Problem Setting Recovery Partition after Moving Partitions

Steve C · 15 Mar 2019

I just used Partition Magic to reconfigure my partitions as shown below:

Attachment 227390
The 925GB recovery partition is no longer recognised - see the reagentc reconfiguration command below:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>reagentc /setreimage /path \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition4\Recovery\WindowsRE
REAGENTC.EXE: The Windows RE image cannot be stored in the specified volume. Use the RETAIN command in DISKPART to prepare the volume and try again.

How do I proceed from here to restore a working recovery partition?

lx07 · 15 Mar 2019

check the partition type. In diskpart

select disk 0
select partition 4
detail partition

Id should be DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC and gpt attributes 0x8000000000000001 (see UEFI/GPT-based hard drive partitions | Microsoft Docs and Capture and Apply Windows, System, and Recovery Partitions | Microsoft Docs)

According to the same link your 925MB partition has enough free space but you could also making it much bigger (4GB perhaps) as a test to rule that out as a cause.

Edit : Just another thought - may be an idea to mount it and check you do have winre.wim in \Recovery\WindowsRE\ although from used space I guess you do.

Steve C · 15 Mar 2019

lx07 said:

check the partition type. In diskpart

select disk 0
select partition 4
detail partition

Id should be DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC and gpt attributes 0x8000000000000001 (see UEFI/GPT-based hard drive partitions | Microsoft Docs and Capture and Apply Windows, System, and Recovery Partitions | Microsoft Docs)

According to the same link your 925MB partition has enough free space but you could also making it much bigger (4GB perhaps) as a test to rule that out as a cause.

Edit : Just another thought - may be an idea to mount it and check you do have winre.wim in \Recovery\WindowsRE\ although from used space I guess you do.

Thanks. The partition had the correct ID.

I fixed it by assigning a drive letter to the partition then running the reagentc command pointing to that drive and WinRE path. The recovery drive has now been set and remains so having removed the drive letter (see enclosed). Windows 10 recovery options work as expected. Go figure!
Attachment 227402

lx07 · 15 Mar 2019

Steve C said:

I fixed it by assigning a drive letter to the partition then running the reagentc command pointing to that drive and WinRE path.

I just tried with \\?\GLOBALROOT format and it doesn't like it for me either so it seems you are right. The log in C:\Windows\Logs\ReAgent says it couldn't find it. Like you when I mounted the partition it worked OK.

Steve C · 15 Mar 2019

lx07 said:

I just tried with \\?\GLOBALROOT format and it doesn't like it for me either so it seems you are right. The log in C:\Windows\Logs\ReAgent says it couldn't find it. Like you when I mounted the partition it worked OK.

The original command I used obtained from the forum was:
C:\WINDOWS\system32>reagentc /setreimage /path \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition4\Recovery\WindowsRE

It seems this syntax may no longer be correct. Is a different command now needed for the latest version of Windows?

lx07 · 15 Mar 2019

What worked was to assign letter=R in diskpart then this :

reagentc /setreimage /path R:\Recovery\WindowsRE

What is peculiar is now I've done that this command, the same as yours, works also (when it didn't before) :

reagentc /setreimage /path \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition4\Recovery\WindowsRE

I'm not sure now really why mine didn't work before but I've done too many disable/enable to make any sense of my log file. Sorry I can't be any help but it seems setting the path to \\?\GLOBALROOT\ *is* still valid. Just not always...

Steve C · 15 Mar 2019

lx07 said:

What worked was to assign letter=R in diskpart then this :

reagentc /setreimage /path R:\Recovery\WindowsRE

What is peculiar is now I've done that this command, the same as yours, works also (when it didn't before) :

reagentc /setreimage /path \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition4\Recovery\WindowsRE

I'm not sure now really why mine didn't work before but I've done too many disable/enable to make any sense of my log file. Sorry I can't be any help but it seems setting the path to \\?\GLOBALROOT\ *is* still valid. Just not always...

