Just under a year ago I bought a Dell Inspiron 5548 laptop, running Windows 8.1. I was prompted by Dell Backup and Recovery to create Factory Backup/Reinstall disks, which I did.
Recently I think Windows must have registered a click on something that wasn’t visible on screen, because as I was trying to shut my laptop down, it began installing Windows 10.
I am now getting prompts that I should create Windows 10 recovery media, but my options aren’t clear.
I found http://www.dell.com/support/Article/us/en/19/SLN297924/EN which states “This Article Provides Information on how to Create a Recovery Drive or Disc for Your Dell Factory Image.”, but I can only find instructions for creating a recovery 16GB USB Flash Drive. This would be much more expensive than using DVDs, less convenient to label and store, and at risk of carelessly overwriting the data.
I have also read “If you want to recover your current version of Windows … please update to the Premium Edition of Dell Backup and Recovery.” But when I tried to search for more information about Dell Backup and Recovery Premium Edition, it seemed I would have to pay for it. I don’t want to do that; I’ve already paid once for a copy of Windows, and I will back up other files by other means.
Can I create a recovery disk for Windows 10 on my laptop with a free edition of Dell Backup and Recovery, and if so, can I create it on DVDs rather than a USB drive?
Are my Windows 8.1 recovery disks still likely to work now my laptop has upgraded itself to Windows 10?
If Windows 10 fails, and I am able to recover my laptop to Windows 8.1, is it likely that the option of upgrading free to Windows 10 will remain indefinitely?
With thanks for any advice,
Chris Newman