New and improved ALL-IN-ONE single multi-purpose flash drive solution here: The LAST flash drive you will ever need! Ventoy FULL walk-thru and review! ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
You're very welcome! One W10 Home ISO will work on any W10 Home Edition PC. Same with Pro. Hirens will work on any version of Windows. Here's how to do it all with just one flash drive - even simpler! The LAST flash drive you will ever need! Ventoy FULL walk-thru and review! ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
I am the complete opposite! No "normie" as you put it, should be trying to resolve major system failures if they don't have a trusted backup of their data, which is the scenario being discussed in this video about losing all their data, etc. Their best bet is to turn the PC off and let an experienced tech handle the situation properly to insure their data remains intact. There are quite a few scenarios that can occur, if they were to make a bad decision, that can result in the entire drive being formatted and their data lost forever. It's just not worth the risk if they don't fully understand the processes they are about to attempt.
I just wanted to point out a few notes of clarity. The Windows Media Creation Tool does indeed allow you to re-install Windows onto any PC, but it is a "clean" version of Windows, meaning any bundled software from the manufacturer will not immediately be present and will need to be downloaded along with any aesthetics such as wallpapers. You will only get the core Windows programs and perhaps a few bloat programs that Microsoft likes to bundle into the stock OS these days. Now while the vast majority of people likely won't care one bit about not having that manufacerer-included software, people with gaming PC's who have used the included gaming-type software such as RGB control for their keyboards or towers might want that back and could be frustrated with trying to locate the software and drivers on the manufacterer's website. An alternative that I often suggest to people who purchase a new computer is to create a System Recovery Disk. It uses a simple USB drive just like with the Media Creation Tool, only this will create an installation disk that will restore your computer to exactly the way it was when you first powered it on after purchasing it, complete with the included software bundles and aesthetics. It's also very simple to make since you can just insert your USB, search for "Create a Recovery Drive", click on the app, and follow the instructions just like you would with the Media Creation Tool. If you want a clean installation of Windows, which most people are perfectly fine with, go with the Creation Tool, but if you for whatever reason want your computer looking exactly like when you first unboxed it, you'll want to create a Recovery Drive and use that instead. Its use is also virtually the same as the Media Tool, just boot from USB like instructed in the video and the USB will load your operating system as it was put together by the manufacturer back onto your computer. I wasn't aware of Hiren's tool though so thank you for introducing me to that.
Excellent points! I mention some of those in my latest video. Thanks for your comment and insight! The definitive guide to backing up your PC ruclips.net/video/kDYKLzm-EMo/видео.html
Another option is to simply clone your drive of that special computer when you get it. You can create additional clones or snapshots shortly after you've configured it to your preference.
Exactly! Got a video coming soon about this ideal backup solution in depth. I touched on it in a recent video (The definitive guide to backing up your PC ruclips.net/video/kDYKLzm-EMo/видео.html) but I want to do a full, easy to follow explainer for novices. Thx for the comment! 🍺
If you create "Recovery Drive" using the built in feature of Windows 8 ~ 11 on a system that has the original OEM preinstalled system image intact, it will restore OEM drivers and applications (third party) because the WIM images have been customized by the PC maker. But if created from an upgraded Windows install, or a clean Windows install, you get the standard MS installation bits with no added drivers or OEM customizations. It's the same thing as creating the media from an ISO obtained straight from Microsoft.
I've had my laptop for a couple of months now and I've been worrying over how I go about creating these flash drives. This video made it all clear and enabled me to finally get the job done. Thank you.
If your worried about your computer crashing especially since Windows 11 is Spyware. Why not buy a sata drive 1terra byte and have Linux Mint installed.I did that and it works better then Windows does.
In addition to these two boot drives, I would also recommend having a Linux USB boot drive on hand as well, either Mint or Ubuntu. I've rescued Windows files using a Linux boot USB when everything seemed hopeless.
@@AskYourComputerGuy We had a Dell PC with one of those one-disk RAID configurations that wouldn't boot and nothing we tried would allow access to the files on the disk. We booted off a Ubuntu USB drive and were able to copy off the critical files.
On my 2 year old Xeon based workstation pretty much 0 linux versions work ;( Only Unix alike os I got working was Mac OS as hackintosh and BSD and in those it was trouble with they running VESA mode on my 4k TV .... Linux Mint would crash immediately not even trying to start, same with most other linux versions.
I had a little hiccup last week with my PC. Ran scannow /SFC. Repaired errors. Came across this RUclips video. Have used 2 USB drives to download these boot CDs for future use. Very clear instructions. Highly recommend your video to others. Thank you!
30 years in the business has taught me that you WILL have issues at some point. These discs are absolutely worth their weight in GOLD when that time comes!
@@FlyboyHelosim You've got that bass-ackwards. Evangelizing Linux is analogous to free people, trying to show Microsoft's sheep the better life without slavery of belonging to 'Massa Microsoft', along with it's inherent viruses & bloatware. "When the sheep grow blind, it is the wolves who rejoice". If you'll swallow Microsoft's "fake meat", you'll be eating crickets & Soylent Green, eventually. sad Besides, I rated a 'heart' and you didn't. 🤪 😜 🤪 😁 🤣 😂
Another variation of thi is to use a tool like Ventoy, where you install that to the USB drive, and then copy the ISO's to the folder, then you can have a multi boot disk, I currently have 19 ISO's stored on my disk, boot first to ventoy, then use scroll menu to choose which iso to load.
I also use Ventoy on a 64GB usb drive with all Windows versions and bootable tools. Saving all the switching between drives and no need to make the ISO's bootable. Any updated Windows or tool version and I just replace the files on the drive.
It's worth noting that Ventoy for USB boot creation is a far better option, if you go this route, you can actually combine the x2 USB sticks into one by just dropping the ISO images onto the USB drive, you get a menu on booting asking which ISO image you want to run. I've gone this route and found it easier to just reach for the one USB drive for all. Just for clarity also, it's not just for any version of Windows OS, Linux ISO images work from it too.
I have done the same thing. Best part is, I can also store the installers and activation keys for programs on that same thumb drive. Super handy to be able to install Windows, then use that same thumb drive to install my “must have” programs.
In the 80s as I was finishing high school I interned in a bank. They had a terminal in each floor and sometimes in each department, all connected to a mainframe running big reels of magnetic tape in an air-conditioned and humidity controlled computer room. I still remember how excited the IT guys were about the speed of the network being upgraded to 9600 baud. The only thing it ran was a custom accounting software and the only things the terminals were used for was posting vouchers at the end of each day and looking up balances with the caveat that if any transactions had taken place earlier that day, these would not be reflected until the vouchers had been posted after 5pm and the whole system had run a fresh compilation overnight. Then by the early 90s I graduated college and got a job in a different bank. We each had terminals on our desks but we still had two full-time typists with IBM "golf-ball" typewriters on each floor to handle the heavy stuff. Our terminals were dumb and ran off the mainframe but this time that also included enterprise or server versions of Microsoft Windows and Office. I remember one fun thing was that you could make a message appear in the middle of someone else's screen. No chat, just a box with a message. We were surprisingly creative and strategic in planning it's use. Crucially, our storage was also on the mainframe. The terminals had no hard drives or perhaps only very nominal ones purely to support the 256K's of RAM. So if the mainframe was ever down the thing on our desks was dead. Around this time, many homes had "a" computer that people shared. Some people had laptops although this might have been from work. Personal laptops were rare because they were expensive but also because they were still big and heavy and lasted 2 hours. Then memory got really cheap, computers' hard drives that used to be 4GB or 8GB were now 40GB or 60GB and getting bigger all the time. So everyone stored everything on their own computers and installed all sorts of software on their own computers. There was no filing discipline or hierarchy, it was clutter, disorder and duplication everywhere while people learned the law of unintended consequences that could result from the cheerful misuse of regedit and other dos commands. it became boom time for the virus industry ( we old timers believe the anti-virus industry and the virus industry to be the same) and for PC repair businesses and basically that's when all the recovery and repair protocols were developed. But now we have the cloud. We have subscription software that runs in the cloud and unlimited, fast secure storage to keep our stuff in the cloud. It's kind of a full circle to my early experiences where our personal workstations are really not important. My company has migrated most functions to the cloud and recently, when one of our critical persons' Microsoft Surface suddenly died, we got her a new one in under an hour and she kept on working like nothing ever happened. It took us an hour because for 30 mins we tried to restart the old one before deciding to replace it. Obviously there are risks to this strategy, there could be leaks and breaches, the internet could go down and so forth. But if used sensibly I think it can greatly reduce the negative impact of your computer dying on you, not least the fact that you don't have to become a PC mechanic just to keep things running.
As an IT professional I'd say that it's much better to have a backup computer/laptop instead of flash drives. It's much easier for me to tear out the physical storage out of a dead system and backup anything I need before wiping it with a fresh install rather than digging through windows recovery menus. That's of course IF I am to store anything essential on a system drive. Usually it's other drives or off-site. Boot drive is a cool tool though. Definitely gonna consider adding that to my arsenal
Good video but I disagree with needing to create these before a problem. I upgrade every 2 years so haven't had a failure in past 20 years. Can always create them on laptop or desktop that's not having problems. Kind of like buying a spare water pump for the car because every mechanic will tell you it's not if, but when, your water pump will fail...
