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Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery User’s Guide

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Frequently asked questions

  1. If I format the hard drive of my computer, does it affect the SupportAssist OS Recovery partition?

    SupportAssist OS Recovery partition is deleted when you format the hard drive of your computer by using a standard operating system media or a USB drive. After the partition is deleted, you can reset the operating system along with SupportAssist OS Recovery tool by using the Reset and update option. For more information, see Resetting and updating your computer using the Dell OS recovery tool.

    If your computer supports the BIOSConnect feature, you can reinstall the operating system along with SupportAssist OS Recovery tool by using BIOSConnect. For more information, see BIOSConnect overview.

  2. How much space does the SupportAssist OS Recovery occupy on my hard drive?

    SupportAssist OS Recovery occupies approximately 900 MB of your hard drive space.

  3. Is SupportAssist OS Recovery available only for a specific service plan?

    No, SupportAssist OS Recovery is available for all service plans.

  4. My computer is in an out-of-warranty state. Can I still use SupportAssist OS Recovery?

    If your computer is in an out-of-warranty state, you can still use SupportAssist OS Recovery. However, if you face any issues, you must purchase a per-incident support agreement to receive technical support from Dell.

  5. What operating systems does SupportAssist OS Recovery support?

    SupportAssist OS Recovery supports Microsoft Windows 10 and Microsoft Windows 11 operating systems.

  6. What storage formats are supported for backing up files using SupportAssist OS Recovery?

    SupportAssist OS Recovery supports USB drives, USB hard drives, and SD cards.

  7. What do I do when SupportAssist OS Recovery does not start automatically?

    SupportAssist OS Recovery may not start automatically because of the following reasons:

    • The option to automatically start SupportAssist OS Recovery may be disabled in the BIOS—to enable automatic start of SupportAssist OS Recovery in the BIOS, see Configuring SupportAssist OS Recovery.
    • Boot files maybe missing on the boot partition—you can reset the operating system along with SupportAssist OS Recovery tool by using the Reset and update option. For more information, see Resetting and updating your computer using the Dell OS recovery tool. If your computer supports the BIOSConnect feature, you can reinstall the operating system along with SupportAssist OS Recovery tool by using BIOSConnect. For more information, see BIOSConnect overview.
    • The service operating system might be missing from the local drive because you may have formatted the system drive—you can reset the operating system along with SupportAssist OS Recovery tool by using the Reset and update option. For more information, see Resetting and updating your computer using the Dell OS recovery tool. If your computer supports the BIOSConnect feature, you can reinstall the operating system along with SupportAssist OS Recovery tool by using BIOSConnect. For more information, see BIOSConnect overview.

  8. Does cloning the hard drive disk work on BitLocker enabled computers?

    No, BitLocker encryption must be disabled for disk cloning. However, SupportAssist temporarily suspends the BitLocker encryption on your computer, until disk cloning is complete.

  9. Should applications such as Microsoft Office, Adobe, and so on, be reactivated after disk cloning?

    The reactivation depends on the metrics required by the applications, such as CPU, MAC address, and so on.

  10. If the primary hard drive has multiple partitions, are all the partitions cloned during disk cloning?

    Yes, all the partitions are cloned during disk cloning.

  11. During disk cloning, how are the partition splits handled when the target device is of a different capacity or size?

    The operating system and data partitions are resized proportionality. System partitions such as UEFI, GTP, Reserved, and so on, remains the same size.

  12. A While cloning we detect an I/O connection issue message is displayed while cloning the disk. What might be the reason?

    The While cloning we detect an I/O connection issue message is displayed when the connection with the target device or primary disk source is not established properly. Perform one of the following steps:

    • Reconnect the target hard drive or USB device, and retry the cloning process.
    • Power off your computer, reconnect the primary disk source, and then retry the cloning process.

  13. A Cloning is not possible or Unexpected error, please try again message is displayed while cloning the disk. What might be the reason?

    A Cloning is not possible or Unexpected error, please try again message is displayed when an issue is detected with the loading disks or cloning components. You can retry the cloning process. If the problem persists, contact Dell Technologies technical support for assistance.

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