- Configure Windows Recovery Environment Win 10 Update
- How To Go To Winre Windows 10
- Reinstall Windows 10 Recovery Environment
Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a recovery environment that can repair common causes of unbootable operating systems. WinRE is based on Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE), and can be customized with additional drivers, languages, Windows PE Optional Components, and other troubleshooting and diagnostic tools. The Surface Pro 3 is working fine but when I tried to turn on Bitlocker bit I get the error: 'This PC doesn't support entering a BitLocker recovery password during startup. Ask your administrator to configure Windows Recovery Environment so that you can use BitLocker'. I only hace the USB Recovery image for Windows 10 pro.
On Windows 10, System Restore is a feature designed to create a snapshot of your device and save its working state as a 'restore point' when system changes are detected. In the event of a critical problem after installing an update, driver, or app, or after modifying system settings incorrectly using the Registry or another tool, you can use a restore point to revert your device settings to an earlier point in time to fix the problem without losing your files.
Although this is a handy troubleshooting tool, there's one caveat: For some odd reason, System Restore comes disabled by default, which means that you must enable it before you or Windows 10 can create restore points.
In this Windows 10 guide, we walk you through the steps to set up System Restore as well as the steps to recover your device from problems that may be affecting the normal operation.
How to enable System Restore on Windows 10
System Restore isn't enabled by default, but you can configure the feature with these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for Create a restore point, and click the top result to open the System Properties experience.
- Under the 'Protection Settings' section, select the main 'System' drive, and click the Configure button.
- Select the Turn on system protection option.Quick tip: Windows 10 can manage the space automatically, but under the 'Disk Space Usage' section, you can also use the slider to specify the maximum amount of storage to reserve for System Restore.
- Click the Apply button.
- Click the OK button.
Once you complete the steps, Windows 10 will create a restore point automatically when applying a new update or when specific system changes are made.
System Restore isn't a feature that you can enable globally. It's only available for system drives (the one that has the OS installed on it).
How to create a System Restore point on Windows 10
System Restore will create checkpoints automatically when it detects system changes, but if you're about to make significant modifications to your installation, it's recommended to create a restore point manually.
![Install recovery environment windows 10 Install recovery environment windows 10](https://theitbros.com:443/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/windows_10_startup_settings.jpg)
To create a System Restore point manually, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for Create a restore point, and click the top result to open the System Properties experience.
- Under the 'Protection Settings' section, click the Create button.
- Type a descriptive name for the restore point — for example, before modifying Windows Update settings with Registry.
- Click the Create button.
- Click the Close button.
- Click the OK button.
After completing the steps, you'll have a way to undo changes if something goes wrong while installing a new driver or application, or after editing the Registry.
How to recover using System Restore on Windows 10
If you run into issues after making system changes, before spending time troubleshooting the problem, you can undo the changes using a previously created restore point. You can perform this task while you still have access to the desktop, or even if your computer won't boot correctly.
Undoing system changes using desktop experience
In the case that you still have access to the desktop, you can revert system changes using a restore point with these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for Create a restore point, and click the top result to open the System Properties experience.
- Click the System Restore button.
- Click the Next button.
- Select the restore point that you want to use on your computer.
- Click the Scan for affected programs button to understand the apps that will no longer be available because they're added after the creation of the restore point.
- Click the Close button.
- Click the Next button.
- Click the Finish button.
Once you complete the steps, System Restore will return your computer to the previous working state.
Undoing system changes using Advanced startup
If the device isn't starting correctly, and you can't access the desktop, you can use Advanced startup to access System Restore.
Configure Windows Recovery Environment Win 10 Update
Boot into Advanced startup
Before you can use System Restore, you need to know the steps to access the Advanced startup environment, which you can do with these steps:
- Power on your computer.
- As soon as the Windows logo appears on your screen, press the power button to interrupt the boot sequence.
- Repeat steps No. 1 and 2 two more times. (Or until the device boots into the recovery experience.)
After completing the steps, you can use the steps outlined below to access System Restore.
Alternatively, if you can't access the recovery environment with these steps, you can start your device with a Windows 10 installation media, and while in the 'Windows Setup' experience, click the Next button, click the Repair your computer button from the bottom-left corner, and then follow the steps below.
