KB5127648 Increased Size of Recovery Partition

I just installed KB5127648 and noticed that the Recovery Partition increased in size from 850 MB to 922 MB.

Does anyone know if this is a new feature? I assume the space was taken from the C: partition.

In the past I always had to manually increase the size of the partition.

WinRE.wim increased in size to 789.39 MB.

Microsoft documents this behavior under "Updating the on-disk Windows Recovery Environment":


When a newer WinRE image doesn't fit in the existing recovery partition, Windows can automatically shrink the Windows partition (C:) and enlarge the recovery partition, provided the partitions are arranged appropriately.

So the increase from 850 MB to 922 MB is consistent with Microsoft's documented behavior. This capability is not entirely new, although it may be the first time you've seen it happen automatically.

In the past installing Windows, I have startet in setup defining and create the system disk a few GB smaler, than the disk is. Then it is easy afterwards to merge this unalocated patition to the recovery partition created by setup.

Jorgen E said:

In the past installing Windows, I have startet in setup defining and create the system disk a few GB smaler, than the disk is. Then it is easy afterwards to merge this unalocated patition to the recovery partition created by setup.

Click to expand...

When performing a clean install of Windows, since 24H2, there is simply no longer a need to create the Recovery partition at all. Windows will create it automatically so long as you create the other partitions in the proper order (EFI, MSR, Windows partition). It will automagically shrink the Windows partition and create the Recovery partition.

I used to manually create the partitions, shrinking the Windows partition by the amount of space I wanted to reserve for the Recovery Partition, then creating the recovery partition in that space. I would create that partition as 2GB in size to provide plenty of extra space. However, none of this is necessary any longer. I simply allow Windows to automatically create the partition knowing that it can also resize it should it need to do so.

NOTE: If you create additional partitions, Windows can still handle this. Take this layout as an example:

EFI
MSR
Windows Partition
Additional Data Partition

In this case, Windows will still shrink the Windows partition and insert the Recovery partition in that empty space, placing it between the Windows partition and the extra data partition.

This arrangement makes unattended much easier, but it works perfectly for manual installations of Windows as well.

Thanks all for the help and the good news.

It will be a great help if Windows update manages the recovery partition size automatically in the future. I do have my four partitions in the proper order.

In late 2022 I had a problem with the partitions when updating Windows 10 to version 22H2 using an ISO file. The installation needed a slightly larger recovery partition which was created at the end of the C: partition.

The new partition created a problem for the SSD over provisioning managed by Samsung Magician which needed to be at the end of the C: partition. I was unable to release the over provisioning and had to delete the new recovery partition and recreate it later. The installation also left the original recovery partition unused at the beginning of the disk. I eventually recovered with the use of Macrium Reflect and MiniTool Partition Wizard.

hsehestedt said:

This arrangement makes unattended much easier, but it works perfectly for manual installations of Windows as well.

Click to expand...

On the "Select location to install Windows 11" screen, create a Windows partition of your desired size in the unallocated space on the disk. This will also automatically create the required system partitions (EFI and MSR). Afterward, create one or more data partitions.







During the final stage of Windows 11 installation, Setup automatically creates a recovery partition immediately after the Windows partition, rather than after the disk’s last data partition, so that, if necessary, Windows Update can resize the recovery partition to accommodate an updated WinRE image (Winre.wim).

kx707 said:

I just installed KB5127648 and noticed that the Recovery Partition increased in size from 850 MB to 922 MB.

Click to expand...

As shown in the screenshot above, the latest Windows 11 26H2 installation media creates a 922 MB recovery partition.

I bumped mine up to 2GB when I installed, it still is less than half full.