Forum Discussion
Windows 7 Optical Image Recovery Discs DON'T WORK!
Using that utility on Windows 10 on my computer to create an image immediately after everything was installed went okay. Then, after upgrading for free to Windows 11, I did the same thing. Later, when the system was screwed, I tried using the Windows 10 image, which was completely ignored by the system despite boot order specifications in BIOS, so I tried the Windows 11 recovery disc with the same non-result: BIOS ignored the disc. It said, with the optical disc in the drive THAT HAD BEEN SPECIFIED TO LOAD BEFORE THE OS DISC, "just press a key to boot from the disc," and then it just went ahead and load he corrupt operating system that was basically non-functional. It did NOT load the recovery disc image and write it to the assigned drive.
3 Replies
The situation you're describing—where the recovery disc or USB drive boots, asks you to "press any key," but then ignores you and tries to load the broken OS—is a classic symptom of a much deeper issue with how Windows handles its own backups. Based on what you've shared, the problem isn't your BIOS settings, but likely a conflict with the new Windows 11 boot manager and the old Windows 10 backup structure.
Ensure the boot order is set correctly, with the optical drive or USB device listed before the internal drive. Disable Secure Boot temporarily, as it can prevent booting from some recovery media. Enable Legacy Boot Mode if you're using older bootable media; if you're using UEFI, ensure Secure Boot is disabled instead.
Based on your description and the available information, the most likely explanation is that the bootable disc itself is not actually bootable, despite you creating it through Windows' own tools. According to Microsoft Q&A discussions, a known issue exists where system repair discs created in Windows 11 are no longer properly bootable because a critical file has been left out of the boot sector during the disc creation process . Older discs created in Windows 10 still work fine, but newer Windows 11-generated discs will show the "press any key" prompt and then do nothing—exactly what you're experiencing.
