Recovery partition is now empty

bswee365

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Jan 22, 2018
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Hi, I recently recovered my laptop from a major issue where it wouldn't boot. All system recovery tools failed each and every time (reset, restore, disk check etc) however I luckily managed to recover the laptop by using a couple of BCDEDIT commands via the command prompt to repair the boot config. That's just background info, the real issue is this; I went about checking why all recovery options failed, in case I need the options in future. From powershell, I ran a command to see what partition my Windows Recovery Environment is on (using reagentc /info). Info was returned saying "Win RE status: Disabled". When I used the command to enable it, it threw up "Windows RE image was not found".
Diskmgmt does indeed show my recovery partitions are empty, with 100% free, I don't know why there are two, a small partition and a larger one. [Funnily enough, when I was having the boot issue, the Win RE WOULD appear, it's just that all options within it failed.] I have googled and some options for the Win RE are to create a recovery USB, or recovery partition using the Windows installation CD (I don't have one as the PC was preinstalled with an earlier Windows version which I upgraded to Win10 online when released). So my question is: how can I go about getting the recovery image back onto the partition where it once was? The Windows Media creation tool only seemed to allow the tool to be created on a USB or CD. Has anyone had a similar problem? Also, if it's just not possible to restore WIN RE onto its former partition, I presume I can use the space on that partition? Thanks in advance!

TLDR; how can I restore Win RE to its former partition if it has disappeared?
 
Solution
Your Win10 is corrupted beyond repair. Back up everything before you do the following:

Basically, you need to do a "clean" install. Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 and follow the directions to get the latest iteration of Win10 onto a bootable USB stick. Do a "custom" install, NOT a "restore" or "reset". Don't worry about having a license: it is hidden safely away in both your BIOS and on a secret server at Microsoft.

After the install finishes, the first thing you want to do is go to settings->Update & Security->Windows Update->Check for updates

After that, load the driver for your discreet GPU (if you have one). Make sure it is the latest one directly from the manufacturer's website. Then you...
Your Win10 is corrupted beyond repair. Back up everything before you do the following:

Basically, you need to do a "clean" install. Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 and follow the directions to get the latest iteration of Win10 onto a bootable USB stick. Do a "custom" install, NOT a "restore" or "reset". Don't worry about having a license: it is hidden safely away in both your BIOS and on a secret server at Microsoft.

After the install finishes, the first thing you want to do is go to settings->Update & Security->Windows Update->Check for updates

After that, load the driver for your discreet GPU (if you have one). Make sure it is the latest one directly from the manufacturer's website. Then you can reload your applications and restore your data.

BTW, if you want a fail-safe way to restore your system if it fails, doing an image backup every couple of weeks or so can be a lifesaver. Go to control panel->System and Security->File History->System Image Backup [found at the bottom left of the window]->Create a System Image->

You can use this to back up ALL of the drives in your computer into a single image.
 
Solution
Fast reply! Thanks... I should have mentioned that when I did have the boot issue, I downloaded a new copy of Windows, tried the custom install, and even THAT failed. But maybe it just failed because the boot configuration was corrupted and now that it's repaired, the custom install may work. I will try that and thanks again.
 


I would normally suggest that you use DBAN (https://dban.org/) to "wipe" your poor, confused HDD (never, ever wipe an SSD!!!!). Most people pooh-pah this step (mostly through fear and ignorance), but if you're interested, here's how: http://www.640kram.com/hardware-software/wipe-partition-format-hard-drives/
 
Oh and as for the image back up... every single backup I have tried to do for the last two years has failed. So I think the backup and restore system was jinxed. Even third party image creators failed. I tried to back up to two different large drives, so it wasn't a space issue. Maybe a clean install will solve all that... if the install works! Cheers!
 
I've had people tell me that both the automatic Win10 backup system (settings->Update & Security->Backup Make sure "Automatically back up my files" is turned on. Click on "More Options". Set the interval, the folders you want to back up, and the target drive) and the image backup system (control panel->System and Security->File History->System Image Backup [found at the bottom left of the window]->Create a System Image->) wouldn't work for them.

I use both of them, all of the time, and have never had a problem with either of them. But then, I'm kind of anal about keeping my systems healthy and up to date, so that might be a part of it.
 
In case anyone has similar issue in future... I reinstalled windows. Backups and system images now run completely error-free. I should have tried it a long time ago.