Built a self-healing WinRE manager for Windows 11 — sharing the failure modes and what I learned about the recovery partition lifecycle


trevo said:
Have some decorum, if he wants to engage or otherwise, his decision.
Click to expand...
If you've followed this thread you'll notice one thing, I met those that were willing to test my project halfway! I even provided early access to v48 in one instance! I also bent over backwards to write a wrapper that was safe for the person that requested it to just go silent! I have so many projects which I'm not releasing yet until I'm absolutely confident in them!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
trevo said:
Have some decorum, if he wants to engage or otherwise, his decision.
Click to expand...
Besides, foodle decorum, we're not playing politics here! In fact, we flipping hate politics! Decorum is something politicians do when they foodle us over! Here we produce results!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
More likely he is doing something that is keeping him away from all his peeps here.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two Other systems

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Home, ver 25H2 build 26200.8894Intel Core i5 5200U @ 2.20GH4 GBIntel HD Graphics 5500 on board
    OS
    Windows 11 Home, ver 25H2 build 26200.8894
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard Spectre 13-4001 x360 convertable
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 5200U @ 2.20GH
    Motherboard
    Hewlett-Packard 802D
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 5500 on board
    Sound Card
    Intel Smart Sound Technology (Intel SST)
    Hard Drives
    Micron 256GB M.2 2280 NGFF SSD MTFDDAV256TBN, (SATA 6.0 Gb/s)
    Keyboard
    Model # G01KB
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    born on date: 25 Feb 2016

  • At a glance

    Win 11 Home 25H2 build 26200.8894Intel Core i7 4th Gen 4790 (3.60GHz), Haswell...Samsung 16 GB DDR3 (8GB in 2 modules)NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760, 3GB, and on-board Int...
    Operating System
    Win 11 Home 25H2 build 26200.8894
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Desktop model M32AD-US019S (DOM: 6/9/2014 )
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4th Gen 4790 (3.60GHz), Haswell 22nm Technology, SOCKET 1150
    Motherboard
    H81M-E/M51AD/DP_MB
    Memory
    Samsung 16 GB DDR3 (8GB in 2 modules)
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760, 3GB, and on-board Intel HD Graphics 4600 Rev 6
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP EliteDisplay E241i LED; HP EliteDisplay E243
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 500GB SSD, 870 EVO (SATA 6.0 )
    Micron 250GB SSD, CT250MX500
    Toshiba HDD, 3GB (original drive w/PC)
    Case
    ASUS
    Keyboard
    ASUS-------------------------
    Antivirus
    MS Defender
    Other Info
    purchased 8/28/2015 from Newegg.
  • HEWLETT PACKARD
    HP OmniBook X Flip NGAI (Next Gen AI),
    Model: 16-as0023dx
    PT# B5UH1UA#ABA Product #: B5UH1UA
    delivered and setup 7/25/25
    16" 2K Touch-Screen Laptop
    Intel Core Ultra 7 256V '24 Series 2 - CPU
    Boost Clock Frequency 4.8 gigahertz; Neural Processing Unit (NPU) Yes;
    16GB Memory, LPDDR5X
    1TB SSD PCIe 4.0
    Graphics: Intel Arc 140V
    1 x HDMI 2.1
    1 x Thunderbolt 4
    2K Touch-Screen display, LED, IPS; 1920 x 1200 (Full HD+)
    USB Ports: 1 x USB-C 3.1, 2 x USB-A 3.1
    Wi-Fi 6E

