How to move non-functioning WinRE partition from start of disk to end and re-install it there?

After a less-than-successful attempt to clone my boot drive using Macrium Reflect, I used the Data Migration part of Samsung Magician. It moved what used to be my WinRE partition to the front of the disk and turned it into what appears to be useless space -- all I can do is "Delete Volume" in Disk Management -- and of course removed WinRE.

See attached screenshot.

How do I move the former WinRE space to the end of the drive, where it belongs, and re-install WinRE there? I'm not that familiar with moving partitions around and have found the explanations on various sites bewildering, so a simple step-by-step would be wonderful.

I'd prefer not to take the computer apart and re-clone the drive using yet another cloning program.

Thanks!

and of course removed WinRE

Click to expand...

how do you know?

is it a problem in its current postition?

playing around with partitions is make or break. You won't even see it in file explorer because it doesn't have a letter assigned to it. I'll just leave those partitions alone.

SIW2 said:

how do you know?

is it a problem in its current postition?

Click to expand...

Yes, it's a problem. WinRE is inactive, though the files are still there. When I type reagentc /enable, it says there is no WinRE. Also, I recently had to enlarge the partition. If I ever have to do that again, I won't be able to in its current location because the EFI and hidden Microsoft partitions are in the way.

The one option I see in Disk Management when I right click on that now-useless partition is Delete Volume. If I do that, can I 1) move the EFI partition and Microsoft partitions to the left, into the unallocated space, and then 2) merge the main partition into the remaining unallocated space and finally 3) create a new partition for WinRE at the end of the disk and somehow re-create it there?

So winre.wim is there, but samsung didnt change the bcd entry to point at it. It also might not have the correct partition id

If you move the start of the os partition it has to be done from outside windows, and the bcd entry will need to be adjusted.

It is only 873mb, you could just fish winre.wim out first, copy it into %windir%\system32\recovery and delete the .xml file that is in there.

then delete the 873 partition and it leave it as unallocated

You can shrink your os partition from the right by however much you want for the recov partition then use that newly created unallocated space to create ms recovery partition.

then reagentc /enable

SIW2 said:

So winre.wim is there, but samsung didnt change the bcd entry to point at it. It also might not have the correct partition id

If you move the start of the os partition it has to be done from outside windows, and the bcd entry will need to be adjusted.

It is only about 800mb, you could just leave it as unallocated

Click to expand...

Okay, I don't mind sacrificing that space. Should I delete the volume?

If sacrifice that space, how do I create a new WinRE partition? I've been all over the web trying to find a clear step-by-step. If you can provide one, I'd really appreciate it.

I did find a YouTube video that kind of spelled it out, but it involved finding the WIM.RE file in the Recovery folder of System32. That folder doesn't contain the WIM.RE file. It's apparently still in the non-functional partition Samsung Magician created.

use diskgenius DiskGenius Download Center | Free Download DiskGenius

the free version will let you do all of this

in diskgenius click on the 873mb partition, then select the FILES tab, rt click the winre.wim and select copy to

1. copy winre.wim from the 873mb partition into your windows\system32\recovery folder
2. delete the .xml file from your windows\system32\recovery folder
3. delete the 873mb partition
4. shrink your os partition from the right by however much you want, lets say 1gb
5. rt click on that 1gb unallocated space and select create partition - tell it you want ms recovery partition in the dropdown- click Ok
6. click Save All

ther is a bit of space at the end of this disk



rt click on that space and select create new partition





this pops up asking what type of partition




in the dropdown select Microsoft recovery partition



Click OK



Click Save All

Personally, if winre is in its storage location in Windows\Sysyem32, I don't bother with a recovery position for it. I just do reagentc /enable and it sets up the recovery function in C:\Recovery. I see no need for the stock Windows recovery partition.

I dont bother with it either.

