Emergency boot media can save your data

In the early days of the personal computer (PC for short), startup problems and system crashes were part of everyday life for most users. Today, all operating systems are much more stable. Developers have integrated a range of measures that can repair operating systems if problems occur. Still, your computer may occasionally fail to start properly. External boot media helps you stay prepared.

Possible reasons for a boot failure

During startup, your computer runs a series of programs and scripts that help the system check its integrity. It also performs minor maintenance tasks. If the system detects problems, it lets you know with relevant notices and instructions. 

For this to work, the part of the operating system that handles these tasks must function without errors. If it does not, your computer will not start at all. Possible reasons include:

• A hardware defect in your computer. For example, the area of the hard drive where the operating system is stored may not be readable. 
• Unusual circumstances, such as a sudden power outage while the computer was running, damaged an important system file. 
• The system may be infected with malware that prevents it from starting.

In an emergency, insert the boot media as follows:

• To use the recovery CD or USB flash drive, the computer must at least still respond when you turn it on. If the fans remain silent after you press the power button and the LEDs do not respond either, the computer has a major hardware failure. In this case, you need a technician.
• Insert the recovery CD into the drive or plug the USB flash drive into the appropriate port on the computer. Then turn it off, wait a few seconds, and turn the device back on.
• You should now see the recovery operating system start on the screen. Depending on the problem and the task at hand, you can now begin the recovery process. 

So Windows can start again

If your Windows PC no longer starts up, you need external bootable media containing the operating system. There are two ways to create the bootable media:

• Open "Control Panel" and enter "Recovery" in the small search box.
• In the search results, click "Create a recovery drive."
• This starts a wizard that guides you through the next steps.
• In the first step, leave "Back up system files to the recovery drive" turned on. This step is necessary so you can also reinstall Windows from the drive. 
• Connect a USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of storage. It will be reformatted as a recovery drive. Any data previously stored on it will be lost. 
• The recovery system is now being assembled, which may take some time.

The recovery drive lets you reinstall Windows. It also includes all the repair tools found on an original DVD.

Alternatively, you can obtain a disk directly from Microsoft. This version of Windows is intended to rescue a system. However, it is not intended for setting up a new PC with Windows at a particularly low cost.

• Visit the Microsoft website .
• Download the „Media Creation Tool“ there and run it.
• The program files are downloaded from the internet and saved to the USB drive.

Emergency media for other situations

Depending on the reason for the issue, using alternative boot media may be helpful. Many antivirus software providers offer rescue systems like these, which are primarily designed to scan for and remove malware.

However, these emergency tools are not suitable for repairing or reinstalling Windows! Depending on the included tools, you can use these systems to

• start the system,
• check the hard drive for damage and possibly repair it,
• scan the computer for viruses, Trojans, or ransomware and remove them, or recover files that were intentionally or accidentally deleted. 

You can download rescue media free of charge from the manufacturers' websites, for example from Norton or Kaspersky .