    DELL
    Model:I7591-7483BLK-PUS 2-in-1 (7000 Series)
    purchased new 12/3/2019,
    15.6 inch 2-IN-1;
    4K Ultra HD Touch-Screen, 3840 x 2160,
    Intel Core i7 10510U CPU 1.80GHz,
    16GB RAM DDR4 SDRAM 2400 megahert (2 slots),
    dedicated graphics Nvidia GeForce MX250 2 GB Graphics,
    PCIe 512GB Intel SSD + 32GB Optane Memory (Intel Optane Memory H10 with solid-state storage),
    wireless-AX & Bluetooth
    Battery: 68wh, Type 4VGMP 4 cell
I was going to go down a rabbit hole of hardening v48 patch 2, but foodle that, v48 patch 2 is the most stable! I'm absolutely confident in my project! Know the worst thing my script will do? The worst thing my code will do is shovelall!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
I desinged my project with this philosophy:
1. Never break Windows RE.
2. Never leave a machine without a working recovery route — to the extent the machine, its OS, and its storage stack allow.
3. Minimize the reagentc /disable → reagentc /enable window.
4. Do no work unless needed. When work is needed, prepare everything before touching anything.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
Who would've thought writing a script to repair Windows RE would be so complicated and flipping convoluted? My script isn't v48 patch 2 for no apparent reason!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
While Banjoman301 was concerned about elevation, I'm concerned about more serious and severe issues, like the fact that if your Winre.wim is really missing, my script will download a clean and untouched Winre.wim from my GitHub repository, you won't be able to tell if you can actually trust the Winre.wim on my repo? What if in spite of GitHub's new requirement of 2FA, my account gets hacked? Don't get me wrong, I've taken every security precaution, and my project is extremely well documented, and I have a security policy in place, but still... In an ideal world I'd like to pull original and untouched Winre.wim images from Microsoft directly! However, it isn't possible! In order for you to get a clean Windows RE image if yours are non-existent, you'd need to download the Windows installation media and extract the Windows RE image from there... We're now talking about a 6~10GB download just to extract a clean 700~MB Windows RE image, notwithstanding the time and overhead to get Winre.wim extracted from the Windows image! If i figure out a way to obtain a clean Winre.wim from Microsoft direct, I have the holy grail! I already have the holy grail, buy this would increase my rep!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
I'm not sure if the guys here can appreciate that in order to get or do:
1. Never break Windows RE.
2. Never leave a machine without a working recovery route — to the extent the machine, its OS, and its storage stack allow.
3. Minimize the reagentc /disable → reagentc /enable window.
4. Do no work unless needed. When work is needed, prepare everything before touching anything.

It takes about 6500 lines of PowerShell code!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
ArthurDurand said:
While Banjoman301 was concerned about elevation, I'm concerned about more serious and severe issues, like the fact that if your Winre.wim is really missing, my script will download a clean and untouched Winre.wim from my GitHub repository, you won't be able to tell if you can actually trust the Winre.wim on my repo?
Click to expand...
I'm assuming these are unpatched Winre.wim images from a GA ISO? Which releases are they extracted from?

I don't like the security aspect of starting over from a downlevel WinRE base image, because having an up-to-date and secure WinRE is more important than a "stripped and rebuilt" WinRE.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7
OS
Windows 7
garlin said:
I'm assuming these are unpatched Winre.wim images from a GA ISO? Which releases are they extracted from?

I don't like the security aspect of starting over from a downlevel WinRE base image, because having an up-to-date and secure WinRE is more important than a "stripped and rebuilt" WinRE.
Click to expand...
Relax, don't stress too much about it, not worth breaking your brain over! My WInre.wim for Windows 11:
Index : 1
Name : Microsoft Windows Recovery Environment (amd64)
Description : Microsoft Windows Recover Environment (amd64)
Size : 3 210 448 016 bytes
WIM Bootable : No
Architecture : x64
Hal : <undefined>
Version : 10.0.26100
ServicePack Build : 9168
ServicePack Level : 0
Edition : WindowsPE
Installation : WindowsPE
ProductType : WinNT
ProductSuite :
System Root : WINDOWS
Directories : 4698
Files : 21276
Created : 2024-04-01 - 9:51:35 am
Modified : 2026-08-13 - 4:39:35 am
Languages :
en-US (Default)

For Windows 10:

Index : 1
Name : Microsoft Windows Recovery Environment (x64)
Description : Microsoft Windows Recovery Environment (x64)
Size : 2 410 426 554 bytes
WIM Bootable : No
Architecture : x64
Hal : <undefined>
Version : 10.0.19041
ServicePack Build : 6455
ServicePack Level : 0
Edition : WindowsPE
Installation : WindowsPE
ProductType : WinNT
ProductSuite :
System Root : WINDOWS
Directories : 3769
Files : 17098
Created : 2019-12-07 - 9:11:48 am
Modified : 2025-10-19 - 2:15:21 pm
Languages :
en-US (Default)


These only downloads if your Winre.wim is really MIA!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
garlin said:
I'm assuming these are unpatched Winre.wim images from a GA ISO? Which releases are they extracted from?