If the op doesnt want a recovery partition he can just follow the first few steps

use diskgenius DiskGenius Download Center | Free Download DiskGenius

the free version will let you do this

in diskgenius click on the 873mb partition, then select the FILES tab, rt click the winre.wim and select copy to

1. copy winre.wim from the 873mb partition into your windows\system32\recovery folder
2. delete the .xml file from your windows\system32\recovery folder
3. delete the 873mb partition

Click to expand...

then at admin cmd prompt
reagentc /enable

SIW2 said:

4. shrink your os partition from the right by however much you want, lets say 1gb
5. rt click on that 1gb unallocated space and select create partition - tell it you want ms recovery partition in the dropdown- click Ok
6. click Save All

Click to expand...

Thanks for your instructions.

When I go to shrink the partition, it warns me that it's going to boot into Windows PE, which is not installed on my system, as far as I know. Did DiskGenius install it? Just trying to avoid a failure-to-boot situation.

I had DiskGenius already and was going to use it until I discovered Samsung Magician and figured they knew their own hardware. Apparently this issue is one that's been going on with them for years.

SIW2 said:

I dont bother with it either.

If the op doesnt want a recovery partition he can just follow the first few steps





then at admin cmd prompt
reagentc /enable

Click to expand...

Wait -- are you saying I can just install the WinRE environment on the C drive? And never have to worry about resizing the WinRE partition again? Is there any downside to that? If I use Bitlocker on Drive C:, which I need to do, will that be a problem for WinRE if it's on the C: drive?

If you are using bitlocker then it is advised to have a separate recov partition

shrink your os partition by a decent amount to create space for it . I suggested 1gb , but there is no harm in having 1.5gb recov partition

SIW2 said:

there is a bit of space at the end of this disk

Click to expand...

There is no space at the end of the disk -- Samsung allocated all of it. I assume you are referring to the 1GB I will create by shrinking C:, and from the message I got from DiskGenius, I am also figuring I should boot from a DiskGenius WinPE drive to do the shrinking and creating of the new partition. Is that correct? And is there a potential good reason to do this, rather than just have the recovery environment live on the C: drive?

SIW2 said:

If you are using bitlocker then it is advised to have a separate recov partition

Click to expand...

Okay, just saw this. So, should I perform steps 4-6 after booting from a DiskGenius USB boot drive? Sorry, this is all new to me.

Not necessarily

in windows disk mgmt rt clcik your os partition and select shrink. It will calcualte how much is the maximum shrink. You dont want the max so type in about 1.5gb which 1536 mb 1572864 KB

then you an use that 1.5gb space to create recov partition using diskgenius. Or diskpart commands, whichever takes your fancy

SIW2 said:

Not necessarily

in windows disk mgmt rt clcik your os partition and select shrink. It will calcualte how much is the maximum shrink. You dont want the max so type in about 1.5gb which 1536 mb 1048576 KB

Click to expand...

Okay, I'll do that. Just shrink it in Disk Management and leave it unallocated.

Then back to DiskGenius to re-create the WinRE partition, and re-enable WinRE with reagentc /enable and I'm done?

yes, if you have copied winre.wim off the 873mb first

SIW2 said:

yes, if you have copied winre.wim off the 873mb first

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I did copy the Winre.wim, and reagentc said it was successful. Thank you for walking me through this. I spent a couple of hours trying to figure this out from all kinds of sources, and you're the first to point out this relatively simple method. Much appreciated!

I have two final questions.

1. If I become OCD about it (which I seem to be about computers - I want them to work as advertised), can I re-create the MSR and EFI partitions in that unallocated space at the beginning of the drive using DiskGenius? I see that I can select MBR and EFI in the dropdown list there. Or will I just mess things up by trying?
2. Disk Genius identifies the EFI partition as "System-Damaged". Do I need to do something to repair it?

Disk Genius identifies the EFI partition as "System-Damaged".

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is it offering to fix it ?

can I re-create the MSR and EFI partitions in that unallocated space at the beginning of the drive using DiskGenius? I see that I can select MBR and EFI in the dropdown list there. Or will I just mess things up by trying?

Click to expand...

You could but why ?

Diskgen boot media could be used to delete the previous esp and msr and then create new ones at the begining of the disk.

Then populate the new esp with the boot critical files using bcdboot command