Realizing that my options were dwindling, I stumbled across this how-to on Apple's discussion forums on creating a data recovery drive.

If you see Recovery Drive is full message, then here is how to safely free up space on Recovery Drive, etc, in Windows 11/10.

Option 3 - Create a recovery drive If the PC you want to recover is still fully functional, you can create a recovery drive through existing methods in Windows 10.

To make sure it’s the hard drive and not one of the many other things that can go wrong when starting up a computer, remove the hard drive and plug it into another computer if possible.

IF YOUR Windows 10 machine is running smoothly, it's the perfect time to great your own recovery or backup drive – just in case something goes wrong.

Chromebook Recovery Utility is a Google Chrome extension that allows users to create a Chromebook recovery media or USB drive.

A recovery drive stores a copy of your Windows 10 environment on an external source, like a DVD or USB drive. Here's how to create one before your PC goes kaput.

When the drive suffers from some form of failure there's often little that you can do yourself to get the data back—professional data recovery services are usually required.