Getting the blue screen of death when starting your Windows can be scary, to say the least. And not being able to get it running again can be incredibly stressful. So here is how to create a disaster recovery plan for your Windows computer.

Getting your computer back running after a disaster can be a nightmare. But with a bit of work, you can be prepared. You can create a good disaster recovery plan using the built-in programs inside of Windows, a couple of external drives, and a little information. Let's look at what you need and how to use it for your disaster recovery plan.

Hardware

External USB drive: You will need an external USB drive with at least the same amount of space as the drive in the computer you want to back up. So if your computer has a 1TB drive, you should get a 1TB or larger drive. This drive will also need to be dedicated to use only for backups.

There are two (2) types of external drives: Portable and Desktop.

• Portable drives work well if you have a laptop and work from different locations, but they tend to be a little slower since they get their power from the USB port.
• Desktop drives work great but use a power adapter, so you will have to consider the DC adapter's size and orientation if you use a power strip.

USB flash drive or blank DVD: You will need to create a device that you can boot your computer up on to recover your computer. This can be a recovery drive (USB flash drive), system repair disk (DVD), or installation media (USB flash drive or DVD). The capacity of the USB flash drive required varies from installation media (8GB) to a recovery drive (16GB).

USB flash drive: For additional drivers when required (see below)

Software

Windows Backup: The backup program built into Windows.

Drivers: Some systems may require special drivers that are not included with Windows (see below).

Important information

BitLocker recovery key: Most people do not know if their computer's drive is encrypted with BitLocker. The easiest way to find out if any of your drives are encrypted is by checking their properties in File Explorer.

1. Open File Explorer using one of the following:
1. Left-click on the File Explorer icon (manilla folder) on the Taskbar.
2. Press the Windows logo key + E at the same time.
3. Use the Power User menu by right-clicking on the Start button and selecting File Explorer.
2. In the left-side column, left-click on This PC.
3. In the right-side column, check the icons for the drives. Drives that are encrypted should have a little padlock in the icon.

If your drive is encrypted, use the following link to log in to your Microsoft account and find your recovery key. If another person set up your computer, they might have the recovery key inside their Microsoft account. Once you get the BitLocker recovery key, print it out or write it down for future use.

Locate my BitLocker recovery key

Set up

Once you have all of the drives, you can go ahead and get everything set up. The first step is to create the boot media. This is the USB drive or DVD disk that you will use to boot up your computer if it cannot successfully boot on its own.

Boot drive

Recovery drive: Recovery drives are the most straightforward boot media to create and use. Make sure that you use a 16GB or larger USB drive and follow the steps outlined in the link below.

How to create a recovery drive in Windows 10 and Windows 11

System repair disk: Creating a system repair disk is pretty simple and can be made inside Windows Backup. Just follow the Windows Backup instructions below to open up the program. When it opens, left-click on the Create a system repair disk link in the left-hand column. And make sure that your blank DVD disk is loaded inside of your DVD burner before you click on it.

Windows installation media: Microsoft has a really cool app for creating installation media called, aptly, Windows Media Creation Tool (WMCT). All you have to do is download the program, and run it and WMCT will see the version of Windows you have and automatically select it. You can have WMCT create a bootable USB drive (8GB or larger) or an ISO image that you can write to a blank DVD.

Note: The size of the ISO files may exceed the size limit of a single-layer DVD disk (4.7GB) and may require using a dual-layer DVD disk. Use the following links to download the WMCT for your version of Windows.

Windows Media Creation Tool for Windows 10

Windows Media Creation Tool for Windows 11

Drivers

Some newer computers may require a system-specific driver for Windows to read and write to the drive installed in your computer. Case in point, 10th and 11th-generation Intel processors require Intel's Rapid Storage Technology Driver to be loaded before the Windows installer will 'see' a connected drive.

If you have an Intel 10th or 11th generation processor in your computer, do a Google search for the Make / Model of your computer and Rapid Storage Technology Driver. Once you find the driver package, you will need to extract the contents to a folder on your computer.

In the extracted files, you should find a folder labeled F6. Copy this folder to the second USB flash drive and put it away for safekeeping. You may or may not need it, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Windows Backup

Windows has a decent backup program built in called Windows Backup. Many people get worried when they see the program's name in the Control Panel is Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Not to worry, it is just a name; the program works extremely well on Windows 10 or Windows 11.

Now when setting up Windows Backup, you want to select Let Windows choose (recommended). This option will back up everything on your computer; Windows, all installed programs, and your files. Most importantly, it creates a system image that can be used to recover your computer. As long as the capacity of the external drive you purchased explicitly for Windows Backup is larger than the capacity of your internal drive, you should be good.