Sometimes, its best to have one or two backup SSD drives with your entire system on it, so when sometime do go wrong -- you could, physically replace it or transfer the good drive over the bad... 2 USB boot drives is a must HAVE... But, also having two hardcopies of your system is even better.
I have learned the hard way. SSD's are fast but not truly reliable. So I have a ghost image of my software on a WD Blue 2TB brick. Six years from now it's still there.
You only need one USB drive with Ventoy. With Ventoy you can boot multiple ISO with only one USB and you can still use that USB drive as a data storage for your movies, photos, documents etc.
From my experience, Ventoy ironically isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. For specific use-cases where you need maximum compatibility, a dedicated USB stick written with just one image using something like Rufus is superior. Ventoy simply adds too many points of failure such as weird partition schemes, dodgy Secure Boot support, finicky USB generation support, etc. Plus the fact that it just outright doesn't support certain OS ISO files, which is odd.
@@lunchmoneyog Yeah well this is the thing, you say you use it for Windows 10 and 11 installs. Ventoy seems to be more compatible and consistent with the newest operating system images. I don't really care for these and more often use USB sticks for legacy installations, which Ventoy isn't that good for.
@@FlyboyHelosim each to their own, I do however suspect that most are not installing unsupported legacy operating systems on a regular basis, if at all.
@@lunchmoneyog That's a pretty bold claim seeing as most PCs on the used market typically have the OS installed that they shipped with. So XP, Vista, and 7, for Windows. Linux doesn't matter so much about being era-specific as it doesn't change much. And look at the increasing number of retro tech enthusiasts.
Hiren's Boot CD looks like a modern version of the Ultimate Boot Disk. UBD was the testing and fixing CD for all your troubles. Thanks for letting us know about this modern version!
Hirens keeps evolving, so many tools on it now. I would throw a third USB but this one require work as well. OSDI - Origin Snappy Driver Installer. If you got to do windows then you are going to want the absolute best drivers our community can mustard. This package gets out of date fast so worth once a month retorrent. But even an old copy can do an install if a pinch (at cost of updating the packs).
I am a big fan of Hiren’s. Since about 2008 when I began building and servicing my partner’s pcs. Glad I found your channel I need to keep up on this stuff.
Fantastic!!! Just did it! I use to do this "back in the day" I still have a stack of CD'R's named "Windows System boot discs" from 5 laptops ago in a drawer (I think from Windows XP, that was my favorite OS) . Man have we come a long way with the Thumb drives! I'll be honest, I forgot how to do it!! Thanks brother! I just finally subscribed as I've been watching allot of your videos lately. Most new laptops don't even have optical drives built in!
This has really helped me and I made a diagnostic tools USB drive last night, because in the past I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had my computer is turn on and they say they can’t start up successfully so this video has really helped me. I recently got a new refurbished gaming laptop so I know this will help immensely other programs you download on the Internet you have to pay for but this was completely free. The fact it was free I like because so many programs out there you have to pay so much money enable to get the whole program but yeah this video is help. Thank you.
Been doing this since the days of XP service pack 1 all the way up to windows 11. Still use 2 portable self-powered USB 3.0 HDDs and a number of USB Flash Drives with special software from days working in IT that allow me to wipe and recover boot sectors and factory core firmware on both storage drives and BIOS chips. The BIOS chip is usually the root problem in an unrecoverable crash. Usually corrupted by rootkits.
lol firmware rootkits are actually quite rare. Even more rare, a firmware rootkit corrupting a BIOS to the point of a system being unbootable or constantly crashing. Not my claims, supported by telemetry and other data from all major security research firms, PC makers, even the security software product companies who have an interest in inflating those numbers. 26 years I've never seen it. I mean I guess if you live in one of those regions of the world that are just a hotbed for these things like the Middle East, Central Europe, Africa or something but I am on the other hemisphere.
I have a Home Server that my Windows PC's (4) backup to on a schedule...and a cold storage array I back THAT up to on a schedule. I know not everyone can do that, for the average user this is great advice. Of course there are a few computer repair shops that will hate this video! 😁 (25 years in the business). When I did the "Geek Squad" thing Hiren's was a core tool.
I can't do a server like that, but I have multiple USB flash drive with different OS (linux , win7, win10 mbr, win10 gpt, hirens PE) I also have backup for those iso in my backup external HDD. I also still has my old laptop (dual boot linux - win7) as backup lol So if my main PC and main laptop has problem, I can fix it immediately :D
Just a small suggestion. You really should free up some space in them hard drives. I use an external HD for to make sure my internal HDs have at least 30% free space in case my PC writes any new information from backups, log reports, large file(s) downloads or anything.
Agreed. Most of the time my drives stay full because youtube video takes up a LOT of space. Several of them are client data. I delete that data 6 months after job completion, so the drive "fullness" varies ;)
All these people replying appear to be techies....I'm not, along with the majority of your viewers. Will you please do a follow-up video of ACTUALLY using these drives to restore a computer because your explanation is still Greek to me, and many others I suspect. HP Greek in my case Cheers from Canada North
My first computer's in early 2000's came with a seperate dvd disk to reinstall windows if needed as far as that goes. Last computer I bought was in 2011 a HP Pavilion desktop and believe that came with a disk as well. Todays computers should come with a separate disk as it once did whether laptop or desktop. I don't know if it does.
They don't. Manufacturers stopped doing that as a cost saving measure. Dumbest thing I've ever seen saving $.05 per PC, especially when a drive crashes. But the companies made more, so we know who wins that battle :(
@@AskYourComputerGuy not to mention that a lot of PCs today don't even include an optical drive - another cost saving measure...i purchased a USB external DVD drive to use in just such an occasion...
After years of doing such things, I would recommend "writing" down the drive letter because it can be quite confusing . I have used most of what you do. Today, though, I clone my drive(s) fairly often instead of backing up since all it takes is to physically swap the hard drives This gentleman is correct in what he says so take notice before it is too late. Great presentation, sir.
I inherited an HP laptop loaded with Vista. I removed all the previous owners data. Then I loaded Linux ubuntu onto it and have been using it continuously for 4 years with absolutely no problems!!! I will never use windoze again.
Regular full disk clones should be a part of your weekly routine. A couple of hours a week is a small price to pay to save all your data. The OS isn't as important. You can always reinstall that. But your data, especially if you are a professional, really should be backed up safely in multiple places. I recently lost a huge chunk of a project I was working on because of my idiocy and complacency.
Another useful tool is ventoy, you can have multiple iso files and boot from them or even vdi and vhd images. This way if I need Linux, windows xp, 7 or Hiren boot cd i can just select what I need from a list
I have problem with ventoy, I don't know why i tried to make a single flash drive for multiple OS like you have but I had problem that make me unable to do the fresh install. So I went back to the old way, use multiple flash drive with their own OS lol
I don't have much experience with Ventoy, although MANY of my viewers have mentioned or suggested I make a video about it. It's on the drawing board to make a definitive how-to video in the near future
As a person with a pc that has gone through some issues, everytime the only and fastest way to fix is reinstalling windows, i do it by opening the program, installing and all that process, but been wanting to get a usb just for this, didn't know about the other and this is super usefull for data recovery, thank you so much 🙏
As a tech, also with 30 years experience, these tools should come with a caveat warning. As much as these tools are useful for fixing problems, they can also make problems exponentially worse. They are not for the faint of heart or for those who don't have at least a basic understanding of how computers work. I get a lot of people in my shop that tried to fix their computer problems themselves watching RUclips videos like these, only to make the problem worse and subsequently my job harder to recover their system. Always, and I do mean always, try to understand what it is your are doing before you do it.
And disengage the fan and remove the heat sink so then you can warm up pizza on your PC without stoking up the oven. Just plug the fan back when pizza's done is all. Throw the sink away, it's simply a ploy, Microsoft is only trying to get us all to purchase whole kitchens by throwing in a sink with each computer.@@alphanerd2305
Wow, I'm glad I found your video. I've done everything you said and fixed my dying PC. You did a great job explaining each procedure, great video, thank you
Good points! I usually go to Control Panel>Backup and Restore and do "Create a system image" which makes an image of the entire system. I then access it by booting to "Advanced Startup" and use system image option.
Thank you for reminding me of the Hiren's bootCD, totally slipped my mind,.. I use to use it back when I was working as PC tech it is as you said a Swiss army knife for Windows PC. Great advice and great to the point instructions,.. Thank you.
@@AskYourComputerGuy Hey, remember BartPE? Some of those installs (on dvd, flash, or even hd) could be quite nice... (and customized to your own hardware/system/prefs/etc)
@@AskYourComputerGuyI feel like the pronunciation of "Hiren's" is off. He's Indian and it should be less like "siren" and more like Helen "Mirren" - many Indian anglicised spellings are single "r" but modify the "i" to sound like in squirrel etc. Great tool to suggest though. Thanks for the video!
I have done this with my Macrium Reflect software so I can boot into a recovery pre boot environment that will allow me to restore directly from my external drive that contains my backup images. Having a fresh installation media and recovery USB/Hiren's disk is all very clutch! Every Windows user should do everything listed in this video! If you have a backup software like OEM Backup Software (Dell, HP, Lenovo) Acronis True Image, Windows Backup, Macruim, EaseUS ToDo or any other backup software please make those restore specific recovery disks prior to your computer taking a fat dump! 🤓
Great advice! I always have a Win10 stick to hand, not heard of the Hiren's bootcd, will download that now, thanks. Had PC's since Win95, today it really is a breeze in comparison, credit to Microsoft.
