User scenarios when a user starts the Create Recovery Disk Wizard

Last published : Apr 02, 2026
When a user starts the Create Simplified Disaster Recovery Disk Wizard, the wizard first internally checks whether Windows ADK is already installed on the system. Refer the table for a high-level sequence of events.

Table: User scenarios when a user starts the Create Recovery Disk Wizard

Windows server version If Windows ADK is not installed If Windows ADK is installed
Windows Server 2008 SP2 If Windows ADK is not installed, the Simplified Disaster Recovery Disk If Windows ADK is installed, the Simplified Disaster Recovery Disk
Creation wizard downloads Windows ADK 8.1 from the Microsoft Web site. After Windows ADK 8.1 download and install, the wizard starts creating the SDR disk. Creation wizard verifies if the Windows ADK version is 8.1. If ADK 8.1 is installed, the wizard informs the user that this is not the latest ADK version but the user can proceed with the SDR disk creation.
If the Windows ADK version is below 8.1, the wizard displays a warning message to the user to download Windows ADK 8.1 from the Microsoft Web site, and then proceed with the SDR disk creation. Wizard does not support creating a new SDR disk using ADK 8.0.
Windows Server 2008 R2 If Windows ADK is not installed, the Simplified Disaster Recovery Disk If Windows ADK is installed, the Simplified Disaster Recovery Disk
Creation wizard downloads Windows ADK 10 from the Microsoft Web site. After Windows ADK 10 download and install, the wizard starts creating the SDR disk. Creation wizard verifies if the Windows ADK version is 10. If ADK 10 is installed, the wizard informs the user that this is not the latest ADK version but the user can proceed with SDR disk creation.
If the Windows ADK version is below 10, the wizard displays an informational message to the user to download Windows ADK 10 from the Microsoft Web site and then proceed with the SDR disk creation. Wizard does not support creating a new disk using ADK 8.0 or ADK 8.1.
Windows Server 2012 Same as Windows 2008 R2 Same as Windows 2008 R2
Windows Server 2012 R2 Same as Windows 2008 R2 Same as
Windows 2008 R2
Windows Server 2016 Same as Windows 2008 R2 Same as Windows 2008 R2
Windows Server 2019 If Windows ADK 1809 is not installed, the user must download and install Windows ADK 1809 manually. If Windows ADK 1809 is installed, the Simplified Disaster Recovery Disk
When you install ADK 1809, the user must install the Windows ADK Insider and Windows Preinstallation Environment components. Creation wizard detects the installed version of ADK and the wizard continues with the recovery disk creation process.
After the components are installed, launch the Simplified Disaster Recovery Disk If Windows ADK 10 is installed, the Simplified Disaster Recovery Disk
Creation wizard again. Creation wizard detects that ADK 10.0 version is installed and the ADK update screen is displayed. The wizard informs the user that this is not the latest available version of ADK but the user can
proceed with the SDR disk creation. Confirm that the user wants to continue using ADK 10.
If the user continues, it may not support all the features of Windows Server 2019.