Macrium image restore changes partition layout

After reboot, it's disabled again.

1. Run: reagentc /disable and also remove the letter Q
2. go to: C:\Windows\System32\Recovery. There should be 2 files:WinRE.wim and ReAgent.xml
3. Edit ReAgent.xml and replace the content with:
   NOTE: Might have to save it to desktop first then move to replace
   
   Code:

   <?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes'?>
   <WindowsRE version="2.0">
       <WinreBCD id=""></WinreBCD>
       <WinreLocation path="" id="0" offset="0"></WinreLocation>
       <ImageLocation path="" id="0" offset="0"></ImageLocation>
       <PBRImageLocation path="" id="0" offset="0" index="0"></PBRImageLocation>
       <PBRCustomImageLocation path="" id="0" offset="0" index="0"></PBRCustomImageLocation>
       <InstallState state="0"></InstallState>
       <OsInstallAvailable state="0"></OsInstallAvailable>
       <CustomImageAvailable state="0"></CustomImageAvailable>
       <WinREStaged state="0"></WinREStaged>
       <ScheduledOperation state="4"></ScheduledOperation>
       <OperationParam path=""></OperationParam>
       <OsBuildVersion path=""></OsBuildVersion>
       <OemTool state="0"></OemTool>
   </WindowsRE>

4. Run: reagentc /enable
5. then run: reagentc /info. It should be: enable

C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\ReAgent.xml starts with x'EFBBBF'. Is this correct and normal?
Seems to be as it's the same on my Win 10 Oracle VM.

Other than that it's identical to what you asked me to replace it with.

NavyLCDR, no WinRE.wim in System32. No WinRe.wim anywhere on my computer.

Ztruker said:

C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\ReAgent.xml starts with x'EFBBBF'. Is this correct and normal?
Seems to be as it's the same on my Win 10 Oracle VM.

Other than that it's identical to what you asked me to replace it with.

NavyLCDR, no WinRE.wim in System32. No WinRe.wim anywhere on my computer.

No, It does not look normal. Somehow, the ReAgent.xml got corrupted.
Did you run step #1 above ? When you run: reagentc /disable , windows should move the WinRe.wim back to C:\Windows\System32\Recovery folder along with ReAgent.xml

Wouldn't the OP have to run reagentc /setreimage to point to the WinRE.wim in System32 first before enabling it via reagentc?

No, reagentc /setreimage is used when the Recovery partition is moved but before enabling it, WinRE.wim must exist in C:\Windows\System32\Recovery folder, not in System32

With reagentc /disable:


With reagentc /enable, the content of ReAgent.xml changed. The GUID must match what in BCD, the offset must match with the output from diskpart (detail partition):

WinRE.wim only exists in \disk0\partition1\Recovery\WindowsRE, it does not exist in C:\Windows\System32\Recovery.
With reagentc set to enable or disable does not matter, WinRE.wim is never placed in C:\Windows\System32\Recovery.

I even copied WinRE.wim from \disk0\partition1\Recovery\WindowsRE to C:\Windows\System32\Recovery then did an enable and disable and it was deleted from C:\Windows\System32\Recovery and no additional enable/disable put it back again. That seems to be the basis of my problem.

A clean install would fix this but not something I'm willing to do at this time, especially since I can access F8 from the boot menu at boot time now so the need for a working shift+restart is no linger necessary.

If you can think of a way to fix this I'm willing to give it a try though.

Thanks for all your efforts so far.

I can! But you wouldn't like the answer! Dump Macrium Reflect entirely and go with a better imaging ware! That's the simple solution!

Example. Here I still run the 2010 Home edition of Acronis True Image which you already know about. The gui for back up is quite simple you either select the files and folders for partial backups or select the drive(s) or partition(s) you want to see included in a full system image backup if not using the Windows backup option which tends to take up more disk space!

The restoration includes everything from the drive(s) selected and sees all restored without a hiccup. With the 2016 now having become "Bloatware" by the description I am hearing however a look at the Paragon software lineup would be a consideration once the 2010 is no longer able to be used here.

Macrium on the other hand isn't working out for you there at all and would need to be replaced if not simply end up using the Backup option already in Windows. After a certain point you will likely come to the same conclusion since you are likely doing everything the right way but simply seeing how that program does things. Bad install of the software? That can't be ruled out either.

I was sick of Acronis and dumped it last year. Got real tired of having to buy a new version every time a new version of Windows was released.

I've used Aomei Back Upper which works well and Macrium Pro. I'll take a look at Paragon and see if going through the backup C:, clean install, restore C: works any better and if Shift Restart then works.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm not sure Macrium can be blamed for this though. I've updated this computer from Win 7 Pro X64 to Win 8 Pro X64 to Win 8.1 Pro X64 and now Win 10 Pro X64, no clean install. Maybe the real fix would be to clean install Win 10 Pro X64 then restore just my data and reinstall software. It would take a few days probably but since I like messing with this stuff so much, maybe it's the right way to go. (Edit: No Windows 7, sorry).

I will try Aomei and/or Paragon before I clean install though just to see what happens.