Installation and Upgrade Cloud Rebuild Windows 11

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Cloud_rebuild_header.webp

This tutorial will show you how to use Cloud rebuild to perform a full clean reinstall of Windows 11.

Starting with Windows 11 build 26300.8772 (Experimental 26H2) for Insiders, Microsoft is introducing Cloud rebuild, a new recovery option that restores a Windows 11 PC to a clean, known-good state by performing a full OS reinstall, even when Windows won't boot. Unlike Reset this PC, Cloud rebuild downloads both the target Windows image and the device's drivers from Windows Update, so the device comes back fully functional without USB media, without a custom image, and without depending on the health of the currently installed OS.

Reference:
learn.microsoft.com

Cloud rebuild (Preview)

IT Pro documentation for the Cloud rebuild feature in Windows 11
learn.microsoft.com



Here's How:

1 Boot to Advanced Startup (WinRE).

2 Click/tap on Troubleshoot. (see screenshot below)

Cloud_rebuild-1.webp

3 Click/tap on Cloud rebuild. (see screenshot below)

Cloud_rebuild-2.webp

4 Cloud rebuild attempts to connect to the network. If the device is connected to Ethernet, the connection completes automatically. If only Wi-Fi is available, select a WPA-Personal network and provide the passkey when prompted. (see screenshot below)

Cloud_rebuild-3.webp

5 Wait for Cloud rebuild to finish preparing. Cloud rebuild contacts Windows Update to determine the target Windows build and to download the device's networking drivers. (see screenshot below)

Cloud_rebuild-4.webp

6 Review the rebuild target state. Confirm that the displayed Windows build, edition, and language match the expected target, and click/tap on Continue when ready. (see screenshot below)

Cloud_rebuild-5.webp

7 Click/tap on Install when ready to start the Cloud rebuild. (see screenshot below)

Cloud rebuild reformats the system disk and removes all locally stored files, accounts, apps, and settings. Data stored in cloud services such as OneDrive is not affected.


Cloud_rebuild-6.webp

8 Cloud rebuild will now prepare, download, and install Windows 11 in phases. The device may restart one or more times during this process. (see screenshots below)

Keep the device connected to power until Cloud rebuild is complete. Do not manually restart or power off the device while Cloud rebuild is preparing, downloading, or installing Windows. Interrupting the process can leave Windows unable to boot.

This will take a while to finish.


Cloud_rebuild-7.webp
Cloud_rebuild-8.webp
Cloud_rebuild-9.webp

9 When the Cloud rebuild completes, the device boots into the Windows out-of-box experience (OOBE) to set up Windows 11. Continue at step 13 in the tutorial below to finish setting up Windows 11.

www.elevenforum.com

Clean Install Windows 11

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com


That's it,
Shawn Brink


Related Tutorials

 
Last edited:
Click to expand...
No indication on how it takes to download the install image from MS, and re-install it. Depending on your network speed, this recovery process could take 30 min. or more?

Hopefully the download image is up-to-date (like how MCT is refreshed), and you don't have to run Windows Update after getting your system back.
 

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Yeah repair setup over the LAN (at least ours) takes about 30 minutes. I'm hoping they let us hook this to the connected cache eventually if not already, so not every PC has to get content from the clouds.
 

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Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (in a VM)12th Gen Core i7-1260P64 GB Micron PC4-25600Intel Iris Xe Graphics
OS
Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (in a VM)
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Intel NUC12WSHi7
CPU
12th Gen Core i7-1260P
Motherboard
NUC12WSBi7
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64 GB Micron PC4-25600
Graphics Card(s)
Intel Iris Xe Graphics
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on-board Realtek HD Audio
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Dell U3219Q
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3840 x 2160
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Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB
Crucial MX500 2 TB
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CODE 104-Key mechanical with Cherry MX Clears
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Microsoft Defender
I wondering if MS got lazy and doesn't provide an updated install image. I can imagine the product managers thinking "hey, OOBE enforces a mandatory Windows Update check, so the user can just sit around for another 10-15 min."
 

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garlin said:
No indication on how it takes to download the install image from MS, and re-install it. Depending on your network speed, this recovery process could take 30 min. or more?

Hopefully the download image is up-to-date (like how MCT is refreshed), and you don't have to run Windows Update after getting your system back.
Click to expand...
Looking at the screenshot it determines which version of Windows is installed and re-installs that version (rather like the Repair install from Settings does)

Not sure how it would determine the build if it's so corrupted that it can't find anything to work with

Installing from media takes literally a few minutes to get to the desktop, I imagine this would be slower as the download is as required, but it shouldn't take long to install to a fast drive
 

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Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (RP channel)AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-core64GB Corsair Titanium 6000/CL30MSI Suprim 5080 SOC
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Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (RP channel)
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
MSI
CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-core
Motherboard
MEG X870E Godlike
Memory
64GB Corsair Titanium 6000/CL30
Graphics Card(s)
MSI Suprim 5080 SOC
Sound Card
Soundblaster AE-9
Monitor(s) Displays
ASUS TUF Gaming VG289Q
Screen Resolution
3840x2160
Hard Drives
Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB (gen 5 x4, system drive/games)
Samsung 990 Pro 2TB
Samsung 980 Pro 2TB
Samsung 870 Evo 4TB
Samsung 870 Evo 2TB
Samsung T9 4TB
PSU
Seasonic PX-2200
Case
Bequiet! Dark Base Pro 901
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Noctua NH-D15S Chromax black
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Logitech G915 X (wired)
Mouse
Logitech G903 with PowerPlay charger
Internet Speed
900Mb/sec
Browser
Microsoft Edge
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Presumably it's reading the offline registry from your Windows volume to learn which edition was present.

Cloud Restore is to help in situations where you or something has modified Windows files or screwed up permissions and settings, that it doesn't work correctly. And you don't have a prepared full image backup, and the user doesn't know enough to do a repair install.

The big catch is MS warns you they're wiping the Windows volume, and doing a clean install. The only thing they're restoring is a copy of all the 3rd-party drivers they extracted before kicking off re-install. Cloud Restore will not re-install your apps or personal files.

Eventually they could make it do what (new) Windows Backup does. Which is to reload any Store apps you had before, and resync to your OneDrive folders after getting you to sign into MS Accounts.

To me, it's another half finished product like Quick Machine Recovery. You can see where they're going, but it's surprising that more engineering hasn't gone into the product before it was released. The drawback is each incremental recovery feature is starting to bloat the size of WinRE.
 

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