Backing up, restoring, and recovering in Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Industry 8.1

Your computer includes tools provided by HP and Windows to help you safeguard your information and retrieve it if you ever need to. These tools will help you return your computer to a proper working state or even back to the original factory state, all with simple steps.

This section provides information about the following processes:

●Creating recovery media and backups

●Restoring and recovering your system

NOTE: This section describes an overview of backing up, restoring, and recovering options. For more details about the tools provided, see Help and Support. From the Start screen, type help, and

then select Help and Support.

Creating recovery media and backups

Recovery after a system failure is only as good as your most recent backup.

1.After you successfully set up the computer, create recovery media. This step creates a backup of the recovery partition on the computer. The backup can be used to reinstall the original operating system in cases where the hard drive is corrupted or has been replaced.

NOTE: There is no recovery partition on systems with a 32GB SSD. For those systems, you must use the recovery media in the box or that can be obtained from HP Services.

You will use a USB flash drive to create a bootable recovery drive that can be used to troubleshoot a computer that is unable to start. The USB flash drive can be used to reinstall the original operating system and the programs that were installed at the factory.

NOTE: Any information on the USB flash drive will be erased before the recovery media is created.

●To create the Windows 8.1 or Industry 8.1 recovery media, from the Start screen, type recovery drive, then click on Create a recovery drive. Follow the on-screen instructions to continue.

●To create the Windows 8 recovery media, from the Start screen, type recovery drive, and then click on Settings, then click on Create a recovery drive. Follow the on-screen instructions to continue.

2.Use the Windows tools to create system restore points and create backups of personal information. For more information and steps, see Help and Support. From the Start screen, type help, and then select Help and Support.

Restoring and recovering using Windows tools

Windows offers several options for restoring from backup, refreshing the computer, and resetting the computer to its original state. For more information and steps, see Help and Support. From the Start screen, type help, and then select Help and Support.

16 Getting Started