Deleted Windows Recovery Partition - How to Make a New One

Per the title...I made a mistake of deleting Recovery Partition. I believe there is a way to both create a new one and have Windows move Recovery Environment files to it and recognize it as active. Can someone point me to those instructions? Thanks

A repair upgrade is probably the easiest solution - see tutorials.

You can manually rebuild it from a windows installation drive but it needs a bit of understanding of how to use reagentc command and how to extract winre.wim from a windows installation usb drive.

If you have an image backup then you could restore from that.

Personally, I would not be concerned about it. Everything that you can do from the recovery partition, you can also do by booting from the standard Windows 10 installation USB flash drive.

However, this might help:

mccnavy said:

Per the title...I made a mistake of deleting Recovery Partition. I believe there is a way to both create a new one and have Windows move Recovery Environment files to it and recognize it as active. Can someone point me to those instructions? Thanks

Click to expand...

Read these articles first

If you have an ISO of your current build of Windows, extract all files with 7-Zip or any archiver, then do this

Run Command Prompt as Administrator, then type the following commands:

• DISM /mount-wim /wimfile:X:\Win11\sources\install.wim /index:1 /mountdir:C:\mount

• COPY C:\mount\Windows\System32\Recovery\winre.wim C:\Recovery\WindowsRE
• DISM /unmount-wim /mountdir:C:\mount /commit
• reagentc /disable
• reagentc /setreimage /path C:\Recovery\WindowsRE
• reagentc /enable
• reagentc /info

This will create a Windows Recovery Environment on Drive C.
If you don't want it on Drive C, you need to read this

Much appreciated...I guess I won't need it. Repair upgrade (i.e. repair by reinstall) didn't re-create it...not sure why. Like some of you said I have fortunately known that keeping install media on USB nearby is the next best thing. I'll just keep doing that.

I would run reagentc /info again. You might have recovery environment on C: drive now.

Bizarre said:

Read these articles first

Delete or Restore Windows Recovery Environment Partition Safely

No matter you want to delete Windows Recovery Environment Partition safely or restore this partition to repair your computer, you can get a stepwise guide in this article.

www.ubackup.com

Repairing the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) – TeraByte Knowledge Base

www.terabyteunlimited.com

If you have an ISO of your current build of Windows, extract all files with 7-Zip or any archiver, then do this

Run Command Prompt as Administrator, then type the following commands:

• DISM /mount-wim /wimfile:X:\Win11\sources\install.wim /index:1 /mountdir:C:\mount

You need to determine the index number of your Windows installation (e.g., Home, Pro, etc.)​

You can do that using this command ​

​

DISM /get-wiminfo /wimfile:X:\Win11\sources\install.wim​

• COPY C:\mount\Windows\System32\Recovery\winre.wim C:\Recovery\WindowsRE
• DISM /unmount-wim /mountdir:C:\mount /commit
• reagentc /disable
• reagentc /setreimage /path C:\Recovery\WindowsRE
• reagentc /enable
• reagentc /info

This will create a Windows Recovery Environment on Drive C.
If you don't want it on Drive C, you need to read this

Setting WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) Flag On Partitions

In AOMEI Partition Assistant I have cloned multiple partitions of one hard drive to another, however, the WRE flags have not been carried over, even when MSR and EFI have. Is there any way to set ...

superuser.com

Click to expand...

Can I just copy the winre.wim file from Windows\System32\Recovery to a C:\Recovery\WindowsRE folder and run the reagentc commands?

mccnavy said:

Can I just copy the winre.wim file from Windows\System32\Recovery to a C:\Recovery\WindowsRE folder and run the reagentc commands?

Click to expand...

There is only ever one copy of WinRE.wim. When reagentc /info says it is disabled it should be seen in Windows\System32\Recovery, waiting to be deployed. When you use reagentc to enable it then WinRE.wim is moved (not copied) to the Recovery partition or C:\Recovery if a recovery partition is unavailable. You should not need to do any manual copying.

Bree said:

There is only ever one copy of WinRE.wim. When reagentc /info says it is disabled it should be seen in Windows\System32\Recovery, waiting to be deployed. When you use reagentc to enable it then WinRE.wim is moved (not copied) to the Recovery partition or C:\Recovery if a recovery partition is unavailable. You should not need to do any manual copying.

Click to expand...

True but this rather assumes OP (@mccnavy) ran "reagentc /disable" before deleting the recovery partition but based on original post, I rather doubt it. So I suspect OP has no winre.wim at all.

This is where I find treesize useful as it allows you to easily examine hidden files/folders.

So OP will probably need to get winre.wim from a usb installation drive via dism or 7zip (as you showed me a while back).

I did disable reagentc /disable before deleting the recovery partition a long time ago. Last night I did find that I still had winre.wim (after enabling viewing hidden system files). I attempted to recreate a recovery partition (using set id) with no luck.. However, I followed Bizarre's commands and now I have a hidden system folder called Recovery (I can't open it though...access is denied). When running reagentc /info, it shows enabled and RE located at that location. Recovery image location is blank. I think I'm good?

mccnavy said:

I did disable reagentc /disable before deleting the recovery partition a long time ago. Last night I did find that I still had winre.wim (after enabling viewing hidden system files). I attempted to recreate a recovery partition (using set id) with no luck.. However, I followed Bizarre's commands and now I have a hidden system folder called Recovery (I can't open it though...access is denied). When running reagentc /info, it shows enabled and RE located at that location. Recovery image location is blank. I think I'm good?

