How to make a rescue USB and recover files from a PC that won't start

Step by step

1. Make a Windows installation USB

   On any working Windows PC, download Microsoft's Media Creation Tool from the official Windows download page and create an installation USB on a stick of 8 GB or more. Creating it erases that stick, so use an empty one.

2. Copy the FileFix helper

   Install FileFix Ultimate on the working PC, open Rescue USB from the home screen, choose a USB drive and click Copy rescue helper. It creates a FileFix folder with filefix-cli.exe, its runtime files, FileFix-Rescue.cmd and short instructions. You can put it on the installation USB itself or on a second stick.

3. Boot the broken PC from USB

   Plug the USB into the broken PC, switch it on and press the boot-menu key, often F12, F11, F8 or Esc depending on the maker. Choose the USB stick. When the Windows Setup language screen appears, press Shift+F10. A black command prompt window opens. Do not click Install.

4. Find the USB drive letter

   Drive letters are often different in Setup. Type wmic logicaldisk get name,volumename to list the drives, or try dir D:, dir E: and so on until you see the FileFix folder. X: is Setup's own temporary drive.

5. Run the rescue helper

   Type the drive letter, for example E:, then cd \FileFix and FileFix-Rescue.cmd. The helper shows numbered menus in Korean or English: choose the source drive, a quick or deep scan, which files to keep and the drive to save them to.

6. Save to a different drive

   Pick the USB stick or an external disk as the destination. Saving to the source drive is always refused. Another partition on the same physical disk is allowed only after you type YES. A report in HTML and CSV is written next to the recovered files.

Why a Windows installation USB instead of a rescue ISO

Many recovery products ask you to build a bootable environment with their own tools. A Windows installation USB is something you can make for free with Microsoft's own tool, and its setup environment already includes a command prompt, disk drivers for most PCs and access to every drive. The FileFix helper is a single program with its runtime files beside it, so it runs there without installation.

The desktop app itself cannot run in Setup, because the graphical interface needs components that Setup does not have. That is why the rescue helper is keyboard-only: numbered menus, plain text and a progress line that works in the simple Setup console.

If the disk clicks or shows read errors

When the helper notices read errors, or the disk is noisy or very slow, choose Make a disk image first. The helper reads the whole disk once onto another drive, skipping damaged areas and returning to them later, then scans the image instead of the failing disk. You need free space at least as large as the source disk.

If the disk makes clicking or grinding sounds, stop and consider a professional recovery service. Every extra hour of use can make physical damage worse.

When it won't work

• The PC cannot boot from USB at all, or Secure Boot settings block the stick. In that case, connect the disk to another PC instead.
• BitLocker-encrypted drives need the 48-digit recovery key; unlock them first with manage-bde in the same command prompt.
• Files that were already overwritten, or deleted from an SSD with TRIM, usually cannot be found by any tool.
• A disk that is not detected at all by the PC firmware has a hardware fault that software cannot fix.

How FileFix Ultimate helps

• Copies the command-line helper, its runtime files, a launcher and instructions to a USB stick in one click, never overwriting existing files.
• Lists drives even without PowerShell, which Windows Setup often lacks.
• Uses the same read-only engines and destination safety rules as the desktop app.
• Writes an HTML and CSV report beside the recovered files so you can check what was verified.

Frequently asked questions