disk by selecting "Autofit the disk", "Copy as the source" or "Edit disk layout". 

• "Autofit the disk" makes some changes by default on the destination disk layout so that it can work at its best status.
• "Copy as the source"does not change anything on destination disk and the layout is the same as source disk.
• "Edit disk layout" allows you to manually resize/move partition layout on this destination disk.

Tick the "Check the option if the target is SSD" option to put your SSD in its best performance.

A message now appears, warning you that data will be lost. Please confirm this message by clicking "OK" and then click "Next".

Step 4. Click "Proceed" to officially execute the task.

Bonus Tip: Recovery Partition Alternative - Create OS Backup

According to some reason, sometimes, the recovery partition may not 100% work on your computer when you want to refresh or restore your computer to a previous healthy state.

That's why we came up with the bonus tip here. A recovery partition alternative resolution - to create an OS backup of your computer.

EaseUS Todo Backup, with its OS backup feature, makes the process easy for all levels of users. Follow this video tutorial to create a backup of your Windows 10/8/7 now:

 

Copy and Move Recovery Partition Is Possible, Start Now

On this page, we explained what a recovery partition is and what people mainly use it for. When your system drive is out of space or in order to protect the recovery partition information, you can copy recovery partition to USB or another drive.

To do so, you have two ways to go: 1. Turn to Windows built-in tool - Recovery Drive; 2. Let EaseUS Disk Copy with its disk partition clone feature help.

For Windows beginners, we would like to recommend you try EaseUS Disk Copy. Copying and moving the recovery partition to a USB or another drive is possible. Take your steps, and let's start now.

FAQs on Copy Recovery Partition to USB or Another Hard drive

1. How do I move my OS from one partition to another?

To move your Windows form one partition, the best and easiest way is to use professional cloning software like EaseUS Disk Copy. Such a tool can help you clone your system, disk, and partition from one drive to another without hassle.

2. What happens if recovery partition is deleted?

The recovery partition can be deleted, but once it is, users cannot access Windows RE or the factory default settings. Therefore, unless you create a recovery disk using your USB drive in case you need it after removing the recovery partition, it is dangerous to delete the recovery partition.

3. What is the purpose of a recovery partition?

In the event of a system failure or other issues, you can use the recovery partition - a part of your computer's hard drive - to return the system to its factory settings.