Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE)

  • Commodity
  • 9 minutes to read

Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a recovery environment that tin can repair common causes of unbootable operating systems. WinRE is based on Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE), and can exist customized with additional drivers, languages, Windows PE Optional Components, and other troubleshooting and diagnostic tools. By default, WinRE is preloaded into the Windows 10 and Windows 11 for desktop editions (Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Educational activity) and Windows Server 2016, and later, installations.

Screenshot shows options: Continue, Use a device, Troubleshoot, or Turn off your PC

What's new with WinRE for Windows xi

  • Yous can at present run virtually tools within WinRE without selecting an administrator account and entering the password. When booted into the Recovery surroundings, encrypted files won't be attainable unless the user has the key to decrypt the volume.
  • We've updated the behavior of Advanced startup (Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Advanced startup "Restart now") so Ease of Admission features will work in the recovery environment. For case, previously, if the narrator feature was enabled prior to launching Advanced startup, information technology would not be enabled on restart (and could non be enabled). Now Avant-garde startup boots direct into the Windows Recovery Surround where a user can turn on Ease of Access features by using a keyboard shortcut.

What'southward new with WinRE for Windows 10

  • By default, if you install Windows using media created from Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD), you lot'll go a dedicated WinRE tools partitioning on both UEFI and BIOS-based devices, located immediately after the Windows partition. This allows Windows to replace and resize the partition as needed. (If you install Windows past using Windows Setup, you'll get the same sectionalization layout that y'all did in Windows eight.ane.)
  • If you lot add together a custom tool to the WinRE Advanced startup menu, it can only utilise optional components that are already in the default WinRE tools. For example, if you have a app from Windows 8 that depended on the .Cyberspace optional components, you'll need to rewrite the app for Windows 10.
  • If you add a custom tool to the WinRE Avant-garde startup menu, it must exist placed in the \Sources\Recovery\Tools folder and then that it can continue to work after future WinRE upgrades.
  • When adding languages to the push-button reset tools, you'll at present demand to add the WinPE-HTA optional component.

WinRE includes these tools:

  • Automatic repair and other troubleshooting tools. For more than info, see Windows RE Troubleshooting Features.
  • Push-button reset (Windows dekstop editions only). This tool enables your users to repair their own PCs rapidly while preserving their data and of import customizations, without having to back up data in advance. For more info, see Push-Button Reset Overview.
  • System prototype recovery (Windows Server editions only). This tool restores the entire hard bulldoze. For more info, encounter Recover the Operating System or Full Server.

In addition, you lot can create your own custom recovery solution past using the Windows Imaging API, or by using the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) API.

Entry points into WinRE

Your users can access WinRE features through the Avant-garde startup menu, which tin can be launched from Windows in a few different ways:

  • From the login screen, click Shutdown, and then agree downwardly the Shift primal while selecting Restart.
  • Click Start > Settings > Update & security > Recovery > under Advanced Startup, click Restart at present.
  • Boot to recovery media.
  • Utilize a hardware recovery button (or push button combination) configured past the OEM.

Afterwards any of these actions is performed, all user sessions are signed off and the Advanced startup bill of fare is displayed. If your users select a WinRE feature from this bill of fare, the PC restarts into WinRE and the selected feature is launched.

WinRE starts automatically later detecting the post-obit issues:

  • Two consecutive failed attempts to first Windows.
  • 2 consecutive unexpected shutdowns that occur within two minutes of boot completion.
  • Two sequent arrangement reboots within ii minutes of kicking completion.
  • A Secure Kick error (except for issues related to Bootmgr.efi).
  • A BitLocker error on bear upon-only devices.

Avant-garde startup menu

This card enables your users to perform these actions:

  • Kickoff recovery, troubleshooting, and diagnostic tools.
  • Kicking from a device (UEFI only).
  • Admission the Firmware card (UEFI only).
  • Choose which operating system to kick, if multiple operating systems are installed on the PC.

Security considerations

When working with WinRE, be aware of these security considerations:

  • If users open the Advanced startup menu from Windows and select a WinRE tool, they must provide the user proper name and password of a local user account with ambassador rights.
  • Yous can run virtually tools within WinRE without selecting an ambassador business relationship and inbound the password. When booted into the Recovery environment, encrypted files won't be accessible unless the user has the key to decrypt the book.
  • By default, networking is disabled in WinRE. You can turn on networking when you demand it. For better security, disable networking when y'all don't need connectivity.

Customizing WinRE

You tin customize WinRE by adding packages (Windows PE Optional Components), languages, drivers, and custom diagnostic or troubleshooting tools. The base WinRE image includes these Windows PE Optional Components:

  • Microsoft-Windows-Foundation-Parcel
  • WinPE-EnhancedStorage
  • WinPE-Rejuv
  • WinPE-Scripting
  • WinPE-SecureStartup
  • WinPE-Setup
  • WinPE-SRT
  • WinPE-WDS-Tools
  • WinPE-WMI
  • WinPE-StorageWMI-Package (added to the base of operations paradigm in Windows viii.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2)
  • WinPE-HTA (added to the base of operations image in Windows 10)

Annotation

The number of packages, languages, and drivers is limited by the amount of retentivity available on the PC. For performance reasons, minimize the number of languages, drivers, and tools that yous add to the image.

