Installation and Upgrade Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

AnnieB · Nov 14, 2023

Bree said:
Nothing wrong at all, that option is currently only available in the Insider Canary build 25905 or higher.
I assume you're not an Insider

For normal builds you should use Option Two.

Oh I see. Correct, no I'm not an Insider.

I am really unconfident about doing all of this. Would a Reset PC be easier to do? I got this PC less than a month ago and I haven't put my data onto it yet. I spent some time getting all the programs on and customising the Windows.

I assume Reset PC is a bit more drastic than a Repair as I presumably it wouldn't keep my programs that I've loaded. What is the difference between Reset PC and a so-called Clean Install as, again, I think getting involved with ISO files is beyond my capabilities?

Brink · Nov 14, 2023

AnnieB said:
Oh I see. Correct, no I'm not an Insider.

I am really unconfident about doing all of this. Would a Reset PC be easier to do? I got this PC less than a month ago and I haven't put my data onto it yet. I spent some time getting all the programs on and customising the Windows.

I assume Reset PC is a bit more drastic than a Repair as I presumably it wouldn't keep my programs that I've loaded. What is the difference between Reset PC and a so-called Clean Install as, again, I think getting involved with ISO files is beyond my capabilities?

Hello Annie,

A repair install is usually used when you don't want to lose anything.

A reset can be like a clean install if you select "Remove everything", but a reset is much easier to perform than a clean install with USB at boot. You can also select "Keep my files" during the reset.

Reset Windows 11 PC Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to reset Windows 11 and Remove everything or Keep my files. You can reset Windows 11 when your PC isn’t working well and it’s been a while since you installed an app, driver, or update. Resetting reinstalls Windows 11, but lets you choose whether to keep your...

www.elevenforum.com

AnnieB · Nov 14, 2023

@Brink - thank you for the tutorial. A couple of questions if I may.

My PC updated to the 23H2 build but arrived with the 22H2 build. Should I uninstall the recent Windows Updates before a reset or does it not matter?

I have two internal SSD drives and I believe the drive with Windows on has two or three very small partitions which don't have drive letters. I am unsure which option I should choose for 'Delete files from all drives'. The second SSD drive doesn't have any data on it yet but I don't unerstand about partitions.

Ghot · Nov 14, 2023

@AnnieB

Only the Windows partition will have a drive letter, in the pic below...

An SSD or a hard drive is called a "Disk". The divisions on the Disk are called "partitions".
Most of the partitions on a Disk will have drive letters. Microsoft doesn't give drive letters to the EFI, MSR or Recovery partitions.
I assume this is to protect them.

Disk Management won't show "all" the partitions, but a program like Minitool Partition Wizard, will show them all.
Note: I removed the MSR partition and the Recovery partition, long ago...

Griff79 · Nov 14, 2023

Ghot said:
@AnnieB

Only the Windows partition will have a drive letter, in the pic below...

View attachment 77703

An SSD or a hard drive is called a "Disk". The divisions on the Disk are called "partitions".

@Ghot to the rescue

Brink · Nov 14, 2023

AnnieB said:
@Brink - thank you for the tutorial. A couple of questions if I may.

My PC updated to the 23H2 build but arrived with the 22H2 build. Should I uninstall the recent Windows Updates before a reset or does it not matter?

I have two internal SSD drives and I believe the drive with Windows on has two or three very small partitions which don't have drive letters. I am unsure which option I should choose for 'Delete files from all drives'. The second SSD drive doesn't have any data on it yet but I don't unerstand about partitions.

No need to uninstall any updates.

In addition to what Ghot posted, the other partitions are system and recovery partitions used by the OS. The link below can give you all the technical details if wanted.

UEFI/GPT-based hard drive partitions

learn.microsoft.com

POLYSIUS · Nov 14, 2023

@AnnieB
RightClick on Start and select diskmanagement (Datenträgerverwaltung) and post a copy

It could look like this.

Ghot · Nov 14, 2023

@AnnieB

Don't worry, only aliens and geeks can understand learn.microsoft articles.

AnnieB · Nov 14, 2023

Here's my Disk Management - I gave the second Disk the name D Drive because that's what I'm used to with my old Windows 10 machine but I know the drive letter is actually I:

This is a backup image I took with EaseUs ToDo Backup when I picked up my PC but I'm having trouble restoring this one. This shows 4 partitions with one having a drive letter which seems normal. The actual trouble I'm having with my PC is that when I click on the C drive letter within this image, and then close down the window after exploring the image, I find that I cannot rename the file or folder it's inside or eject my external hard drive because Windows still thinks something is open. I have to resort to Restarting Windows Explorer in Task Manager and sometimes this doesn't even work. I think it only began being a problem when I installed the two big Windows Update builds recently, ie. 23H2. It doesn't happen on my old Windows 10 PC.

This is the EaseUs ToDo Backup screen of the backup image when I tried to restore the image.

And this shows my hard drive target for the backup image but I don't understand where the 5th unallocated partition has come from.

If anyone is interested, this is the screen I see at the end of the process but the image doesn't restore. I created a WinPE CD when I first loaded EaseUs ToDo but I don't know why I can't restore from within Windows unless this extra partition is the culprit. Incidentally, I've also tried unticking 'Optimize for SSD' in the step above and it makes no dfifference.

So should I say YES to 'Delete files from all drives' if I perform a PC Reset? If I say YES, will I potentially end up with several more unnamed partitions?

POLYSIUS · Nov 14, 2023

@AnnieB
I would create a folder on I:\Driver_Backup
Then save the drivers by this command
C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism /online /export-driver /destination:"I:\Driver_Backup"
Save all your personal files to (I:)
Your Recovery Partition is also not working!
and start a clean install
reinstall your drivers:
C:\WINDOWS\system32>pnputil /add-driver "I:\Driver_Backup\*.inf" /subdirs /install /reboot

Your C-Partition is also too big! Less than 150 GB is for 99% of all users ok!