"Had PC's since Win95, today it really is a breeze in comparison, credit to Microsoft." Credit to Microsoft. . . ? I, too, go back to Windows '95, and I have a different opinion of Microsoft. It's true that Windows '95 was incredibly unstable and just a nightmare when it came to reliability. I seem to recall having to completely re-install my operating system about every two months just to keep things going. I would back up my computer to about 20 floppy disks, if I recall. That process would also fail about halfway through every third time. Today, Windows is vastly more stable and reliable, but what I find remarkable is how little changed the interface is from that of Windows '95--and that was almost 30 years ago! We still have the control panel and the device manager. In fact, I don't think that a PC owner teleported from 1995 to today would have any trouble navigating his way around Windows 10--or vice versa, for that matter. They're both still using a mouse and menus and many of those menus are remarkably similar! It seems to me that from Windows '95 to Windows 7, we all paid to be part of a massive Beta testing program. Remember when people would line up around the block overnight, eagerly anticipating the release of the next version of Windows? And paying a couple hundred bucks for the privilege? The weird thing is that once they perfected it (I agree, Windows 10 is pretty damned good) they stopped charging us anything for it! When it was super crappy and unstable, we happily paid for it. The whole history of the PC seems very odd to me.
@@AskYourComputerGuy Indeed, and having much faster hardware (particularly storage) nowadays certainly doesn't hurt, too... .. (... and I go back to my 1982 RadioShack (Tandy) original "Color Computer" (coco) plugged into a tv, which for a while didn't even have floppies; it relied upon a user plugging in a standard old audio cassette player(/recorder), which REALLY won the prize for lack of speed/reliability... ) >;]
Everyone lives peacefully ...until their computer dies. Just because it hasn't happened to you (yet) doesn't change the fact that ALL hardware has a lifespan. Unfortunately, no one knows when :(
Hi there - can you update me on the Hirens Boot USB - the site has changed since you made this video and I really not sure what to do. Thanks in advance.
Ventoy is absolutely an option but some people inky need a Windows installer, so I decided to make a multi-disc option. Maybe in another video I'll explore this deeper! Thx 👍💪
@@AskYourComputerGuy but Ventoy can put the Windows iso you downloaded on this USB along with any other iso. As a tech, I have Windows 10&11 along with tech tools and some Linux distros on a 128GB flash. Don't need to carry multiple drives with me.
True, and worth diving into. But I also like to spread my failure points out a bit. If everything is on one disc, and something happens to that disc, you lose everything. But I don't disagree (assuming it's a quality flash drive). Maybe I'll make a Ventoy video down the road 👍💪
for some reasons not all iso are working on ventoy, even MEMTest iso. And there are cases most of the time the display will get corrupted and is unusable.
Used to have these on hand always until I found about about MediCat USB. Now it's truly an all in one USB. You can even boot directly into Windows ISOs from here without creating a separate USB for each installer (7, 8, 10, 11). Have a look into that too. Been a life saver.
My pc has been working for over 15 years with no issues. Still waiting on the when, so I can take my tool kit out to fix it as I'm a pro lol If it breaks ill format and reboot and reinstall.
@@AskYourComputerGuy if thats the case why are you providing this out of date garbage advice? i giess views are really more important then solid advice.
Because a) it's not garbage advice. My advice may not be "ideal" for tech people, but it does work and is useful b) I personally prefer 2 separate drives because I often work on multiple machines at one time and it's handy c) this is the method I've used for years, but I've been dabbling with Ventoy and plan on making a video about it. You are entitled to your opinion, but to call my video "garbage" is offensive. I work my ass off to provide easy to use solutions for novice users, and those people appreciate my effort. Nothing in IT is "the" solution for everyone. I have Ventoy video planned as an alternative for a 1-disc solution. But thanks for your comment regardless.
Agreed! That's why I made this a couple months later 👍 The LAST flash drive you will ever need! Ventoy FULL walk-thru and review! ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
Thanks for the tutorial. This has to be the most easiest format and reinstall of windows I have ever gone through. Repartitioned with Genius on Hirens and reinstalled windows with the boot USB. Keep them coming!
During the first 20 years of our careers, we relied on HDD's. Now with SSD, the vast majority of Physical Hardware failures are gone. SSD's failures are generally in the first couple months, the SSD in my old computer is 10 years old and still rocking. Just retired my i7 3770 as my main computer. It's now sitting int he kids room, with a 2060 GPU for when they visit. If a computer is being sold with an HDD as the only drive... run away. 3rd Party Drivers are responsible for the mass majority of Windows failures today.
Have similar exp with you. I just recently retire my i7-4790, it's now sit in my brother room to do light gaming, and I just replace the old SSD in that PC with a newer one because the old 2,5" Samsung EVO is already old and I now use it as an external drive. And I am agree, for newer os like win 10 and 11, SSD is the only acceptable option for me
Only the quality of SSDs has gone downhill due to manufacturing them outside US. People get Samsung SSD and it dies after a year... It's even worse with the fastest NVMe drives, manufactured god knows where. With that in mind, I am not sure if SSDs are more reliable than the good old HDDs.
@@ExtaTer Source Please? I have purchase 19 Samsung SSDs since 2013, 1 Failure under warranty replaced no issue, replacement still working. Every HDD purchased in the last 20 years but 1, has failed. This for computers in my home. At worked we purchased 250 HP G2 laptops. That batch had over a 50% failure rate. The 200 Dell 3380's had SSD's with less then a 10% failure rate. Now... I will say I have seen a lot more tech failure since COVID, especially Batteries. I chalk that up to the mad rush to get things back into the market. I am betting may things are being produced in Noncertified clean Rooms.
Every day I backup my files to another computer, and once a month I clone my HDD. I keep 6 identical drives in a fireproof and EMP Proof safe. I also have an identical computer to place that backup drive in. Yes you can do this! I learned a long time ago you can't have enough backups. Same with my phones, I back them up to at least 2 computers daily. I do not trust the cloud, that is just someone else's computer having your private information. Yep it cost twice as much worth EVEY dollar spent!
@@davidinchcliff4560 Sounds like maybe he's a bit traumatized by some data loss in the past... Been there... Now I make sure all (new/modified) important data is quickly backed up to external HD's. .. (... I used to backup the OS too, but with regular updates to win10 ("22H2", etc) plus the satisfaction of a new, clean, FASTER running Install, I really don't bother now, I just keep a running log/depository of the latest progs/drivers/settings/etc ready for the clean reinstall, incl latest M$ OS install ISO; like to do it regardless of issues at least once/yr anyway)
The Hirens, yes. Unfortunately Windows no longer has Windows 7 available for free download, which is why I recommend everyone get Windows 10 while it's still available. Could save you hundreds of dollars in repair costs
Thanks for this. A few years ago I decided that the easiest way for me was to make Clone Drives of all my Windows PC’s. I clone my Desktop once a week and my lesser used Laptops about once a month. I keep restore points and keep an image iso file of each system drive C. All my data (photos), which I keep on secondary and tertiary discs, I backup to a Home Server, two secure portable drives, and finally on MyCloud (Microsoft). I do keep these two USB drives. But I only needed to spend many hours to repair my computer once several years ago to never want to go thru that again. So perhaps once every year or two I just replace the bad drive with the clone and I’m on my way again. Takes half an hour if that.
with a linux media live you can boot to any machine and copy what you want and you can even connect to the internet, download and install applications and more..
I had an issue with creating the Hiren's BootCD. The program would fail right at the beginning with the Format Selected USB Drive. I ended up using Windows file explorer and had it format the USB drive = NTSF. I then unchecked the Format Selected USB Device in Hirem's and tried again. This time it did successfully copied everything to the USB drive.
I originally made USB recovery drives for my PCs but I also am going to take your advice from the video to do it your way with the two flash drives as backups. Thanks for the info.
You can also put them both on one drive, much easier! The LAST flash drive you will ever need! Ventoy FULL walk-thru and review! ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
I would recommend only one thing in your USB, Ventoy. And then just iso files. Ventoy can boot into any saved Iso files be it Linux or Windows. Ventoy doesn't even takes space and once you create Ventoy usb , you will never ever need anything else, except for isos
I personally need two pc to store same data twice just to be safe, repair windows kinda asse to deal with, i have issues with usb drive fail me twice before, corrupted installation os or just dead, usually i need them if any security update error cause by corrupted data
LOL not the first time I've heard that. I guess it comes from years of slowly walking someone through a fix versus them clicking away willy-nilly and I hwve to walk them back. It's just the way I am I suppose 🤷♂️
Always store files to an external drive, have that drive set to backup to an encrypted private drive in the cloud. only use the main C drive for OS and other software. If you do store files on the main C drive have that folder backup to an encrypted private drive in the cloud.
That’s been my practice since I had a drive failure that cost me 2 weeks of productivity many years ago. Now, my C drive is only used for Windows OS and apps, while all files & documents are stored on D drive and mirrored to E drive. I also mirror the D drive to NAS #1, and backup to an encrypted file on NAS #2. D drive is synced to OneDrive and SharePoint, and also backs up to an encrypted third party cloud service. All hard drives are SSD’s.