Next, you have to decide how often to have Windows Backup run. At this point, you have to ask yourself, "If my computer were to crash today, how far back in time would I want to recover my computer from?". When you think about it, nightly does work best. The default Windows Backup schedule is every Sunday at 7:00 PM, but you can change it by clicking on Change schedule.

Click on the link below for your version of Windows to learn how to set up Windows Backup.

Backup your files with File History and Windows Backup in Windows 10

How to backup your Windows 11 computer using Windows Backup and File History

Does your computer go to sleep too fast? Do you want to change what the power button does on your laptop? If so, here is how to manage the power settings inside Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Did you know that Windows has different default power schemes for laptop and desktop computers?

Only a few people do. If fact, if you own a laptop running Windows 10 or 11, pressing the power button, by default, does not turn it off but puts it to sleep,

But you can change all of that with a few simple mouse clicks. You can make it so that your display never turns off and your system never goes to sleep. And, of course, you can tweak the power settings for wifi adapters, USB devices, and batteries (laptops).

Now there are two (2) places in Windows 10 and Windows 11 you can change power settings: the Settings app and the Control Panel. The Power and sleep category inside the Settings app is basic but straightforward. But the Power Options in the Control Panel have more advanced features.

How to get to Power and sleep in the Settings app

Windows 11 only

1. Left-clicking on the Start button to bring up the Start menu.
2. In the list of pinned apps on the Start menu, left-click on Settings.
3. In the right-hand column, left-click on Power.
4. In the Power category, left-click on Screen and sleep.

Windows 10 only

1. Left-click on the Start menu and select Settings (the gear icon).
2. Left-click on System.
3. In the left column, left-click on Power and sleep.

Windows 10 or 11

1. Right-click on the Start button to bring up the Power User menu.
2. In the list of programs that appear, left-click on Power options.
3. Windows 11 only: Left-click on Screen and sleep.

When you get there, you will find only two (2) settings (two (2) sets on laptop computers (plugged in & battery)) that can be changed: When the screen turns off and when the computer goes to sleep.

Relatively simple and straight to the point. But if you want more options, including changing what happens when you press the power button or closing the lid of your laptop, you will need to use the Power Options inside the Control Panel.

How to get to the Power Options inside the Control Panel

Windows 11

1. Left-click on the Start button to bring up the Start menu.
2. In the upper right-hand corner of the Start menu, left-click on All apps.
3. Scroll down the list of programs and left-click on Windows Tools.
4. Double left-click on Control Panel.

Windows 10

1. Left-click on the Start button to bring up the Start menu.
2. Scroll down the list of programs until you get to Windows System, and then left-click on it to expand it.
3. Left-click on Control Panel.

By default, the Control Panel opens up in the category view but can be changed to large or small icons. There is a pull-down menu in the top-right corner labeled View by: that allows you to change the view.

• If viewing the Control Panel by Category, left-click on Hardware and Sound, then Power Options.
• If viewing by Large/Small Icons, left-click Power Options.

Once you have the Power Options open, you will find several options in the left-hand column:

• Choose what the power button does
• Choose what closing the lid does (laptops only)
• Create a power plan
• Choose when to turn off the display
• Change when the computer sleeps

If you click on Choose what the power button does or Choose what closing the lid does (laptops only), you will bring up the System Settings. If you click on Create a power plan, you can create a power plan that suits your computing style. And if you click on either Choose when to turn off the display or Change when the computer sleeps, it allows you to edit the current power plan.

Now, if you really want to manage the power of your computer, create a power plan. Once you have made your custom power plan, you can edit the advanced options by selecting Change plan settings, then Change advanced power settings. This will bring up every possible power setting available for the components inside your computer, from hard disk and USB settings to display and multimedia.

Do you travel with your Windows 11 computer and like to have it know where you are located? Did you know that Windows 11 has a location service built into it? If so, here is how to use location services inside Windows 11.

If you have used Windows 11 for any amount of time, you are familiar with the nagging pop-ups that appear asking if you want to allow an app to access your location. Yeah, it can be a pain, but it can also be a blessing, especially if you are looking for location-specific information, like news, weather, and shopping.

With the Windows 11 location service, you can have Windows 11 automatically find where your location by using several different pieces of information, including GPS (Global Positioning Service), WiFi access points, cell towers, and your IP address.

And if you are planning a trip, you can manually set your location, and Windows 11 will use that location for the location service. It comes in handy when looking for restaurants, movie theaters, and other attractions in another place.

