<p>If instead, your TailsUSB stick doesn't start, refer to our instructions on [[recovering data from the Persistent Storage when Tails doesn't start|recover]].</p>
That is why, if you cannot restore from a recent [[backup]], we recommend that you create a *partition image* of your Persistent Storage*before* attempting to repair the file system of your Persistent Storage from the Welcome Screen.
In the rare cases when repairing the file system will not work, you might be able to recover some or most of your data from this partition image using advanced forensics tools. This recovery process is very technical and you might need help from someone experienced with data recovery.
To save the partition image outside of Tails, you need an external hard disk with as much free space as the size of your Persistent Storage, usually 8 GB less than your TailsUSB stick. You can also use another USB stick of the same size as your TailsUSB stick, but writing to a USB stick is usually much slower than writing to a hard disk.
When the hardware of your USB stick is not failing, using the *Disks* utility is the simplest way of creating a partition image of your Persistent Storage.
