15th Sept 2024 – I upgraded from MR Free v8.0.7783 to MR v8.1.8110.
Creating rescue media was problem-free in v8.0 but it fails in v8.1?
I am using a USB-C connected external SSD and I tried it unformatted with no partitions and I also tried it formatted NTFS with only the one partition but no difference. Still fails. The same SSD worked fine with v8.0?
Does anyone know what is happening and how I can fix it please?
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (4th Gen?)
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus VI Formula
Memory
32.0 GB of I forget and the box is in storage.
Graphics Card(s)
Gigabyte nVidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super OC 6GB
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
5 x LG 25MS500-B - 1 x 24MK430H-B - 1 x Wacom Pro 22" Tablet
Screen Resolution
All over the place
Hard Drives
Too many to list.
OS on Samsung 1TB 870 QVO SATA
PSU
Silverstone 1500
Case
NZXT Phantom 820 Full-Tower Case
Cooling
Noctua NH-D15 Elite Class Dual Tower CPU Cooler / 6 x EziDIY 120mm / 2 x Corsair 140mm somethings / 1 x 140mm Thermaltake something / 2 x 200mm Corsair.
Thanks. I use Norton 360 and it wasn't a problem with v8.0. I'll try disabling it anyway and get back.
..........................
Disabling N360 didn't work.
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (4th Gen?)
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus VI Formula
Memory
32.0 GB of I forget and the box is in storage.
Graphics Card(s)
Gigabyte nVidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super OC 6GB
Sound Card
Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
5 x LG 25MS500-B - 1 x 24MK430H-B - 1 x Wacom Pro 22" Tablet
Screen Resolution
All over the place
Hard Drives
Too many to list.
OS on Samsung 1TB 870 QVO SATA
PSU
Silverstone 1500
Case
NZXT Phantom 820 Full-Tower Case
Cooling
Noctua NH-D15 Elite Class Dual Tower CPU Cooler / 6 x EziDIY 120mm / 2 x Corsair 140mm somethings / 1 x 140mm Thermaltake something / 2 x 200mm Corsair.
That didn't work but I discovered the problem and fixed it. Solution, in case it helps others: -
It seems that Macrium defaults to using Windows RE since that is what it showed on the first launch of 'Create Rescue Media' but I zeroed-in on the phrase "Windows RE is not available, please choose another option" so I clicked on Advanced>Choose Base WIM and then selected Windows PE11 (WADK). After doing this it worked.
Agree. Don't know why MR showed Windows RE as unavailable but, as you can see on the first two photos I posted, the new version v8.1.8110 couldn't find it. Hopefully Win PE will work okay.
I tested the rescue SSD and the UI loaded up okay but I have not carried out a restore from it yet.
Need I be worried or should the Win PE environment work as reliably as the Win RE environment when it comes to restoring images?
I always use WinPE, no RE. The PE may be missing some specialized hardware drivers, but if you're restoring to internal and don't have your images located at the end of some strange NAS device, you should be good to go.
It's unavailable because you don't have a WinRE.wim file anywhere on your system.
I prefer the WinRE rescue media because it includes support for WiFi. To be able to build RE media reflect needs to find a copy of WinRE.wim, the Windows Recovery Environment image that should be a part of every Windows install. However, if you have deleted your Recovery partition without first disabling the recovery environment, then you will have lost your only copy of WinRE.wim. Disabling it would have returned WinRE.wim from the recovery partition to c:\Windows\System32\Recovery for safe keeping.
Macrium said:
Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)
Files for the Windows Recovery rescue environment are pre-existing and located on the local file system.
The folowing folders, and sub-folders are searched for file WinRE.wim
1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
Internet Speed
50 Mbps
Browser
Edge, Firefox
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Latitude E4310
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-520M
Motherboard
0T6M8G
Memory
8GB
Graphics card(s)
(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
Screen Resolution
1366x768
Hard Drives
500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
It was there before I upgraded the free v8.0 to Paid-for v8.1. I know this because I had to use the restore function about 2-weeks ago. Maybe the v8.1 install procedure removed it? It's not something I would have deleted. I don't need Wi-Fi support so at least I have a workable restore method using WinPE.
Maybe the v8.1 install procedure removed it? It's not something I would have deleted. I don't need Wi-Fi support so at least I have a workable restore method using WinPE.
The v8.1 install wouldn't have touched your WinRE.wim, it's a Windows system file.
There is only ever one copy of WinRE.wim, and Windows only has three possible locations for it. If the recovery environment is enabled it will have been put into the \Recovery folder in the Recovery partition. On rare occasions it's not possible for Windows to make a recovery partition, in that case it will be in C:\Recovery. Open Terminal (Admin) and type reagentc /info. This will tell you if the recovery environment is enabled, and if so the partition it is located on.
If the recovery environment is not enabled, then WinRE.wim is stored in C:\Windows\System32\Recovery, ready to be deployed should you choose to enable the recovery environment.
If it is missing from all the known locations, then it is possible to repair this. You can extract fresh copies of WinRE.wim and ReAgent.xml from the install.wim or install.esd in the sources folder of a Windows install USB or ISO. Put them in C:\Windows\System32\Recovery. 7-Zip File Manager can be used to extract them.
1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
Internet Speed
50 Mbps
Browser
Edge, Firefox
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Latitude E4310
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-520M
Motherboard
0T6M8G
Memory
8GB
Graphics card(s)
(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
Screen Resolution
1366x768
Hard Drives
500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.