I don't have any specifically (in the works) but there are tons of videos on RUclips on how to use the Hirens tools. The MCT, you just boot to that drive (either in your BIOS or using a Fn key on your keyboard to change boot order), select the drive and follow the steps to install Windows 👍
Question: If you only ever intend to use the SYSTEM IMAGE RECOVERY option of the windows installer disk do you require the Hiren's boot CD? I have a complex setup with VMs that would take at least a month to rebuild but never changes. It is on a system with a 9-year-old hard drive. My plan is to have a windows installer USB and system image USB on hand for when the drive eventually fails. When needed I plan to use these two to restore the image of there duisk onto the new hard drive.
The Hirens is always nice to have as a "worst case" scenario. But a recovery disc would wipe the drive completely. Hirens would allow you to back up your files first. So both should be in your toolkit 👍
i have experienced a lot of Windows crashes and lost my data over and over again so i came up with an idea. when installing windows I'm dividing my SSD to 2 parts 1 for Windows and 2 for everything else ( i have a 480 gb SSD so My C: drive is where my windows is installed so I'm giving that drive 100 gb and the rest is for everything else) that way when my windows is corrupted i can freely install windows to my C: drive without losing my programs, games or important files. Hope this helps some of you.
It's safe. It only gets flagged because of the tools inside of it. Go into your quarantine and make an exception, the file is 100% safe - I've used it for years, as have countless others 👍
It seems like a recommendation that everyone who has a PC should know, as someone who studies Computer Systems, these types of tools became an essential part, when owning a PC and providing technical maintenance to others As an additional addition, I have always recommended having bootable Linux USBs, since it can be very useful for quick recovery of files or making backups, even Linux distributions dedicated to unlocking computers or system recovery.
Yeah I learned my lesson the hard way but I'm glad my files were saved somehow. Now I'm back having the same issue with my computer but I don't give a shit now cause I know my files are all secure 😂
I've tried to google, "download hiren boot usb"' but what comes up, no matter what I do, is a download for PDF Super Hero. I'm stuck being a bit of a windows for dummies user.
Oh man. It's amazing to see a guide about "rescue sticks" and see that in "discless" era - Hiren's Boot is still a thing, 10 years since you last time used it.
By the way, I have done the two cmds - sfc /scannow - and chkdsk C: /f /r (took over 6 hours on a 2TB C: drive). So, seems to me the problem is with Microsoft not allowing smooth sailing for us to download the Media file.
The other thing I have done with a borked Windows is to run my Linux copy. With linux running I can access my hardrives and transfer docs etc, to a DVD or USB so I dont lose my information. Its a pain but I will format my C drive and re install windows. As said you need a copy of Windows you can reinstall and no virus can take a Dban hard drive wipe, it just take time to do but when nothing else works, i do it.
I have had 3 computer's go down and two were because of a detective/damaged hard drive. Each time i simply removed the hard drive from the bad computer and snapped it in a hard drive case. Then i plugged it into the usb port on another computer and slid all my photos, videos, documents, and every other file i wanted onto the new computer. Those were the only files that were important to me. Of course now i keep them updated on several external hard drive.
I have the flash drive with the original MS 365 installer disk from Microsoft. Still, my laptop computer will not start when I try to boot it with that drive.
Subbed after watching this clip. 100% worth the time and effort to learn these simple tasks. I've been using Windows OS for 25 years. I can't understand how people "REFUSE" to do simple maintenance on their own devices.
I had a suggestion I think for Windows 10 fresh install, we don't need to connect to the internet but for Windows 11 fresh install we need to connect to the internet. During the fresh install there are no drivers present, so it would be great to download your wifi driver on the flash drive as you will need wifi to complete the Windows 11 installation.
So what do you do in the event that you have a hard drive failure such as a head failure within the drive itself? In a case such as that I'm guessing that these tools would be useless?
Just my 2c, I took a 2tb nvme ssd, put it into a enclosure with a usb plug, installed ventoy on it and now carry windows, and about 20 flavers of linux, iso's, depending on what i am working with, so basically i keep all my iso's in one place its great.
Thanks! I’ve been going to make boot USBs for years, but never have. I’ll do it this week. Will these 2 USBs work for any of my 5 Windows machines, or do I need 2 for each one? One is XP, and runs CNC machine… it’s not connected to my network.
Hello, thanks for the Window's Install CD instructions but I'm not getting the Heren's Boot thing. 77-year-old geezer here and don't feel bad if this goes ignored. I have the ISO2 USB in downloeads. I don't understand "Up at the top mid of Hiren's Screen click on download and schroll down until you see the actual file." What is the name of the actual file?
I don't recall the exact file name (and it could change at any time). If you watch the video again, I'd recommend watching it at 3/4 or 1/2 speed - follow my exact video instructions, I show you exactly where to scroll down to, and click on the place where my mouse and arrow/circle shows. That should help 👍
![[2024 MEGA update] EVERY Windows user needs THESE 2 USB drives!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pi3haU6h1es/mqdefault.jpg)
New and improved ALL-IN-ONE single multi-purpose flash drive solution here: The LAST flash drive you will ever need! Ventoy FULL walk-thru and review!
ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
Will the same one work on all my Windows 10 laptops and PC or do I need to make a set for each one? Thank you for making this video, by the way.
You're very welcome! One W10 Home ISO will work on any W10 Home Edition PC. Same with Pro. Hirens will work on any version of Windows. Here's how to do it all with just one flash drive - even simpler!
The LAST flash drive you will ever need! Ventoy FULL walk-thru and review!
ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
Even an old dog can learn new tricks, right? 💪
Do you know how to recover data and files from a hard drive that has already crashed (blue screen)?
I was just about to add a reply mentioning that it be better to add ISO’s like these to a Ventoy disc
As an IT professional who has worked in the industry for over a decade, I whole-heartedly approve of this wonderful video to help the normies.
Thank you! Your professional validation matters, and I appreciate you saying that ;)
I am the complete opposite! No "normie" as you put it, should be trying to resolve major system failures if they don't have a trusted backup of their data, which is the scenario being discussed in this video about losing all their data, etc. Their best bet is to turn the PC off and let an experienced tech handle the situation properly to insure their data remains intact. There are quite a few scenarios that can occur, if they were to make a bad decision, that can result in the entire drive being formatted and their data lost forever. It's just not worth the risk if they don't fully understand the processes they are about to attempt.
Excellent points 💪
Nice.... validation from another tech is awesome!
Yeah but which option do you choose after making USB recovery so that all your drivers are installed is this even possible?
I just wanted to point out a few notes of clarity. The Windows Media Creation Tool does indeed allow you to re-install Windows onto any PC, but it is a "clean" version of Windows, meaning any bundled software from the manufacturer will not immediately be present and will need to be downloaded along with any aesthetics such as wallpapers. You will only get the core Windows programs and perhaps a few bloat programs that Microsoft likes to bundle into the stock OS these days. Now while the vast majority of people likely won't care one bit about not having that manufacerer-included software, people with gaming PC's who have used the included gaming-type software such as RGB control for their keyboards or towers might want that back and could be frustrated with trying to locate the software and drivers on the manufacterer's website.
An alternative that I often suggest to people who purchase a new computer is to create a System Recovery Disk. It uses a simple USB drive just like with the Media Creation Tool, only this will create an installation disk that will restore your computer to exactly the way it was when you first powered it on after purchasing it, complete with the included software bundles and aesthetics. It's also very simple to make since you can just insert your USB, search for "Create a Recovery Drive", click on the app, and follow the instructions just like you would with the Media Creation Tool. If you want a clean installation of Windows, which most people are perfectly fine with, go with the Creation Tool, but if you for whatever reason want your computer looking exactly like when you first unboxed it, you'll want to create a Recovery Drive and use that instead. Its use is also virtually the same as the Media Tool, just boot from USB like instructed in the video and the USB will load your operating system as it was put together by the manufacturer back onto your computer.
I wasn't aware of Hiren's tool though so thank you for introducing me to that.
Excellent points! I mention some of those in my latest video. Thanks for your comment and insight!
The definitive guide to backing up your PC
ruclips.net/video/kDYKLzm-EMo/видео.html
Another option is to simply clone your drive of that special computer when you get it. You can create additional clones or snapshots shortly after you've configured it to your preference.
Exactly! Got a video coming soon about this ideal backup solution in depth. I touched on it in a recent video (The definitive guide to backing up your PC
ruclips.net/video/kDYKLzm-EMo/видео.html) but I want to do a full, easy to follow explainer for novices. Thx for the comment! 🍺
If you create "Recovery Drive" using the built in feature of Windows 8 ~ 11 on a system that has the original OEM preinstalled system image intact, it will restore OEM drivers and applications (third party) because the WIM images have been customized by the PC maker. But if created from an upgraded Windows install, or a clean Windows install, you get the standard MS installation bits with no added drivers or OEM customizations. It's the same thing as creating the media from an ISO obtained straight from Microsoft.
True
I've had my laptop for a couple of months now and I've been worrying over how I go about creating these flash drives. This video made it all clear and enabled me to finally get the job done. Thank you.
👍
If your worried about your computer crashing especially since Windows 11 is Spyware.
Why not buy a sata drive 1terra byte and have Linux Mint installed.I did that and it works better then Windows does.
In addition to these two boot drives, I would also recommend having a Linux USB boot drive on hand as well, either Mint or Ubuntu. I've rescued Windows files using a Linux boot USB when everything seemed hopeless.
