usb recovery drive - when do I need to create a new one?

[motobojo]

What should trigger the creation of new usb recovery drive?

I created one before updating from 8.0 to 8.1. Do I need to create a new one now that I've updated to 8.1?

I guess my fundamental question is what conditions would warrant updating my usb recovery drive?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

 

[oion]

The USB recovery drive is built upon the Surface image in the recovery partition, and that system image is the factory image. That means it does not change; just because you updated your OS to 8.1 does not mean the recovery image itself was updated, since the point of a reset is to return to factory condition. If you took the optional step of deleting the recovery partition to save space, you definitely don't want to misplace your USB recovery drive.

You can, however, create a new image of your 8.1 upgraded system (including any software you installed and data already stored on the device) using other system image software. Windows 8.1 has its own built-in system image backup service, or you can use any other 3rd party software like Acronis and whatnot.