Using System Restore
To access System Restore when your computer doesn't start, use these steps:
- Click the Advanced options button.
- Click on Troubleshoot.
- Click on Advanced options.
- Click on System Restore.
- Click the Next button.
- Select the restore point that you want to use on your computer.
- Click the Scan for affected programs button to understand the apps that will no longer be available because they're added after the creation of the restore point.
- Click the Close button.
- Click the Next button.
- Click the Finish button.
Once you complete the steps, the changes causing the problem will be discarded, and then your device should be able to start normally.
We're focusing this guide on Windows 10, but this feature has been around for a long time, as such you can also refer to these instructions even if you're using an older version, including Windows 8.1 or Windows 7.
Just be aware that while it might look similar, System Restore isn't a replacement for a backup or an option to reset your computer to its default factory settings. If the hard drive on your computer is experiencing physical issues or unrepairable file corruption, you won't be able to recover, and you may even lose your files.
Updated March 14, 2019: We revised this guide to make sure it's current with the latest version of Windows 10.
More Windows 10 resources
For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:
-->Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a recovery environment that can repair common causes of unbootable operating systems. WinRE is based on Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE), and can be customized with additional drivers, languages, Windows PE Optional Components, and other troubleshooting and diagnostic tools. By default, WinRE is preloaded into the Windows 10 for desktop editions (Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education) and Windows Server 2016 installations.
What's new with WinRE for Windows 10?
- By default, if you install Windows using media created from Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD), you'll get a dedicated WinRE tools partition 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 by using Windows Setup, you'll get the same partition layout that you did in Windows 8.1.)
- If you add a custom tool to the WinRE boot options menu, it can only use optional components that are already in the default WinRE tools. For example, if you have a app from Windows 8 that depended on the .NET optional components, you'll need to rewrite the app for Windows 10.
- If you add a custom tool to the WinRE boot options menu, it must be placed in the SourcesRecoveryTools folder so that it can continue to work after future WinRE upgrades.
- When adding languages to the push-button reset tools, you'll now need to add the WinPE-HTA optional component.
Tools
![Configure Windows Recovery Environment Win 10 Configure Windows Recovery Environment Win 10](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125377183/616332269.jpg)
WinRE includes these tools:
- Automatic repair and other troubleshooting tools. For more info, see Windows RE Troubleshooting Features.
- Push-button reset (Windows 10 for desktop editions , Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 only). This tool enables your users to repair their own PCs quickly while preserving their data and important customizations, without having to back up data in advance. For more info, see Push-Button Reset Overview.
- System image recovery (Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 only). This tool restores the entire hard drive. For more info, see Recover the Operating System or Full Server.
In addition, you can create your own custom recovery solution by 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 Boot Options menu, which can be launched from Windows in a few different ways:
- From the login screen, click Shutdown, then hold down the Shift key while selecting Restart.
- In Windows 10, select Start > Settings > Update & security > Recovery > under Advanced Startup, click Restart now.
- Boot to recovery media.
- Use a hardware recovery button (or button combination) configured by the OEM.
After any of these actions is performed, all user sessions are signed off and the Boot Options menu is displayed. If your users select a WinRE feature from this menu, the PC restarts into WinRE and the selected feature is launched.
WinRE starts automatically after detecting the following issues:
- Two consecutive failed attempts to start Windows.
- Two consecutive unexpected shutdowns that occur within two minutes of boot completion.
- Two consecutive system reboots within two minutes of boot completion.
- A Secure Boot error (except for issues related to Bootmgr.efi).
- A BitLocker error on touch-only devices.
Boot options menu
This menu enables your users to perform these actions:
- Start recovery, troubleshooting, and diagnostic tools.
- Boot from a device (UEFI only).
- Access the Firmware menu (UEFI only).
- Choose which operating system to boot, if multiple operating systems are installed on the PC.
Note
You can add one custom tool to the Boot options menu. Otherwise, these menus can't be further customized. For more info, see Add a Custom Tool to the Windows RE Boot Options Menu.
Security considerations
When working with WinRE, be aware of these security considerations:
- If users open the Boot options menu from Windows and select a WinRE tool, they must provide the user name and password of a local user account with administrator rights.
- By default, networking is disabled in WinRE. You can turn on networking when you need it. For better security, disable networking when you don't need connectivity.