Working on a video showing exactly how to do this as we speak! ;)
@@AskYourComputerGuy We had a Dell PC with one of those one-disk RAID configurations that wouldn't boot and nothing we tried would allow access to the files on the disk. We booted off a Ubuntu USB drive and were able to copy off the critical files.
There's no doubt that having a Linux boot disc is a great tool for everyone's tool belt. Glad it worked out for you!💪
On my 2 year old Xeon based workstation pretty much 0 linux versions work ;( Only Unix alike os I got working was Mac OS as hackintosh and BSD and in those it was trouble with they running VESA mode on my 4k TV .... Linux Mint would crash immediately not even trying to start, same with most other linux versions.
@a64738 odd. Everyone says Linux is the easiest OS to install...interesting.
I had a little hiccup last week with my PC. Ran scannow /SFC. Repaired errors. Came across this RUclips video. Have used 2 USB drives to download these boot CDs for future use. Very clear instructions. Highly recommend your video to others. Thank you!
Thank you so much! If you liked this one, you are absolutely going to love my next video. It's taking this concept to an entirely new level 💪
30 years in the business has taught me that you WILL have issues at some point. These discs are absolutely worth their weight in GOLD when that time comes!
I want to know what is your opinion on Sergi's Strelec vs Hiren's
Never used it, don't have an opinion :(
You're right! I've happily been running Ubuntu for 8yrs...🇺🇸 😎👍☕
@@lilblackduc7312 Why is it that Linux users will always find a way to let you know they use Linux? You're like vegans, nobody cares. 😂
@@FlyboyHelosim You've got that bass-ackwards. Evangelizing Linux is analogous to free people, trying to show Microsoft's sheep the better life without slavery of belonging to 'Massa Microsoft', along with it's inherent viruses & bloatware. "When the sheep grow blind, it is the wolves who rejoice". If you'll swallow Microsoft's "fake meat", you'll be eating crickets & Soylent Green, eventually. sad Besides, I rated a 'heart' and you didn't. 🤪 😜 🤪 😁 🤣 😂
Another variation of thi is to use a tool like Ventoy, where you install that to the USB drive, and then copy the ISO's to the folder, then you can have a multi boot disk, I currently have 19 ISO's stored on my disk, boot first to ventoy, then use scroll menu to choose which iso to load.
Due to hundreds of comments from users, I decided to make a Ventoy video. I wasn't even aware of it. It's on the drawing board! 👍
I also use Ventoy on a 64GB usb drive with all Windows versions and bootable tools. Saving all the switching between drives and no need to make the ISO's bootable. Any updated Windows or tool version and I just replace the files on the drive.
*Isos (no apostrophe) plurals do not require apostrophe. (Ie: computer's)
@@SirStarGazer00 Please stick around for more typing mistakes
Same! LOL 😂
It's worth noting that Ventoy for USB boot creation is a far better option, if you go this route, you can actually combine the x2 USB sticks into one by just dropping the ISO images onto the USB drive, you get a menu on booting asking which ISO image you want to run. I've gone this route and found it easier to just reach for the one USB drive for all.
Just for clarity also, it's not just for any version of Windows OS, Linux ISO images work from it too.
Agreed. That's why I made this follow-up video: ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
I have done the same thing. Best part is, I can also store the installers and activation keys for programs on that same thumb drive.
Super handy to be able to install Windows, then use that same thumb drive to install my “must have” programs.
In the 80s as I was finishing high school I interned in a bank. They had a terminal in each floor and sometimes in each department, all connected to a mainframe running big reels of magnetic tape in an air-conditioned and humidity controlled computer room. I still remember how excited the IT guys were about the speed of the network being upgraded to 9600 baud. The only thing it ran was a custom accounting software and the only things the terminals were used for was posting vouchers at the end of each day and looking up balances with the caveat that if any transactions had taken place earlier that day, these would not be reflected until the vouchers had been posted after 5pm and the whole system had run a fresh compilation overnight.
Then by the early 90s I graduated college and got a job in a different bank. We each had terminals on our desks but we still had two full-time typists with IBM "golf-ball" typewriters on each floor to handle the heavy stuff. Our terminals were dumb and ran off the mainframe but this time that also included enterprise or server versions of Microsoft Windows and Office. I remember one fun thing was that you could make a message appear in the middle of someone else's screen. No chat, just a box with a message. We were surprisingly creative and strategic in planning it's use. Crucially, our storage was also on the mainframe. The terminals had no hard drives or perhaps only very nominal ones purely to support the 256K's of RAM. So if the mainframe was ever down the thing on our desks was dead. Around this time, many homes had "a" computer that people shared. Some people had laptops although this might have been from work. Personal laptops were rare because they were expensive but also because they were still big and heavy and lasted 2 hours.
Then memory got really cheap, computers' hard drives that used to be 4GB or 8GB were now 40GB or 60GB and getting bigger all the time. So everyone stored everything on their own computers and installed all sorts of software on their own computers. There was no filing discipline or hierarchy, it was clutter, disorder and duplication everywhere while people learned the law of unintended consequences that could result from the cheerful misuse of regedit and other dos commands. it became boom time for the virus industry ( we old timers believe the anti-virus industry and the virus industry to be the same) and for PC repair businesses and basically that's when all the recovery and repair protocols were developed.
But now we have the cloud. We have subscription software that runs in the cloud and unlimited, fast secure storage to keep our stuff in the cloud. It's kind of a full circle to my early experiences where our personal workstations are really not important. My company has migrated most functions to the cloud and recently, when one of our critical persons' Microsoft Surface suddenly died, we got her a new one in under an hour and she kept on working like nothing ever happened. It took us an hour because for 30 mins we tried to restart the old one before deciding to replace it.
Obviously there are risks to this strategy, there could be leaks and breaches, the internet could go down and so forth. But if used sensibly I think it can greatly reduce the negative impact of your computer dying on you, not least the fact that you don't have to become a PC mechanic just to keep things running.
Great story! And yes, it is rather ironic how we are almost full-circle back to dummy terminal style computing. Much faster and cheaper though 😂
As an IT professional I'd say that it's much better to have a backup computer/laptop instead of flash drives. It's much easier for me to tear out the physical storage out of a dead system and backup anything I need before wiping it with a fresh install rather than digging through windows recovery menus. That's of course IF I am to store anything essential on a system drive. Usually it's other drives or off-site. Boot drive is a cool tool though. Definitely gonna consider adding that to my arsenal
Good video but I disagree with needing to create these before a problem. I upgrade every 2 years so haven't had a failure in past 20 years. Can always create them on laptop or desktop that's not having problems. Kind of like buying a spare water pump for the car because every mechanic will tell you it's not if, but when, your water pump will fail...
Sometimes, its best to have one or two backup SSD drives with your entire system on it, so when sometime do go wrong -- you could, physically replace it or transfer the good drive over the bad... 2 USB boot drives is a must HAVE... But, also having two hardcopies of your system is even better.
Funny you say that! I actually have a clone of my existing OS on a 2.5" laptop drive that I keep in my safe...cuz you never know ;)
@@AskYourComputerGuy You forgot to mention -- its encrypted! 😂
Exactly 😂
Yes, Hirens is useful. More then 20 years in "bussines" .
I have learned the hard way. SSD's are fast but not truly reliable. So I have a ghost image of my software on a WD Blue 2TB brick. Six years from now it's still there.
You only need one USB drive with Ventoy. With Ventoy you can boot multiple ISO with only one USB and you can still use that USB drive as a data storage for your movies, photos, documents etc.
True. Unless you're like me and working on multiple machines at once. A Ventoy video IS in the works though, because it is a good idea!
From my experience, Ventoy ironically isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. For specific use-cases where you need maximum compatibility, a dedicated USB stick written with just one image using something like Rufus is superior. Ventoy simply adds too many points of failure such as weird partition schemes, dodgy Secure Boot support, finicky USB generation support, etc. Plus the fact that it just outright doesn't support certain OS ISO files, which is odd.
@@lunchmoneyog Yeah well this is the thing, you say you use it for Windows 10 and 11 installs. Ventoy seems to be more compatible and consistent with the newest operating system images. I don't really care for these and more often use USB sticks for legacy installations, which Ventoy isn't that good for.
@@FlyboyHelosim each to their own, I do however suspect that most are not installing unsupported legacy operating systems on a regular basis, if at all.
@@lunchmoneyog That's a pretty bold claim seeing as most PCs on the used market typically have the OS installed that they shipped with. So XP, Vista, and 7, for Windows. Linux doesn't matter so much about being era-specific as it doesn't change much. And look at the increasing number of retro tech enthusiasts.
Hiren's Boot CD looks like a modern version of the Ultimate Boot Disk. UBD was the testing and fixing CD for all your troubles. Thanks for letting us know about this modern version!
👍
Hiren's modern? That's got to be at least 20 years old. Damn handy tho.
@GregNickoloff yep. I still use it. Medicat I've heard is probably better, haven't played with it.
@@AskYourComputerGuy Medicat is full of stuff.. and Hiren is even included in medicat
Don't forget to label the keys and keep them someplace you can find them. Perform regular backups Hirens looks like a useful tool :-)
It is. I've used it thousands of times over the years
Hirens keeps evolving, so many tools on it now. I would throw a third USB but this one require work as well. OSDI - Origin Snappy Driver Installer. If you got to do windows then you are going to want the absolute best drivers our community can mustard. This package gets out of date fast so worth once a month retorrent. But even an old copy can do an install if a pinch (at cost of updating the packs).
