Create Windows Server 2012 Recovery Disk for Disaster Recovery

What Is Windows Server 2012 Recovery Disk?

Windows Server recovery disk, also known as Windows Server 2012 repair disk, is a recovery tool that can troubleshoot your server computer in trouble. And it can be any bootable media (eg: USB flash drive, CD/DVD, a floppy drive).

In general, if there is an installation disc coming with your computer, you can use it as a recovery disk. If not or you lose it, you can download Windows Server 2012 recovery disk ISO file from Microsoft store and burn Window Server ISO to USB drive or CD/DVD. 

Why Create Windows Server 2012 Repair Disk?

You may need to create Windows Server 2012 repair disk, and here are three main causes below:

• Life cycle ends on October 9, 2023. Learn more in Windows Server 2012 end of life.
• Potential computer failure, such as system crash, hard drive failure, virus attack, etc., causing your computer unbootable.
• You lose the original installation CD for Windows Server 2012.
• In addition, Microsoft and most computer manufacturers no longer offer installation disc for disaster recovery.

All in all, it is essential to create Windows Server 2012 repair disk and repair your computer step by step. 

AOMEI Backupper

Considering that Windows Server 2012 has reached the end of its lifespan, it's better to try the versatile bootable media creator - AOMEI Backupper Professional below. You can use it on different servers, even for bare metal recovery.

Download Pro Trial
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

Create Windows Server 2012 Recovery Disk with ISO Image File

Here you will use Windows 7 USB DVD download tool, which also works perfectly for Windows Server 2012 largely, because the installation system used by Windows hasn't really changed since Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Step 1. Perform Windows Server 2012 recovery disk ISO download and open it. 

Step 2. Click "Browse" to find the downloaded ISO file.

Step 3. Select USB device as media type and click "Next" .

Step 4. Plug the USB drive into your computer and select it, then click Begin Copying. Then, this tool will format your USB device first, copy ISO files to your USB device and make it bootable.

When the copying process ends, you will have a Windows Server 2012 recovery disk. Please remember to check if the content of the recovery disk is the same as the downloaded ISO file. 

Restore Windows Server 2012 Step by Step

After creating Windows Server 2012 recovery USB, you can try to restore system image from it. 

Step 1. Plug your Installation Disc or recovery USB into the optical drive. Then, connect the drive containing backup image to your computer and make sure it can be detected.

Step 2. Set boot priority for installation disc or recovery USB and make Windows server 2012 boot to system recovery options.

Step 3. In the Windows Server 2012 recovery mode, set the language and other preferences. Then, click Repair your computer > Troubleshoot >System Image Recovery.

Step 4. Select the operating system - Windows Server 2012.

Step 5. At the Re-image your computer screen, select the image created by Windows Server Backup. Then, click Next and follow the instructions until the last step.

Notes:
① To reinstall Windows Server 2012(R2) without losing data, you need to backup important files or folders in advance.
②You can also perform Windows Server 2012 restore system state to repair your computer if your computer can still boot.

Easier Way to Create Windows Server 2012 Recovery Disk 

Here you will use the versatile bootable USB media creator - AOMEI Backupper Server to create a Windows Server 2012 recovery disk. Its Create Bootable Media feature helps a lot and you can enjoy the following highlights as well:

• Versatile operating system: Support almost all the Windows operating systems, such as  Windows Server 2012R2, 2016, 2019, 2022 as well as Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11, etc.
• 3 media types: USB, CD/DVD and ISO file.
• Boot mode:  The created media boot from both legacy BIOS and UEFI.
• Useful backup and restore software: It is capable of backing up system or disk automatically and use it to restore Windows Server 2012, even for dissimilar hardware restore.

In advanced editions, such as AOMEI Backupper TechPlus edition, you still enjoy the easiest disaster recovery tool - AOMEI Image Deploy, which helps you boot multiple computers over network and restore system image to get them back quickly.

Step 1.  Download AOMEI Backupper Server, install and launch it. Then, click Tools > Create Bootable Media in order.

Step 2. Select Windows PE - Create bootable disc based Windows PE (Suggested). The Windows PE-based bootable media can use all functions of AOMEI Backupper Server while Linux based bootable media only supports basic functions.

Step 3. Select bootable media among CD/DVD, USB Boot Device, Expert ISO file, and click "Next" to start the task.

🔗Besides, here are another two ways to boot your computer.
① Boot from AOMEI PXE tool.
② Boot into Windows 10 recovery environment (you need to add an entry to AOMEI Backupper recovery environment first).

Steps to Restore Server 2012 from Backup Image 

Step 1. Connect the storage media to your computer and be sure it can be detected. Boot your computer from Windows Server 2012 recovery disk, and click Restore and Select Image File to find the backup image.

Step 2. Tick Restore this system backup and click Next. By default, the backup image in the Restore list is the latest one, but if you create multiple schedule, you can choose previous backup (full/incremental/differential) to restore. 

Step 3. Preview your source partition and destination partition, then click Start Restore to restore the system image. If it detects you are performing Windows Server 2012 backup restore to different hardware, it will check the Universal Restore feature by default. 

Notes:
① AOMEI Backupper Server only restores system image or disk image created by AOMEI Backuper. Please don't use this software to restore system image created by Windows Server Backup.
② If you want the easiest methods to boot computers over network and restore system image deploy to multiple computers, try  AOMEI Backupper Technician Plus. Also, you can copy installation directory for portable version creation and unlimited billable technical services to clients. 

Conclusion

Windows Server 2012 recovery disk is essential for every server users, because it can help you troubleshoot or repair your computer when it fails to boot. Among them, the most effective method is to restore Windows Server 2012 from backup, which helps to get your computer back quickly, even bare metal restore to dissimilar hardware. The same applied to create Windows Server 2008 recovery disk, Windows Server 2012 R2 recovery USB, Windows recovery 2016 recovery disk etc.

In addition, this software is still a Windows Server backup software to help users protect their server by its complete backup solutions, including system backup, disk backup, partition backup, file backup, daily/weekly/monthly scheduled backukp, incremental/differential backup, event triggers, USB plug in, etc. Please download the free trial version to enjoy these features right now.

AOMEI Backupper

One Versatile Bootable Media Creator for Windows Servers and PCs.

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Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7