Edit: I don't know how your Recovery-Tool works. I would try to recover only the C-Partition.

AnnieB · Nov 14, 2023

@POLYSIUS - When I add my data I will have over 500Gb although I do intend to rationalize this a bit. I like photography and Ialso have thousands of downloaded documents for my family history hobby. This is why I like to have a large C: drive.

I have sent an email to EaseUs ToDo to see if they can tell me where I'm going wrong. Hopefully I'll receive a reply tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, how were you able to tell that my Recovery Partition isn't working? Does this mean a PC Reset won't work?

POLYSIUS · Nov 14, 2023

I don't have a single personal file on my C-Drive! If you have a problem with Windows, your risk of loosing the files is too big.
If I ruin my C-Partition I don't loose anything!
Does EaseUS allow you to create a PE-based Rescue disk (USB) ISO?
Then you boot into the USB-Drive and try to recover just the C-Partition!
Type:
cmd (admin)
reagentc /info
and you see that your recovery-partition 633 MB is not working

AnnieB · Nov 14, 2023

POLYSIUS said:
I don't have a single personal file on my C-Drive! If you have a problem with Windows, your risk of loosing the files is too big.
If I ruin my C-Partition I don't loose anything!
Does EaseUS allow you to create a PE-based Rescue disk (USB) ISO?
Then you boot into the USB-Drive and try to recover just the C-Partition!
Type:
cmd (admin)
reagentc /info
and you see that your recovery-partition 633 MB is not working

Thank you for your patience.

Cmd shows Windows RE Status as Disabled. Is this something that the shop who built my PC and set up Windows would have done? If I ask them to reinstall Windows for me should I ask them to create some sort of recovery partition or is it something that I've inadvertently done?

I'm sorry I am finding this above my level of expertise. I had my previous PC for 10 years with Win7/Win10 on it and have never needed to restore a backup image but Windows 11 is proving to be quite a different matter.

I back my data up in about 5 different places including a daily back up of the data I most use so I am not too worried about data loss but I take your point.

POLYSIUS · Nov 14, 2023

Sooner or later you learn how to run Backups and how to use the Recovery-Tool.
Rule No. 1: Never run a Recovery from Windows. In case the Reboot doesn't work properly you are stucked in the ESP-Partition!
That can be fixed, if you understand how that works. So: Always use a USB-Stick for Recovery.
Do not backup a complete disk! For each partition a separate backup will avoid many problems.
If you car has a flat tyre, you do not exchange the hole car!
So try to create the USB-Disk.
Will be back in 1 hour.

AnnieB · Nov 14, 2023

@POLYSIUS
I will try to look at this over the next couple of days. I'm in the UK and it's getting a little late for me to concentrate now.
Thank you for your help.

AnnieB · Nov 16, 2023

Update: I managed to create a USB Boot drive with my EaseUs ToDo Backup software and got the original setup back. However, I was about to make a restore point and I noticed there are two drives referencing C:

Should I have these two drives? This is how my computer must have been set up in the shop when they installed Windows 11. I don't want to run into problems all over again so perhaps someone might be able to advise me.

POLYSIUS · Nov 16, 2023

You go to (C:) "Configure" and switch it on. There is an option to determine the size as well. 5 GB is usually enough.
But as long as your Recovery partition is not configured properly it will not help you.
So you know how to run a Recovery from the USB device?

You run cmd (admin)
sfc /scannow

Can you select the missing one and switch to Off?
cmd (admin)
vssadmin list shadowstorage /for=C:

AnnieB in post # 191: "When I add my data I will have over 500Gb although I do intend to rationalize this a bit. ..."
More than just a bit.

AnnieB · Nov 16, 2023

So I only know how to retrieve my backup using the EaseUs ToDo Backup software using a specially created boot USB disk with their software.

I am not sure whether I did this in the wrong order. I managed to turn on the C: (System) partition. I couldn't move the slider down to 5Gb so I left it at 9.31Gb.

Then I turned off the C: (Missing) partition and when I came out of it, it disappeared.

This is what the CMD window showed. When I tried sfc /scannow, I did restart the PC but the same message appeared again. Did I turn off the C: (Missing) partition too soon as the message is saying a repair is pending but I can't do anything about this it seems?

I have no idea what the rest of the information means.

Will I run into problems again in future if I don't get this sorted out correctly or should it be OK now? I don't want to spend the next fortnight setting up my PC again only to have further issues.

POLYSIUS · Nov 16, 2023

It is 9,31 GB because you (C:) partition is too big! 930 GB!!! That is very dangerous!
Try to imagine: You have let's say 600 GB on your C-Drive and the next Windows update crashes your system!
This can happen! The risk of loosing everything is to big!
150 GB is more than enough for 99.9 % of all users!

I just read this from your screenshot: There is a system repair pending!

Reboot before we continue!

cmd (admin)
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

AnnieB · Nov 16, 2023

I back up in about 5 places and need a lot of GBs. My old PC has more than 500Gb of data on the C drive and I have other data archived. I understand the need to back up regularly and I do.

What I am concerned about is whether I am going to have problems with the system going forward because of the two C: partitions I showed in post 196 and what I have done in post 198. I intend to keep the backup image that I used to restore my PC but if this is going to pose a problem in the future I would rather go back to the shop and ask them to reinstall Windows 11 for me again. I don't know whether they did it properly though.

I'm concerned that the CMD window is referring to a pending repair which I can't seem to do and I cannot run a scan. As you can tell I am a complete novice at this.