You could write the hash on the dvd label if using those but would need to copy if a new one was burned. If it was lost, that is also a problem.
could put in a fire proof safe...
I am a big fan of Hiren’s. Since about 2008 when I began building and servicing my partner’s pcs. Glad I found your channel I need to keep up on this stuff.
Welcome aboard!
Fantastic!!! Just did it! I use to do this "back in the day" I still have a stack of CD'R's named "Windows System boot discs" from 5 laptops ago in a drawer (I think from Windows XP, that was my favorite OS) . Man have we come a long way with the Thumb drives! I'll be honest, I forgot how to do it!! Thanks brother! I just finally subscribed as I've been watching allot of your videos lately. Most new laptops don't even have optical drives built in!
Good deal, thx for the share 👍
@edyoung6573, I also have the cdr’s plus the square disks prior to cds. Good to know we can now use USB’s to replace them.
This has really helped me and I made a diagnostic tools USB drive last night, because in the past I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had my computer is turn on and they say they can’t start up successfully so this video has really helped me. I recently got a new refurbished gaming laptop so I know this will help immensely other programs you download on the Internet you have to pay for but this was completely free. The fact it was free I like because so many programs out there you have to pay so much money enable to get the whole program but yeah this video is help. Thank you.
You're so very welcome! I'm glad I was able to help you :)
Been doing this since the days of XP service pack 1 all the way up to windows 11. Still use 2 portable self-powered USB 3.0 HDDs and a number of USB Flash Drives with special software from days working in IT that allow me to wipe and recover boot sectors and factory core firmware on both storage drives and BIOS chips. The BIOS chip is usually the root problem in an unrecoverable crash. Usually corrupted by rootkits.
💪💪💪
lol firmware rootkits are actually quite rare. Even more rare, a firmware rootkit corrupting a BIOS to the point of a system being unbootable or constantly crashing. Not my claims, supported by telemetry and other data from all major security research firms, PC makers, even the security software product companies who have an interest in inflating those numbers. 26 years I've never seen it. I mean I guess if you live in one of those regions of the world that are just a hotbed for these things like the Middle East, Central Europe, Africa or something but I am on the other hemisphere.
Agreed, very rare
I have a Home Server that my Windows PC's (4) backup to on a schedule...and a cold storage array I back THAT up to on a schedule. I know not everyone can do that, for the average user this is great advice. Of course there are a few computer repair shops that will hate this video! 😁 (25 years in the business). When I did the "Geek Squad" thing Hiren's was a core tool.
LOL absolutely. Let em hate 👍
Sergei USB iz my favorite
Haven't heard of it, will check it out 👍
I can't do a server like that, but I have multiple USB flash drive with different OS (linux , win7, win10 mbr, win10 gpt, hirens PE)
I also have backup for those iso in my backup external HDD. I also still has my old laptop (dual boot linux - win7) as backup lol
So if my main PC and main laptop has problem, I can fix it immediately :D
And this is why you NEVER need a computer guy! 😂👍💪
Thanks!
Wow, thank you!!! ❤️
Thanks!
Thank you SO MUCH for supporting my work and the channel! I appreciate you beyond measure! :)
Just a small suggestion.
You really should free up some space in them hard drives.
I use an external HD for to make sure my internal HDs have at least 30% free space in case my PC writes any new information from backups, log reports, large file(s) downloads or anything.
Agreed. Most of the time my drives stay full because youtube video takes up a LOT of space. Several of them are client data. I delete that data 6 months after job completion, so the drive "fullness" varies ;)
All these people replying appear to be techies....I'm not, along with the majority of your viewers. Will you please do a follow-up video of ACTUALLY using these drives to restore a computer because your explanation is still Greek to me, and many others I suspect. HP Greek in my case
Cheers from Canada North
That’s actually an excellent idea for a video. Next machine I get that needs that treatment. I will definitely make that for you.
My first computer's in early 2000's came with a seperate dvd disk to reinstall windows if needed as far as that goes. Last computer I bought was in 2011 a HP Pavilion desktop and believe that came with a disk as well. Todays computers should come with a separate disk as it once did whether laptop or desktop. I don't know if it does.
They don't. Manufacturers stopped doing that as a cost saving measure. Dumbest thing I've ever seen saving $.05 per PC, especially when a drive crashes. But the companies made more, so we know who wins that battle :(
@@AskYourComputerGuy not to mention that a lot of PCs today don't even include an optical drive - another cost saving measure...i purchased a USB external DVD drive to use in just such an occasion...
Very true! It's becoming less and less popular
@@AskYourComputerGuy Thank you. I'm disappointed/saddened by that.
Agreed
After years of doing such things, I would recommend "writing" down the drive letter because it can be quite confusing . I have used most of what you do. Today, though, I clone my drive(s) fairly often instead of backing up since all it takes is to physically swap the hard drives
This gentleman is correct in what he says so take notice before it is too late.
Great presentation, sir.
Thank you, I agree 👍
I inherited an HP laptop loaded with Vista. I removed all the previous owners data. Then I loaded Linux ubuntu onto it and have been using it continuously for 4 years with absolutely no problems!!! I will never use windoze again.
Glad to hear it. Actually got a Linux conversion video on the drawing board...stay tuned
All 3 of my gifted laptops (32gb) have linux ubuntu loaded. No issues with any of them. I run one dedicated MS package through WINE.
💪👍
Regular full disk clones should be a part of your weekly routine. A couple of hours a week is a small price to pay to save all your data. The OS isn't as important. You can always reinstall that. But your data, especially if you are a professional, really should be backed up safely in multiple places. I recently lost a huge chunk of a project I was working on because of my idiocy and complacency.
Another useful tool is ventoy, you can have multiple iso files and boot from them or even vdi and vhd images. This way if I need Linux, windows xp, 7 or Hiren boot cd i can just select what I need from a list
It's on my list for upcoming videos 👍
I have problem with ventoy, I don't know why i tried to make a single flash drive for multiple OS like you have but I had problem that make me unable to do the fresh install. So I went back to the old way, use multiple flash drive with their own OS lol
I don't have much experience with Ventoy, although MANY of my viewers have mentioned or suggested I make a video about it. It's on the drawing board to make a definitive how-to video in the near future
Yes it's good to also have an OS on a USB
Always good to have the ability to reinstall if necessary! 💪
As a person with a pc that has gone through some issues, everytime the only and fastest way to fix is reinstalling windows, i do it by opening the program, installing and all that process, but been wanting to get a usb just for this, didn't know about the other and this is super usefull for data recovery, thank you so much 🙏
At 4:50 the Hiren's web page is different now. Is the RUFUS utility the same?
Good advice, been doing the same for years !
As a tech, also with 30 years experience, these tools should come with a caveat warning. As much as these tools are useful for fixing problems, they can also make problems exponentially worse. They are not for the faint of heart or for those who don't have at least a basic understanding of how computers work. I get a lot of people in my shop that tried to fix their computer problems themselves watching RUclips videos like these, only to make the problem worse and subsequently my job harder to recover their system. Always, and I do mean always, try to understand what it is your are doing before you do it.
Can't argue that. Excellent points
I always delete system32 folder every month to keep my windows running fast and for free!
@@Loki- You need to up your game and delete the Windows folder for ultimate performance.
@@Loki- 😈🤪🤣
And disengage the fan and remove the heat sink so then you can warm up pizza on your PC without stoking up the oven. Just plug the fan back when pizza's done is all. Throw the sink away, it's simply a ploy, Microsoft is only trying to get us all to purchase whole kitchens by throwing in a sink with each computer.@@alphanerd2305
Wow, I'm glad I found your video. I've done everything you said and fixed my dying PC. You did a great job explaining each procedure, great video, thank you
Thank you so much! I appreciate that! 💪
Good points! I usually go to Control Panel>Backup and Restore and do "Create a system image" which makes an image of the entire system. I then access it by booting to "Advanced Startup" and use system image option.
Thanks for sharing!
I have made the usb's and hope I never need them. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Awesome!
Good video I'm actually a Ventoy fan but new tools are always appreciated 👍🏼
Actually I'm old school so I use 2 drives, but everyone has sung Ventoy's praises in the comments, so I'm going to make a video about it soon! ;)
Hi and good morning, why win 10 and not 11?
Either is fine. Just depends on what OS you have :)
Thank you for reminding me of the Hiren's bootCD, totally slipped my mind,.. I use to use it back when I was working as PC tech it is as you said a Swiss army knife for Windows PC.
Great advice and great to the point instructions,.. Thank you.
You're welcome! :)
@@AskYourComputerGuy Hey, remember BartPE? Some of those installs (on dvd, flash, or even hd) could be quite nice... (and customized to your own hardware/system/prefs/etc)
@@AskYourComputerGuyI feel like the pronunciation of "Hiren's" is off. He's Indian and it should be less like "siren" and more like Helen "Mirren" - many Indian anglicised spellings are single "r" but modify the "i" to sound like in squirrel etc.
Great tool to suggest though. Thanks for the video!
Bravo dude!! I'm a retired IT guy, and I do this once every never, thanks for the steps!!
I am doing computer repairing and restoration as my hobby. One of the great guidance I have ever found
Thanks, I appreciate that! 💪
I have done this with my Macrium Reflect software so I can boot into a recovery pre boot environment that will allow me to restore directly from my external drive that contains my backup images. Having a fresh installation media and recovery USB/Hiren's disk is all very clutch! Every Windows user should do everything listed in this video!
