How can I backup Windows 7 recovery drive from Windows 8

[rwx---]

I have an HP laptop, that came pre-installed with Windows 7, but I installed Windows 8 on it. I have a Windows 7 recovery partition on the laptop, which I want to delete, but first I would like to make a backup of it, in case I need it in the future.

I know that there's a "Create recovery drive" in Windows 8.1, however the "copy recovery partition" is grayed out, probably because the recovery contains Windows 7 and not Windows 8. There's also a software from HP to copy recovery drive, but when I try to open it, it says that it's compatible with Windows 7, and not 8.

So is there any other way to copy recovery drive to a USB drive?

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

I'm afraid you're stuffed. You should have created the set of recovery discs before you installed Windows 8 in place of Windows 7. In fact you should have created them within the first week of buying your laptop, have you never heard of hard drive failure?

Contact HP, they may be able to send you a set of recovery discs for the original OS, depending on the age of your particular model.

 

[ArtPog]

See http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph07143

For future reference...
It would have been a good idea that just before you installed a new OS on your PC you cloned the entire old system using a disk-cloning program. Yes, you would have needed a HDD to store the cloned contents of the old system and a USB external enclosure to house the HDD, but look what you would have had - a bit-for-bit copy of your entire system that you could easily resurrect in the future should you decide to do so.

I mention that now because it's something you should absolutely consider with your new Win 8.1 system. Don't depend on any "recovery" partition; don't depend on any "system restore" feature; don't depend on any "Windows backup" system. Clone your system so that you have at hand a comprehensive backup of your ENTIRE system - OS, programs, personal data, audio/visual files, etc., etc. And from time to time update your clone so that you always have a reasonably up-to-date complete backup of your system. You'll never regret doing so.

 

[rwx---]

See http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph07143

For future reference...
It would have been a good idea that just before you installed a new OS on your PC you cloned the entire old system using a disk-cloning program. Yes, you would have needed a HDD to store the cloned contents of the old system and a USB external enclosure to house the HDD, but look what you would have had - a bit-for-bit copy of your entire system that you could easily resurrect in the future should you decide to do so.

I mention that now because it's something you should absolutely consider with your new Win 8.1 system. Don't depend on any "recovery" partition; don't depend on any "system restore" feature; don't depend on any "Windows backup" system. Clone your system so that you have at hand a comprehensive backup of your ENTIRE system - OS, programs, personal data, audio/visual files, etc., etc. And from time to time update your clone so that you always have a reasonably up-to-date complete backup of your system. You'll never regret doing so.

So if I cloned my disk right now, would that kind of be the solution to my problem? Since I would also have the clone of the recovery drive. Furthermore, would it be possible to only clone the recovery partition?

 

[ArtPog]

Cloning your current system would provide you with a complete comprehensive backup of your system - including EVERYTHING that's on the drive you're cloning - your OS, all your programs & personal data, your "Recovery" partition - EVERYTHING. What better backup can you have?

Now if you want to clone ONLY your Recovery partition you can also do that. Frankly I don't see the point of it if you clone your entire system (since the Recovery partition would have also been cloned), but if for some reason you desire a separate clone of the Recovery partition you can have it.

 

[joelsivi]

You should have created the set of recovery discs before you installed Windows 8 in place of Windows 7. In fact you should have created them within the first week of buying your laptop.