I don't like the security aspect of starting over from a downlevel WinRE base image, because having an up-to-date and secure WinRE is more important than a "stripped and rebuilt" WinRE.
Click to expand...
Downloading my clean Winre.wim images from GitHub is a 400~700MB download vs a 6~10GB download just to extract a clean Winre.wim, and Windows update will service and update the Winre.wim from time-to-time even if yours is missing and my script downlaoads mine to restore your Winre.wim - and even if mine is older!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
garlin said:
I'm assuming these are unpatched Winre.wim images from a GA ISO? Which releases are they extracted from?

I don't like the security aspect of starting over from a downlevel WinRE base image, because having an up-to-date and secure WinRE is more important than a "stripped and rebuilt" WinRE.
Click to expand...
And you think I am? Why is my project so well documented and I do have a security policy? Please read --> WinRE-Manager/SECURITY.md at main · ArthurJDurand/WinRE-Manager <--
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
ArthurDurand said:
Downloading my clean Winre.wim images from GitHub is a 400~700MB download vs a 6~10GB download just to extract a clean Winre.wim, and Windows update will service and update the Winre.wim from time-to-time even if yours is missing and my script downlaoads mine to restore your Winre.wim - and even if mine is older!
Click to expand...
Except in the worse case, you can go 30 days where a downlevel Winre.wim doesn't have the latest patches, because the CU hasn't been released again and it won't patch the existing WinRE.

One way around having to host (and manage) WinRE images is to ask the user to run MCT and create their own updated ISO's. Then offer an option to mount the ISO for them, and extract the WinRE. Now you've removed your liability for hosting the image.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7
OS
Windows 7
garlin said:
I'm assuming these are unpatched Winre.wim images from a GA ISO? Which releases are they extracted from?

I don't like the security aspect of starting over from a downlevel WinRE base image, because having an up-to-date and secure WinRE is more important than a "stripped and rebuilt" WinRE.
Click to expand...
You're being a drama queen! I do update my Winre.wim images on the repo from time to time, and they're never GA images! But even if they were, GA Winre.wim images are the most stable!!! I'll give you a practical for instance and example: Have you ever tried booting a 14th Gen Intel Acer PC from WinPE11? Any WInPE11 patched or unpatched? A 14th Gen Intel 13th Gen and newer Acer can't be booted with any build of WInPE11! You have to boot WinPE10 to be able to install Windows 11! And you're saying what about GA WinRE images???
 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
I'm not the one who ends every sentence with "!"
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7
OS
Windows 7
garlin said:
Except in the worse case, you can go 30 days where a downlevel Winre.wim doesn't have the latest patches, because the CU hasn't been released again and it won't patch the existing WinRE.

One way around having to host (and manage) WinRE images is to ask the user to run MCT and create their own updated ISO's. Then offer an option to mount the ISO for them, and extract the WinRE. Now you've removed your liability for hosting the image.
Click to expand...
As if thats worse than flipping having no RE at all! Also, read my previous response! Jesus flipping Christ!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
garlin said:
Except in the worse case, you can go 30 days where a downlevel Winre.wim doesn't have the latest patches, because the CU hasn't been released again and it won't patch the existing WinRE.

One way around having to host (and manage) WinRE images is to ask the user to run MCT and create their own updated ISO's. Then offer an option to mount the ISO for them, and extract the WinRE. Now you've removed your liability for hosting the image.
Click to expand...
foodle MCT!!! I flipping hate Microsoft! I've moved to UUPDump! I can absolutely rely on UUPDump, I can no longer rely on MCT!!!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
garlin said:
I'm not the one who ends every sentence with "!"
Click to expand...
I do this because I'm the genius and you're not! I'm the authoritative source! But, foodle, I don't even know how to do emojis! LMFAO! I'm just flipping with you! LMFAO!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel® Core™ i5-11400Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHzNvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Custom Built
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-11400
Motherboard
ASUS PRIME H510M-D
Memory
Samsung 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24"
Screen Resolution
1920 * 1080
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