If you have a backup software like OEM Backup Software (Dell, HP, Lenovo) Acronis True Image, Windows Backup, Macruim, EaseUS ToDo or any other backup software please make those restore specific recovery disks prior to your computer taking a fat dump! 🤓
Absolutely!
Great advice! I always have a Win10 stick to hand, not heard of the Hiren's bootcd, will download that now, thanks. Had PC's since Win95, today it really is a breeze in comparison, credit to Microsoft.
😁
master/slave configurations were a nightmare.
"Had PC's since Win95, today it really is a breeze in comparison, credit to Microsoft."
Credit to Microsoft. . . ? I, too, go back to Windows '95, and I have a different opinion of Microsoft. It's true that Windows '95 was incredibly unstable and just a nightmare when it came to reliability. I seem to recall having to completely re-install my operating system about every two months just to keep things going. I would back up my computer to about 20 floppy disks, if I recall. That process would also fail about halfway through every third time.
Today, Windows is vastly more stable and reliable, but what I find remarkable is how little changed the interface is from that of Windows '95--and that was almost 30 years ago! We still have the control panel and the device manager. In fact, I don't think that a PC owner teleported from 1995 to today would have any trouble navigating his way around Windows 10--or vice versa, for that matter. They're both still using a mouse and menus and many of those menus are remarkably similar!
It seems to me that from Windows '95 to Windows 7, we all paid to be part of a massive Beta testing program. Remember when people would line up around the block overnight, eagerly anticipating the release of the next version of Windows? And paying a couple hundred bucks for the privilege?
The weird thing is that once they perfected it (I agree, Windows 10 is pretty damned good) they stopped charging us anything for it! When it was super crappy and unstable, we happily paid for it.
The whole history of the PC seems very odd to me.
Same! The evolution has been quite a ride and I agree...fully wiping a Windows PC now is a much less frequent occurance compared to W95/W98 days
@@AskYourComputerGuy Indeed, and having much faster hardware (particularly storage) nowadays certainly doesn't hurt, too...
..
(... and I go back to my 1982 RadioShack (Tandy) original "Color Computer" (coco) plugged into a tv, which for a while didn't even have floppies; it relied upon a user plugging in a standard old audio cassette player(/recorder), which REALLY won the prize for lack of speed/reliability... )
>;]
Me: lives peacefully
RUclips: YOUR COMPUTER IS GOING TO DIE
Everyone lives peacefully ...until their computer dies. Just because it hasn't happened to you (yet) doesn't change the fact that ALL hardware has a lifespan. Unfortunately, no one knows when :(
One job I keep saying I will do, and never do. Well thanks to you I have just done it. Great tutorial Sir. Many thanks
Awesome! Better late than never!
Hi there - can you update me on the Hirens Boot USB - the site has changed since you made this video and I really not sure what to do. Thanks in advance.
Why not just use ventoy and put both iso's on one USB?
Ventoy is absolutely an option but some people inky need a Windows installer, so I decided to make a multi-disc option. Maybe in another video I'll explore this deeper! Thx 👍💪
@@AskYourComputerGuy but Ventoy can put the Windows iso you downloaded on this USB along with any other iso. As a tech, I have Windows 10&11 along with tech tools and some Linux distros on a 128GB flash. Don't need to carry multiple drives with me.
True, and worth diving into. But I also like to spread my failure points out a bit. If everything is on one disc, and something happens to that disc, you lose everything. But I don't disagree (assuming it's a quality flash drive). Maybe I'll make a Ventoy video down the road 👍💪
for some reasons not all iso are working on ventoy, even MEMTest iso. And there are cases most of the time the display will get corrupted and is unusable.
Haven't heard that before. Interesting. Still worth checking out I suppose
Used to have these on hand always until I found about about MediCat USB. Now it's truly an all in one USB. You can even boot directly into Windows ISOs from here without creating a separate USB for each installer (7, 8, 10, 11). Have a look into that too. Been a life saver.
Ventoy can make it easy too!
My pc has been working for over 15 years with no issues. Still waiting on the when, so I can take my tool kit out to fix it as I'm a pro lol
If it breaks ill format and reboot and reinstall.
Thank You, I followed your walk through and now my computer is up and running like new. 😁😁😁😁
Excellent! Thx for sharing! 👍👍💪
If your windows install ends up being unusable then it will be a good oportunity to switch to LINUX!
Such a great video, very well done, clear and up to the point!
I would probably select ISO and use it with ventoy.
Got a Ventoy video planned soon 👍
@@AskYourComputerGuy if thats the case why are you providing this out of date garbage advice?
i giess views are really more important then solid advice.
Because a) it's not garbage advice. My advice may not be "ideal" for tech people, but it does work and is useful b) I personally prefer 2
separate drives because I often work on multiple machines at one time and it's handy c) this is the method I've used for years, but I've been dabbling with Ventoy and plan on making a video about it. You are entitled to your opinion, but to call my video "garbage" is offensive. I work my ass off to provide easy to use solutions for novice users, and those people appreciate my effort. Nothing in IT is "the" solution for everyone. I have Ventoy video planned as an alternative for a 1-disc solution. But thanks for your comment regardless.
If you want to avoid having a massive library of individual USB sticks for various ISO's I highly recommend Ventoy
Agreed! That's why I made this a couple months later 👍
The LAST flash drive you will ever need! Ventoy FULL walk-thru and review!
ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
Thanks for the tutorial. This has to be the most easiest format and reinstall of windows I have ever gone through. Repartitioned with Genius on Hirens and reinstalled windows with the boot USB. Keep them coming!
Good deal!
During the first 20 years of our careers, we relied on HDD's. Now with SSD, the vast majority of Physical Hardware failures are gone. SSD's failures are generally in the first couple months, the SSD in my old computer is 10 years old and still rocking. Just retired my i7 3770 as my main computer. It's now sitting int he kids room, with a 2060 GPU for when they visit.
If a computer is being sold with an HDD as the only drive... run away.
3rd Party Drivers are responsible for the mass majority of Windows failures today.
Have similar exp with you. I just recently retire my i7-4790, it's now sit in my brother room to do light gaming, and I just replace the old SSD in that PC with a newer one because the old 2,5" Samsung EVO is already old and I now use it as an external drive.
And I am agree, for newer os like win 10 and 11, SSD is the only acceptable option for me
Only the quality of SSDs has gone downhill due to manufacturing them outside US. People get Samsung SSD and it dies after a year... It's even worse with the fastest NVMe drives, manufactured god knows where. With that in mind, I am not sure if SSDs are more reliable than the good old HDDs.
Absolutely
Time will tell. But I don't disagree!
@@ExtaTer Source Please? I have purchase 19 Samsung SSDs since 2013, 1 Failure under warranty replaced no issue, replacement still working. Every HDD purchased in the last 20 years but 1, has failed. This for computers in my home. At worked we purchased 250 HP G2 laptops. That batch had over a 50% failure rate. The 200 Dell 3380's had SSD's with less then a 10% failure rate.
Now... I will say I have seen a lot more tech failure since COVID, especially Batteries. I chalk that up to the mad rush to get things back into the market. I am betting may things are being produced in Noncertified clean Rooms.
Every day I backup my files to another computer, and once a month I clone my HDD. I keep 6 identical drives in a fireproof and EMP Proof safe. I also have an identical computer to place that backup drive in. Yes you can do this! I learned a long time ago you can't have enough backups. Same with my phones, I back them up to at least 2 computers daily. I do not trust the cloud, that is just someone else's computer having your private information. Yep it cost twice as much worth EVEY dollar spent!
Over kill jim
😂
@@davidinchcliff4560 Sounds like maybe he's a bit traumatized by some data loss in the past... Been there... Now I make sure all (new/modified) important data is quickly backed up to external HD's.
..
(... I used to backup the OS too, but with regular updates to win10 ("22H2", etc) plus the satisfaction of a new, clean, FASTER running Install, I really don't bother now, I just keep a running log/depository of the latest progs/drivers/settings/etc ready for the clean reinstall, incl latest M$ OS install ISO; like to do it regardless of issues at least once/yr anyway)
But despite that, someone has corrupted your real adult name!
Linux for life
Especially after last week's Microsoft presentation
But those issues is talking about at the begining could happened on Linux so.
That's why you have a Bootable USB or Cd as there are still a few old computers around that can't boot to USB but can to cd rom drive.
I use Linux far more than windows. I currently use bazzite and it is wonderful
I always have a usb stick with the latest windows flashed to it, it comes in handy every now and again.
Can this be done for Windows 7 ? ... And yes; I still use it !
The Hirens, yes. Unfortunately Windows no longer has Windows 7 available for free download, which is why I recommend everyone get Windows 10 while it's still available. Could save you hundreds of dollars in repair costs
Wow great info. I've never heard of Hiren's boot CD. I'm gonna make my usb drives right now. Subbed!
Thank you!
Thanks for this. A few years ago I decided that the easiest way for me was to make Clone Drives of all my Windows PC’s. I clone my Desktop once a week and my lesser used Laptops about once a month. I keep restore points and keep an image iso file of each system drive C. All my data (photos), which I keep on secondary and tertiary discs, I backup to a Home Server, two secure portable drives, and finally on MyCloud (Microsoft). I do keep these two USB drives. But I only needed to spend many hours to repair my computer once several years ago to never want to go thru that again. So perhaps once every year or two I just replace the bad drive with the clone and I’m on my way again. Takes half an hour if that.