How to access the location services inside of Windows 11

1. Bring up the Settings app by:
• Left-clicking on the Start button to bring up the Start menu.
• In the list of pinned apps on the Start menu, left-click on Settings.
or
• Right-click on the Start button to bring up the Power User menu.
• In the list of programs that appear, left-click on Settings.
or
• Press the Windows logo key + I
2. Scroll down the left-hand column and left-click on Privacy & security.
3. Scroll down the right-hand column and left-click on Location under App permissions.

Windows 11 location services options

There are several options listed under Location, so let's start at the top and work our way down.

Location services: This switch turns the location services on or off. If it is turned off, the Let apps access your location option will be grayed out. This option does not affect the Default location option.

Let app access your location: Once location services are turned on, you can turn on this option and expand the list of apps built into Windows 11 that you can allow or deny access to your location. At the bottom of the app list is the Let desktop apps access your location switch. Since web browsers fall under the desktop app category, you should enable this switch.

Default location: This is where you can manually set your location to any place you can find on a map. This option does not require location services to be enabled. In fact, if you turn off location services and set your default location, all desktop programs will use it. A great way to research what to do and where to go in different areas.

Location history: This is where you can clear out all of the locations that the service has stored.

Allow location override: This option allows programs to override the location on your device. This can be helpful for remote access programs like Remote Desktop.

Recent activity: This is where you can view which programs have requested your location in the last week.

Are you thinking about upgrading your computer from Windows 10 to Windows 11? Does your computer meet the Windows 11 hardware requirements? If you answered yes to both questions, consider performing a manual in-place upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Upgrading Windows has never been a really popular undertaking, but rather a chore that we put off as long as we can. In the corporate IT world, you usually do not deploy a new operating system until the second version is released.

The reasoning behind waiting for the second version is that all of the major bugs should be worked out by then. And it also gives software developers more time to perfect their software for Windows 11.

With the release of Windows 11 22H2, we now have the second version of Windows 11, which should be ready for the corporate environment. And if it is good enough for corporate, it should be good enough for you and me.

Microsoft recommends using Windows Update to perform the upgrade, but some people like myself want to decide when it will happen. I don't particularly appreciate getting an alert from Windows Update about an update waiting to be installed, only to find out that it is to Windows 11 (it has happened twice to me now).

When I started working with computers, upgrading your version of Windows was an all-day ordeal. Insert the floppy disk, read the floppy disk, eject the floppy disk, and repeat until complete. I still have the thirteen (13) floppy disks for upgrading to Windows 95.

Yes, in the past, upgrading the versions of Windows has been tedious. At least the process has gotten a little easier, but the steps to getting there are still the same. I still follow the same procedures upgrading Windows now as I did years ago; check for hardware compatibility, backup the drive that contains Windows, clean up Windows, check the Windows drive for errors, and then upgrade.

Since Windows 11 was built on the code of Windows 10, all of the programs you have currently installed in Windows 10 should work perfectly fine in Windows 11. But remember that there may be apps presently installed that you would not be able to reinstall on Windows 11, Quickbooks 2021, and earlier versions, for example.

Consider taking note of a few things that have changed in Windows 11 before upgrading. If you use pinned apps/websites or tablet mode, these features have been removed from Windows 11.

Check for hardware compatibility

The minimum hardware requirements for Windows 10 and Windows 11 are similar but do have differences. The significant hardware requirement for Windows 11 is TPM (Trusted Platform Module) version 2.0. If your computer was manufactured between 2018 and now, it probably has TPM 2.0 and may need to be enabled. Motherboard manufacturers disabled this feature by default before the release of Windows 11.

Since then, manufacturers now enable TPM by default. If your computer fails the PC Health Check (link below), and is only a couple of years old, check with the manufacturer of your system/motherboard on how to enable the TPM, as each platform uses a different name for TPM (Intel has PTT, AMD has fTPM) .

Also, if your computer has less than 4 GB of memory or is running a 32-bit version of Windows 10, you will not be able to upgrade to Windows 11. A good rule of thumb is that any computer built before 2018 will not be compatible with Windows 11.

To be on the safe side, Microsoft has a tool called PC Health Check that you can use to check Windows 11 compatibility. Once you verify compatibility, you can proceed to the next step.

PC Health Check

Backup your Windows 10 drive

As I said before, the upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is pretty simple, but you never know what can happen. So as the old saying goes, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," so backing up the drive where Windows 10 is installed is suggested but not required.

Backup your files with File History and Windows Backup in Windows 10

Clean up Windows 10

A little general cleaning is highly recommended to help to ensure nothing goes wrong with the upgrade and to facilitate a faster upgrade process. Clearing out temp files, Internet caches, and Windows Update can also free up some disk space.

