Creating bootable recovery media

Requirements

The requirements for creating a bootable recovery drive are:

• USB drive (8GB or larger)
• Rufus software (version 3.0 or later)
• BMR ISO (download from the restore page of the portal)

Steps using Rufus

IMPORTANT  The boot mode you choose when creating the USB drive will determine the boot mode of the recovered system.
Make sure to match the intended boot mode of your target system.

These are the steps for creating a bootable drive using Rufus:

1. Download and install Rufus from https://rufus.ie.

2. Insert your USB drive.

3. Launch Rufus (or similar tool) and configure the following settings:

   • Device: Select your USB drive
   • Boot selection: Choose the BMR ISO file
   • Partition scheme:
     • For UEFI systems: Select "GPT".
     • For Legacy BIOS systems: Select "MBR".
   • Target system:
     • For UEFI: Select "UEFI (non CSM)".
     • For BIOS: Select "BIOS (or UEFI-CSM).

4. Click START and wait for the process to complete.

Boot mode considerations

UEFI mode

Consider the following when using UEFI mode:

• Modern boot mode using GUID Partition Table (GPT)
• Supports drives larger than 2TB
• Required for Windows 11
• Creates EFI System Partition (ESP) during recovery

Legacy BIOS mode

Consider the following when using BIOS mode:

• Traditional boot mode using Master Boot Record (MBR)
• Limited to drives under 2TB
• Compatible with older systems
• Creates active primary partition during recovery

NOTE  You cannot switch between UEFI and Legacy BIOS modes during recovery.
The recovered system will use the same boot mode as the recovery environment.

See also: Troubleshooting boot issues