Click to expand...

If your Windows Recovery Environment is enable on C: drive, you should be able to run the following command in a command prompt with admin privileges:

It just says File Not Found...

What method was used to delete the recovery partition?

Please perform the following steps:

1) Post images or share links of disk management:

2) Run this bat script then post share links into this thread using one drive, drop box, or google drive

a) https://www.elevenforum.com/attachments/tuneup_plus_log-bat.36285/


3) Open administrative command prompt and copy and paste (all at one time):



Type:
ctrl + a
ctrl + c

Paste into this thread typing:
ctrl + v

mccnavy said:

Can I just copy the winre.wim file from Windows\System32\Recovery to a C:\Recovery\WindowsRE folder and run the reagentc commands?

Click to expand...

If you have winre.wim in that directory (C:\Windows\System32\Recovery), then why not?

PS:
Before I made this reply, know that I don't have winre.wim in the directory (C:\Windows\System32\Recovery) you mentioned.
That's why in my previous reply, I mentioned about having an ISO of your current build of Windows.

Thanks zbook...I'll try and get that to run on laptop when I get a chance...I tried to run it on desktop I'm typing from now and nothing happened. I believe my RE environment is functional now though...which may be a sign that it worked. I assume that if I didn't have a working Recovery that I wouldn't be able to run "Advanced Startup" or see the "reset this PC option", correct (under Settings>System>Recovery)? I was able to successfully restart the laptop last night and get to advanced startup options.

Ok...here you go...
- I originally deleted it because DISKPART was not allowing me to create SSD OP space and then move it back to adjacent to the Windows partition. I ended up using either EaseUS or Minitool to do it. In the past, I disabled reagentc, deleted the partition, and usually ran a repair by reinstall and it created it again. This time it did not work. Likewise, I attempted to shrink the C: partition (partition 3), create a new simple volume, and then change the ID to de94bba4-0bd1-...which should've converted it to a system recovery partition that disabling and re-enabling reagentc would transfer to. No luck. It doesn't change the properties to a system recovery partition.

1) Here is a photo from Disk Management

2) Results of tuneup_plus_log attached below. I don't see any issues.

3) Results of Command Prompt Commands:
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume1
path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
isolatedcontext Yes
default {current}
resumeobject {0173acdf-8486-11ed-8284-ca59087e1438}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \WINDOWS\system32\winload.efi
description Windows 11
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {0173acec-8486-11ed-8284-ca59087e1438}
displaymessageoverride Recovery
recoveryenabled Yes
isolatedcontext Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \WINDOWS
resumeobject {0173acdf-8486-11ed-8284-ca59087e1438}
nx OptIn
bootmenupolicy Standard

C:\Users\Michael McCain>reagentc /info
Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration
Information:

Windows RE status: Enabled
Windows RE location: \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition3\Recovery\WindowsRE
Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 0173acec-8486-11ed-8284-ca59087e1438
Recovery image location:
Recovery image index: 0
Custom image location:
Custom image index: 0

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.


C:\Users\Michael McCain>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22621.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: DELLXPS159510

DISKPART> lis dis

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 953 GB 95 GB *

DISKPART> lis vol

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 0 C Windows NTFS Partition 858 GB Healthy Boot
Volume 1 FAT32 Partition 100 MB Healthy System

DISKPART> sel dis 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> det dis

NVMe PC711 NVMe SK hynix 1TB
Disk ID: {726BF907-D489-49C8-AEE0-269FD2D92332}
Type : NVMe
Status : Online
Path : 2
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : PCIROOT(0)#PCI(0E00)#NVME(P02T00L00)
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only : No
Boot Disk : Yes
Pagefile Disk : Yes
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : Yes
Clustered Disk : No

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 0 C Windows NTFS Partition 858 GB Healthy Boot
Volume 1 FAT32 Partition 100 MB Healthy System

DISKPART> lis par

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 System 100 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 Reserved 16 MB 101 MB
Partition 3 Primary 858 GB 120 MB

DISKPART> sel par 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det par

Partition 1
Type : c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b
Hidden : Yes
Required: No
Attrib : 0X8000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 1048576

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
* Volume 1 FAT32 Partition 100 MB Healthy System

DISKPART> sel par 2

Partition 2 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det par

Partition 2
Type : e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae
Hidden : Yes
Required: No
Attrib : 0X8000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 105906176

There is no volume associated with this partition.

DISKPART> sel par 3

Partition 3 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det par

Partition 3
Type : ebd0a0a2-b9e5-4433-87c0-68b6b72699c7
Hidden : No
Required: No
Attrib : 0X8000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 125829120

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
* Volume 0 C Windows NTFS Partition 858 GB Healthy Boot

Your Windows Recovery Environment is enabled. What is the issue?

NavyLCDR said:

Your Windows Recovery Environment is enabled. What is the issue?

Click to expand...

The issue is that in a normal Windows installation, the image resides in a separate recovery partition. I deleted that partition when re-configuring other partitions on the drive a long time ago. Normally you can re-create it by either 1) doing a repair by reinstall (as someone mentioned above) or 2) manually creating it using a specific partition ID. I've tried both without success. However, as you just mentioned, as long as it shows enabled, and it is pointed to an effective location, I appear to at least have not lost the functionality, even though I can't restore it back to a normal/traditional Recovery Partition.

maybe this will help

Yep...that is exactly what I did except that once I enter the ID to convert a simple volume (logical or primary) to a Recovery Partition it doesn't work. I saw that video and there's another one just like it.