Customizing WinRE
You can 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-Package
- WinPE-EnhancedStorage
- WinPE-Rejuv
- WinPE-Scripting
- WinPE-SecureStartup
- WinPE-Setup
- WinPE-SRT
- WinPE-WDS-Tools
- WinPE-WMI
- WinPE-StorageWMI-Package (added to the base image in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2)
- WinPE-HTA (added to the base image in Windows 10)
Note The number of packages, languages, and drivers is limited by the amount of memory available on the PC. For performance reasons, minimize the number of languages, drivers, and tools that you add to the image.
Hard drive partitions
When you install Windows by using Windows Setup, WinRE is configured like this:
- During Windows Setup, Windows prepares the hard drive partitions to support WinRE.
- Windows initially places the WinRE image file (winre.wim) in the Windows partition, in the WindowsSystem32Recovery folder.Before delivering the PC to your customer, you can modify or replace the WinRE image file to include additional languages, drivers, or packages.
- During the specialize configuration pass, the WinRE image file is copied into the recovery tools partition, so 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 drive partitions. When WinRE is installed on a hard drive, the partition 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 use WinRE even if the Windows partition is encrypted with Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption. It also prevents your users from accidentally modifying or removing the WinRE tools.
Store the recovery tools in a dedicated partition, directly after the Windows partition. This way, if future updates require a larger recovery partition, Windows will be able to handle it more efficiently by adjusting the Windows and recovery partition sizes, rather than having to create a new recovery partition size while the old one remains in place.
To learn more, see Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions or Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Drive Partitions.
Memory requirements
In order to boot Windows RE directly from memory (also known as RAM disk boot), a contiguous portion of physical memory (RAM) which can hold the entire Windows RE image (winre.wim) must be available. To optimize memory use, manufacturers should ensure that their firmware reserves memory locations either at the beginning or at the end of the physical memory address space.
Updating the on-disk Windows Recovery Environment
In Windows 10, the on-disk copy of Windows RE can be serviced as part 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 not directly serviced the on-disk Windows RE image (winre.wim). Instead, a newer version of the Windows RE image replaces the existing one, with the following contents being injected or migrated into the new image:
- Boot critical and input device drivers from the full OS environment are added to the new Windows RE image.
- Windows RE customizations under SourcesRecovery of the mounted winre.wim are migrated to the new image.
The following contents from the existing Windows RE image are not migrated to the new image:
- Drivers which are in the existing Windows RE image but 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
How To Go To Winre Windows 10
The Windows RE update process makes every effort to reuse the existing Windows RE partition without any 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 behave as follows:
- If the existing Windows RE partition is located immediately after the Windows partition, the Windows partition will be shrunk and space will be added to the Windows RE partition. The new Windows RE image will be installed onto the expanded Windows RE partition.
- If the existing Windows RE partition is not located immediately after the Windows partition, the Windows partition will be shrunk and a new Windows RE partition will be created. The new Windows RE image will be installed onto this new Windows RE partition. The existing Windows RE partition will be orphaned.
- If the existing Windows RE partition cannot be 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 partition will be orphaned.
Important To ensure that your customizations continue to work after 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 image (e.g. WinPE-NetFX). To facilitate development of Windows RE customizations, the WinPE-HTA optional component has been added to the default Windows RE image in Windows 10.
Note The new Windows RE image deployed as part of the rollup update contains language resources only for the system default language, even if the existing Windows RE image contains resources for multiple languages. On most PCs, the system default language is the language selected at the time of OOBE.
Known Issue
If the GPO 'Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options/Accounts: Block Microsoft accounts' is set to enable the policy 'User can’t add or log with Microsoft account', attempting to restore the System in WinRE will fail with the error message 'You need to sign in as an administrator to continue, but there aren't any administrator 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 or log with Microsoft Account' or set the MDM policy Security/RecoveryEnvironmentAuthentication to 2.
See also
Reinstall Windows 10 Recovery Environment
Content type | References |
---|---|
Deployment | Customize Windows RE | Deploy Windows RE |
Operations | |
Troubleshooting | |
Add-on tools | Add a Custom Tool to the Windows RE Boot Options Menu | Add a Hardware Recovery Button to Start Windows RE | Push-Button Reset Overview |