Ladies and gentlemen...read ^^^ this. Then read it again. 💪👍🍺
Maybe you can probably help us out on this by putting out a video out there. It did be a precious asset to everyone. Thanks sir
Finishing up my "how to clone your drive" video as we speak. Stay tuned! 👍
with a linux media live you can boot to any machine and copy what you want and you can even connect to the internet, download and install applications and more..
For some Lenovo computers is the enter key. On boot up you have to spam or repeatedly tap the enter key.
👍
I had an issue with creating the Hiren's BootCD. The program would fail right at the beginning with the Format Selected USB Drive. I ended up using Windows file explorer and had it format the USB drive = NTSF. I then unchecked the Format Selected USB Device in Hirem's and tried again. This time it did successfully copied everything to the USB drive.
Apparently that's a known issue that I wasn't aware of at the time of filming. Glad you figure it out 👍
I originally made USB recovery drives for my PCs but I also am going to take your advice from the video to do it your way with the two flash drives as backups. Thanks for the info.
You can also put them both on one drive, much easier!
The LAST flash drive you will ever need! Ventoy FULL walk-thru and review!
ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
I would recommend only one thing in your USB, Ventoy. And then just iso files. Ventoy can boot into any saved Iso files be it Linux or Windows. Ventoy doesn't even takes space and once you create Ventoy usb , you will never ever need anything else, except for isos
Agreed!
The LAST flash drive you will ever need! Ventoy FULL walk-thru and review!
ruclips.net/video/MIT3w-EPA9M/видео.html
I personally need two pc to store same data twice just to be safe, repair windows kinda asse to deal with, i have issues with usb drive fail me twice before, corrupted installation os or just dead, usually i need them if any security update error cause by corrupted data
The Hiren's Boot instructions seem outdated. Can you go through the instructions using rufus and explain what ISO files are and where to find them?
Take a shot of whiskey every time he says "go ahead." 🤣🤣🤣
LOL not the first time I've heard that. I guess it comes from years of slowly walking someone through a fix versus them clicking away willy-nilly and I hwve to walk them back. It's just the way I am I suppose 🤷♂️
Have had numerous windows failures over the years and finally bought a usb that I dedicated specifically to being a boot drive
I've had at least a dozen of windows pc since the late eighties, never had 1 die on me, but I do back up and reinstall when needed
Always store files to an external drive, have that drive set to backup to an encrypted private drive in the cloud. only use the main C drive for OS and other software. If you do store files on the main C drive have that folder backup to an encrypted private drive in the cloud.
That’s been my practice since I had a drive failure that cost me 2 weeks of productivity many years ago. Now, my C drive is only used for Windows OS and apps, while all files & documents are stored on D drive and mirrored to E drive. I also mirror the D drive to NAS #1, and backup to an encrypted file on NAS #2. D drive is synced to OneDrive and SharePoint, and also backs up to an encrypted third party cloud service. All hard drives are SSD’s.
@@davidrobertson797 you only have to have a major failure once to learn the value of proper storage and backups
You the man, sweet setup David!
Do you have a video about how to use all these tools? I would nt know what to do with the usb drives if I made them.
I don't have any specifically (in the works) but there are tons of videos on RUclips on how to use the Hirens tools. The MCT, you just boot to that drive (either in your BIOS or using a Fn key on your keyboard to change boot order), select the drive and follow the steps to install Windows 👍
I've made these two flash drivers years ago. I do agree, it's a must.
Thanks for sharing!
Question: If you only ever intend to use the SYSTEM IMAGE RECOVERY option of the windows installer disk do you require the Hiren's boot CD?
I have a complex setup with VMs that would take at least a month to rebuild but never changes. It is on a system with a 9-year-old hard drive. My plan is to have a windows installer USB and system image USB on hand for when the drive eventually fails. When needed I plan to use these two to restore the image of there duisk onto the new hard drive.
The Hirens is always nice to have as a "worst case" scenario. But a recovery disc would wipe the drive completely. Hirens would allow you to back up your files first. So both should be in your toolkit 👍
i have experienced a lot of Windows crashes and lost my data over and over again so i came up with an idea. when installing windows I'm dividing my SSD to 2 parts 1 for Windows and 2 for everything else ( i have a 480 gb SSD so My C: drive is where my windows is installed so I'm giving that drive 100 gb and the rest is for everything else) that way when my windows is corrupted i can freely install windows to my C: drive without losing my programs, games or important files. Hope this helps some of you.
Great idea! That's why I made this video :
How to guarantee ZERO data loss if Windows crashes
ruclips.net/video/DCQh7thkYvI/видео.html
Thanks for this, I have 3 old laptops that I'll try and bring back to life with this.
My mcafee quaranteed the hbcd iso file... is that an issue?
It's safe. It only gets flagged because of the tools inside of it. Go into your quarantine and make an exception, the file is 100% safe - I've used it for years, as have countless others 👍
MediaCat ISO is also an Top class tool to have on disk
Agreed! Got a video on Medicat coming soon! :)
It seems like a recommendation that everyone who has a PC should know, as someone who studies Computer Systems, these types of tools became an essential part, when owning a PC and providing technical maintenance to others
As an additional addition, I have always recommended having bootable Linux USBs, since it can be very useful for quick recovery of files or making backups, even Linux distributions dedicated to unlocking computers or system recovery.
As a sys admin, stop saving files locally. Save them on an external media device. MVME is here as is fast installs from USB. Quit bad habits.
Yeah I learned my lesson the hard way but I'm glad my files were saved somehow. Now I'm back having the same issue with my computer but I don't give a shit now cause I know my files are all secure 😂
What about windows 11? Do the same tools work or do I need separate ones on separate usbs/flash drives?
I've tried to google, "download hiren boot usb"' but what comes up, no matter what I do, is a download for PDF Super Hero.
I'm stuck being a bit of a windows for dummies user.
7:54 does smth similar to this repair tool containing boot iso exist based off of some linux distro too?
that would be much more trustable to me tbh.
🤷♂️
Oh man. It's amazing to see a guide about "rescue sticks" and see that in "discless" era - Hiren's Boot is still a thing, 10 years since you last time used it.
That sounds great for winds 10
But what about windows 11
Have you got a link for that to watch
Same process. Google "Windows 11 media creation tool". All the steps are the same for both 👍
By the way, I have done the two cmds - sfc /scannow - and chkdsk C: /f /r (took over 6 hours on a 2TB C: drive). So, seems to me the problem is with Microsoft not allowing smooth sailing for us to download the Media file.
Microsoft isn't keeping you from downloading the file. If your computer has drive issues, or Windows is having issues, that's the issue.
The other thing I have done with a borked Windows is to run my Linux copy. With linux running I can access my hardrives and transfer docs etc, to a DVD or USB so I dont lose my information. Its a pain but I will format my C drive and re install windows. As said you need a copy of Windows you can reinstall and no virus can take a Dban hard drive wipe, it just take time to do but when nothing else works, i do it.
I have had 3 computer's go down and two were because of a detective/damaged hard drive. Each time i simply removed the hard drive from the bad computer and snapped it in a hard drive case. Then i plugged it into the usb port on another computer and slid all my photos, videos, documents, and every other file i wanted onto the new computer. Those were the only files that were important to me. Of course now i keep them updated on several external hard drive.
👍
I have the flash drive with the original MS 365 installer disk from Microsoft. Still, my laptop computer will not start when I try to boot it with that drive.
Subbed after watching this clip.
100% worth the time and effort to learn these simple tasks.
I've been using Windows OS for 25 years. I can't understand how people "REFUSE" to do simple maintenance on their own devices.
Glad it helped!
I had a suggestion
I think for Windows 10 fresh install, we don't need to connect to the internet but for Windows 11 fresh install we need to connect to the internet.
During the fresh install there are no drivers present, so it would be great to download your wifi driver on the flash drive as you will need wifi to complete the Windows 11 installation.
Agreed
So what do you do in the event that you have a hard drive failure such as a head failure within the drive itself? In a case such as that I'm guessing that these tools would be useless?
Not necessarily. I've restored lors of personal files from failing drives using Hirens file explorer tools 👍
Just my 2c, I took a 2tb nvme ssd, put it into a enclosure with a usb plug, installed ventoy on it and now carry windows, and about 20 flavers of linux, iso's, depending on what i am working with, so basically i keep all my iso's in one place its great.
Im glad i got the windows one from when i built my pc i need to get the second 1 though
Thanks! I’ve been going to make boot USBs for years, but never have. I’ll do it this week. Will these 2 USBs work for any of my 5 Windows machines, or do I need 2 for each one? One is XP, and runs CNC machine… it’s not connected to my network.
Hello, thanks for the Window's Install CD instructions but I'm not getting the Heren's Boot thing. 77-year-old geezer here and don't feel bad if this goes ignored. I have the ISO2 USB in downloeads. I don't understand "Up at the top mid of Hiren's Screen click on download and schroll down until you see the actual file." What is the name of the actual file?
I don't recall the exact file name (and it could change at any time). If you watch the video again, I'd recommend watching it at 3/4 or 1/2 speed - follow my exact video instructions, I show you exactly where to scroll down to, and click on the place where my mouse and arrow/circle shows. That should help 👍
I use mac os as my main computer and i also have regular backups