Everything You Need to Know About Creating Custom Recovery Images
for Windows 8
By default, Windows 8′s Refresh or Reset your PC feature restores Windows to its initial
state. However, you can also create custom recovery images containing your favorite
programs and system settings.
This feature also allows you to remove the bloatware that comes with a new PC from the
recovery image. After you use Refresh or Reset, you’ll find your favorite programs
installed, system settings tweaked, and bloatware banished.
Everything You Need to Know About Refreshing and Resetting Your Windows 8 PC
Windows users regularly reinstall Windows (or restore from a recovery partition) to fix system problems.
Windows 8 includes easier-to-use “Refresh”... [Read Article]
When you use the Refresh or Reset Your PC feature, Windows copies the contents of a
recovery image onto your hard drive, replacing your current system files and programs
with the the contents of the recovery image. All your desktop programs and other
customizations will be lost. If you used the Refresh feature, your personal files and
Modern apps will be preserved. If you used the Reset feature, all your personal files and
Modern apps will be lost.
This recovery image normally contains the system’s initial state. If you install Windows 8
yourself, it will be a clean Windows 8 system. If you purchased a Windows 8 PC, it will
include any helpful tools or horrible bloatware the manufacturer included.
The recimg command included with Windows 8 allows you to replace the recovery image
with your own system image. This means that you could install your own favorite desktop
programs or remove the manufacturer-provided bloatware you don’t like. When you use
the Reset or Refresh feature, your PC will go back to the state you chose.
First Thing’s First: Set Up Your PC
If you’ve been using Windows 8 for a while, you probably don’t want to create a custom
recovery image now. You should create a custom recovery image immediately after
setting up your computer the way you want it so it’s clean and customized.
RELATED ARTICLE
How Computer Manufacturers Are Paid to Make Your Laptop Worse
A laptop is a marvel of engineering. So much work goes into designing and manufacturing all the individual
pieces of... [Read Article]
After getting a new computer, installing Windows 8, or just resetting your PC to its original
state, set up the PC how you’d like it. Uninstall the bloatware you don’t like, install your
favorite software, and change any system settings you always change. After your system
is in your preferred state, you can create a custom recovery image to save that state.
Note that your Modern apps, user files, and user settings will not be preserved in the
recovery image, so don’t worry about those. Only your installed desktop programs,
system files, and system settings will be preserved.
Create a Custom Image With RecImg
You’ll need to run recimg from an elevated Command Prompt. To open one, type
Command Prompt at your Start screen, right-click the Command Prompt shortcut, and
select Run as Administrator. You can also press Windows Key + X and select Command
Prompt (Admin).
Run the following command to create a new recovery image. You can place the custom
image in any folder or give it any name you like, so feel free to change the
“C:\CustomRefreshImages\Image1″ part of the command.
recimg /CreateImage C:\CustomRefreshImages\Image1
This command creates a custom refresh image from the current system state and sets it
as the default. When you refresh or reset your PC in the future, your custom image will be
used. If this is all you wanted to do, you can stop now.
Create and Switch Between Multiple Images
Windows 8 allows you to have more than one image. In the future, you can run the
command again to create a new image. For example, the following command would create
another refresh image known as Image2 and set is as the default image:
recimg /CreateImage C:\CustomRefreshImages\Image2
If you wanted to use Image1 as your default image afterwards, you could use the
following command to set your default refresh image;
recimg /SetCurrent C:\CustomRefreshImages\Image1
The following command will show you what your default refresh image is at any given
time:
recimg /ShowCurrent
Revert to the Original System Image
After you’re done messing around with custom recovery images, you may want to revert
to the original refresh image included with your PC. To do so, just run the following
command:
recimg /deregister
This command deregisters the current recovery image. If your PC includes a recovery
image provided by its manufacturer, Windows 8 will use that custom image when
resetting or refreshing your PC. If there is no system image, Windows will ask for your
Windows 8 installation media (a USB drive or DVD) when resetting or refreshing your PC.
Either way, you’ll end up with your original system instead of a customized state.
Windows will also fall back to the original recovery image if your custom image is no
longer present.
Use a Third-Party GUI
RELATED ARTICLE
Beginner Geek: How to Reinstall Windows on Your Computer
Reinstalling Windows is one of the easiest ways to fix software problems on your computer, whether it’s
running slow or... [Read Article]
Microsoft hasn’t provided a graphical interface for the recimg command. It may seem a bit
weird that Microsoft is omitting graphical interfaces for important new features, but it isn’t
too surprising when you think about it. Recimg is intended for system administrators and
geeks, not for average Windows users. An average user might mess up their system and
install malware on it before running recimg. At this point, they wouldn’t be able to use the
Refresh or Reset Your PC features to return to a clean system state — they’d have
to reinstall Windows from scratch.
If you do want a graphical interface, you’ll have to use a third-party tool. The free
RecImgManager provides a graphical backup and restore interface that allows you to
select between multiple images. It uses the underlying recimg tool to provide this backup
functionality.
Recimg is a powerful tool, but it should be used carefully. Only create backups when your
system is in a clean state. If you end up with a custom recovery image you don’t want to
restore from, you may need Windows installation media to get your PC back to a clean,
default state.
Chris Hoffman is a technology writer and all-around computer geek. He's as at home using the Linux terminal as he is
digging into the Windows registry. Connect with him on Google+.
Published 07/18/13