Clean up your Windows 10 computer using the Storage feature

Clean up Windows 10 with Disk Cleanup

Check your Windows 10 drive for errors

A quick check of the disk with Windows installed on it is recommended to ensure the upgrade goes without any problems. It is better to find any errors now instead of during the upgrade. Remember, taking a few minutes now to check the drive can save you from having to use the backup you created earlier.

How to check your drive for errors in Windows 10

Upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11

Microsoft currently has two (2) ways to upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11 manually; the Installation Assistant or installation media. The Installation Assistant is the easiest way to go, but the complete instructions on using both methods are on the Windows 11 download page.

Download Windows 11

Did you get a new computer and want to get rid of your old Windows 11 system? Or you may want to refresh your existing version of Windows 11 and do not want to lose all of your files. If so, it may be time to reset Windows 11, and here is how to do it.

In previous articles, we have shown you How to perform a repair upgrade of Windows 11 and How to perform a clean installation of Windows 11. Resetting Windows 11 falls somewhere between them; you want a fresh version of Windows but want to keep all your files.

Resetting Windows 11 is similar to a clean installation, where you get a fresh version of Windows 11 reinstalled. The only difference is that your user profile stays in place if you save your files. If you choose to delete everything, Windows 11 will be reset as if you had just pulled it out of the box. Remember that there are only two (2) options when it comes to Reset this PC:

• You can keep your files and delete all the apps. This option reinstalls Windows 11 and retains your user profile.
• You can delete all of your files and all of the apps. This option reinstalls Windows 11 and returns your computer to an out-of-the-box state.

One of the best features of resetting Windows 11 and removing all files and apps is that you can have Windows securely erase all of the data and apps before reinstalling Windows. It works great if you are getting rid of your Windows 11 computer.

Now the first thing I recommend before resetting Windows 11 is that you have a complete (bare metal) backup of your computer to be safe. Of course, if you are not going to keep your computer, you do not need a backup.

How to backup your Windows 11 computer using Windows Backup and File History

The second thing to do is find out if your drive(s) are encrypted with BitLocker drive encryption. To find out if your drive(s) are BitLocker encrypted:

1. Press the Windows logo key + S to bring up Search.
2. Type in bitlocker and left-click on Manage BitLocker / Control Panel under Best match.

If your drive is encrypted with BitLocker, you have two (2) choices; You can turn off Bitlocker, which will decrypt your drive and take some time to perform, or locate and document (write or print it out) the BitLocker recovery key.

Where to look for your BitLocker recovery key

Now, if you are getting rid of your computer, you should turn off BitLocker before resetting Windows 11. The reason is that the BitLocker recovery key is typically tied to your Microsoft account.

When all is said and done, and your computer is gone, you will want to remove that device from your Microsoft account. When you remove that device, if the drive(s) in that computer are still encrypted with BitLocker, the BitLocker recovery key will also be removed.

Once you have BitLocker taken care of, it is time to start the reset. Now there are two (2) ways of going about resetting Windows 11, when logged into Windows 11 and using the System app, or when logged out and using the Advanced Boot Options.

How to get to Reset this PC when logged in to Windows 11

1. Left-click on the Start button to bring up the Start menu.
2. In the upper right-hand corner of the Start menu, left-click on All apps.
3. Scroll down the list of programs and left-click on Settings.
4. Left-click on the System category in the left-hand column.
5. Scroll down the right-hand column and left-click on Recovery.
6. Under Reset this PC, left-click on Reset PC.

How to get to Reset this PC when logged out of Windows 11

1. At the login screen, left-click on the Power icon in the lower right-hand corner. This will bring up the power options.
2. Hold down the shift key while you left-click on Restart.
3. When the Advanced Boot Options appears, left-click on Troubleshoot.
4. On the Troubleshoot screen, left-click on Reset this PC

How to use Reset this PC

1. Reset this PC opens to the Choose an option screen. The two (2) options are: Keep my files or Remove everything. Whichever you choose, you will have the ability to change the advanced settings for each.
2. The How would you like to reinstall Windows? screen appears next. You can choose to download a new copy of Windows 11 (Cloud download) or use the local copy (Local reinstall).
3. Next, the Additional settings screen appears.
   • If you choose Keep my files, you will see how Windows 11 will be reinstalled. When you click on Change settings, you can change whether to download Windows or reinstall from your device.
   • If you choose Remove everything, you will see how Windows 11 will be reinstalled. When you click Change settings, you can change whether to quick or secure erase data, delete files from all drives or only the Windows drive, and whether to download Windows or reinstall from your device.
4. The Ready to reset this PC screen appears with a list of all the changes that will take place. This is your last chance to cancel the reset. When you are ready, click Reset, and the reset process begins. Depending on the options you choose, the reset can take a few minutes to a few hours, and your computer will automatically restart.