Hard drive partitions

When you install Windows past using Windows Setup, WinRE is configured like this:

  1. During Windows Setup, Windows prepares the hard bulldoze partitions to support WinRE.

  2. Windows initially places the WinRE image file (winre.wim) in the Windows partition, in the \Windows\System32\Recovery folder.

    Earlier delivering the PC to your customer, you can alter or replace the WinRE image file to include additional languages, drivers, or packages.

  3. During the specialize configuration laissez passer, the WinRE image file is copied into the recovery tools partition, and then that the device can boot to the recovery tools even if there's a problem with the Windows partition.

When you deploy Windows by applying images, you must manually configure the hard bulldoze partitions. When WinRE is installed on a hard bulldoze, the partitioning must be formatted as NTFS.

Add the baseline WinRE tools image (winre.wim) to a separate partition from the Windows and data partitions. This enables your users to employ WinRE even if the Windows partitioning is encrypted with Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption. It also prevents your users from accidentally modifying or removing the WinRE tools.

Shop the recovery tools in a defended sectionalization, directly after the Windows sectionalization. This manner, if future updates require a larger recovery partitioning, Windows volition exist able to handle it more efficiently past adjusting the Windows and recovery sectionalisation sizes, rather than having to create a new recovery partition size while the old one remains in place.

To larn more, see Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions or Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Bulldoze Partitions.

Memory requirements

In order to boot Windows RE straight from memory (as well known as RAM disk boot), a contiguous portion of physical retentiveness (RAM) which can agree the entire Windows RE image (winre.wim) must exist bachelor. To optimize retentiveness use, manufacturers should ensure that their firmware reserves memory locations either at the offset or at the finish of the physical retentivity address space.

Updating the on-disk Windows Recovery Environment

The on-deejay re-create of Windows RE tin be serviced as function of rollup updates for the Os. Not all rollup updates will service Windows RE.

Unlike the normal Os update process, updates for Windows RE do non directly serviced the on-disk Windows RE epitome (winre.wim). Instead, a newer version of the Windows RE image replaces the existing one, with the post-obit contents existence injected or migrated into the new image:

  • Kicking critical and input device drivers from the full OS environment are added to the new Windows RE image.
  • Windows RE customizations under \Sources\Recovery of the mounted winre.wim are migrated to the new image.

The post-obit contents from the existing Windows RE image are not migrated to the new paradigm:

  • Drivers which are in the existing Windows RE paradigm only not in the full OS environment
  • Windows PE optional components which are not part of the default Windows RE image
  • Language packs for Windows PE and optional components

The Windows RE update process makes every effort to reuse the existing Windows RE partition without whatever modification. However, in some rare situations where the new Windows RE image (along with the migrated/injected contents) does not fit in the existing Windows RE partition, the update process will bear every bit follows:

  • If the existing Windows RE partition is located immediately later on the Windows partition, the Windows sectionalisation will be shrunk and space will be added to the Windows RE segmentation. The new Windows RE image will be installed onto the expanded Windows RE partition.
  • If the existing Windows RE partition is not located immediately later the Windows partition, the Windows partitioning volition exist shrunk and a new Windows RE partitioning will exist created. The new Windows RE image volition exist installed onto this new Windows RE sectionalisation. The existing Windows RE sectionalization will be orphaned.
  • If the existing Windows RE partitioning cannot exist reused and the Windows partition cannot successfully be shrunk, the new Windows RE image will be installed onto the Windows partition. The existing Windows RE partitioning will be orphaned.

Important

To ensure that your customizations continue to work afterward Windows RE has been updated, they must not depend on functionalities provided by Windows PE optional components which are not in the default Windows RE paradigm (eastward.g. WinPE-NetFX). To facilitate evolution of Windows RE customizations, the WinPE-HTA optional component has been added to the default Windows RE paradigm in Windows 10.

Note

The new Windows RE prototype deployed equally part of the rollup update contains language resource only for the arrangement default language, even if the existing Windows RE paradigm contains resources for multiple languages. On well-nigh PCs, the system default language is the language selected at the fourth dimension of OOBE.

Known Issue

If the GPO "Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options/Accounts: Cake Microsoft accounts" is ready to enable the policy "User tin't add or log with Microsoft business relationship", attempting to restore the System in WinRE will fail with the error bulletin "Y'all demand to sign in every bit an ambassador to continue, but there aren't any ambassador accounts on this PC."

This is a known issue and the workaround is to either avoid setting the "Accounts: Block Microsoft accounts" to "User can't add together or log with Microsoft Account" or set the MDM policy Security/RecoveryEnvironmentAuthentication to 2.

See also

Content type References

Deployment

Customize Windows RE | Deploy Windows RE

Operations

REAgentC Command-Line Options

Troubleshooting

Windows RE Troubleshooting Features

Add-on tools

Add a Custom Tool to the Windows RE Advanced startup Menu | Add a Hardware Recovery Button to Beginning Windows RE | Push button-Push button Reset Overview