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A data recovery disk is a type of system disk that enables a user to restore their data and/or system to a normal working condition. It is used after a system crash, corruption or data deletion to recover and restore the system and its data.
A data recovery disk is also known as a system recovery disk, system restore disk or system boot-up disk.
A data recovery disk normally consists of multiple programs and applications that enable a user to restore systems. A data recovery disk is typically created by the native operating system after the OS installation. It contains information about system recovery objectives (recovery time and point objectives) that defines from when and where the data and system should be restored. The user needs to update the data recovery disk whenever a new recovery point is created, in order to restore from the last known location.
This disk can be any storage device, including a floppy disk or flash drive. The vendor-provided OS disk is also used as a data recovery disk as it contains the preinstalled OS, troubleshooting applications and boot-up features.
A backup disk that stores a copy of important data may also be considered a recovery disk. These are used if a primary source fails or becomes corrupt.