Behold the wonders of Microsoft software engineering!

realmaze · 03 Jul 2023

Steve C said:

I just used Partition Magic to reconfigure my partitions as shown below:

Attachment 227390
The 925GB recovery partition is no longer recognised - see the reagentc reconfiguration command below:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>reagentc /setreimage /path \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition4\Recovery\WindowsRE
REAGENTC.EXE: The Windows RE image cannot be stored in the specified volume. Use the RETAIN command in DISKPART to prepare the volume and try again.

How do I proceed from here to restore a working recovery partition?

I had the same issue, the message is misleading. It is only happening because your recovery is not recognized as a recovery partition. To fix this, you need to give it the right ID (DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC for GPT disks or 07 for MBR risks) and attributes (0x8000000000000001). Once you have done this, you can do the diskpart setreimage instruction again and it will work. Below is an example on how to set the ID and attribute of your recovery partition for GPT disks.

Code:

DISKPART> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 System 100 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 Reserved 16 MB 101 MB
Partition 3 Primary 930 GB 117 MB
Partition 4 Recovery 1024 MB 930 GB

DISKPART> select partition 4

Partition 4 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> set id=DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC

DiskPart successfully set the partition ID.

DISKPART> gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001

DiskPart successfully assigned the attributes to the selected GPT partition.

DISKPART> exit

- - - Updated - - -

Steve C said:

Thanks. The partition had the correct ID.

I fixed it by assigning a drive letter to the partition then running the reagentc command pointing to that drive and WinRE path. The recovery drive has now been set and remains so having removed the drive letter (see enclosed). Windows 10 recovery options work as expected. Go figure!
Attachment 227402

You must have set the attributes to 0x8000000000000001. If you do that it will always work on first try because the recovery is recognized as a recovery. This is particularly important if you add a primary partition as it will usually break recovery pointers, so by reassigning attributes it usually allows for reagentc to go smoothly.

realmaze · 14 Jul 2023

realmaze said:

I had the same issue, the message is misleading. It is only happening because your recovery is not recognized as a recovery partition. To fix this, you need to give it the right ID (DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC for GPT disks or 07 for MBR risks) and attributes (0x8000000000000001). Once you have done this, you can do the diskpart setreimage instruction again and it will work. Below is an example on how to set the ID and attribute of your recovery partition for GPT disks.
You must have set the attributes to 0x8000000000000001. If you do that it will always work on first try because the recovery is recognized as a recovery. This is particularly important if you add a primary partition as it will usually break recovery pointers, so by reassigning attributes it usually allows for reagentc to go smoothly.

I created a cmd script you can use to do those changes as well as other repair actions directly from the command line.
Note:

Plug into a text file as save it as script.cmd or download the attached and change the extension to cmd
Run as administrator
Please be careful not to select the wrong partition on the wrong disk when you mark a partition as a recovery!

Code:

@echo off

:: Define functions
:menu
echo.
echo Select which components of the script to execute:
echo.
echo 1. Repair system files using SFC command
echo 2. Check and fix disk errors through CHKDSK command
echo 3. Bcdboot - Use this option to create or repair the system partition files
echo 4. Fixboot - Use this option to repair boot errors on a specific partition
echo 5. Bootrec - Use this option to repair boot errors on the system partition (MBR only)
echo 6. Use Diskpart to mark a partition as a recovery partition (GPT only)
echo 7. Access the System Restore with Command Prompt
echo 8. Exit
echo.
set /p selection=Enter your selection (default is 1-9):
if "%selection%"=="" set selection=1-9

if "%selection%"=="1" (
    echo.
    echo Performing SFC...
    echo.
    sfc /scannow
    goto menu
)

if "%selection%"=="2" (
    echo.
    echo Performing CHKDSK...
    echo.
    chkdsk /f /r
    goto menu
)

if "%selection%"=="3" (
   set /p partition=Enter the drive letter of the partition you want to use:

   echo.
   echo Performing Bcdboot...
   echo.
   bcdboot %systemroot% /s %partition%
   goto menu

)

if "%selection%"=="4" (
    set /p partition=Enter the drive letter of the partition you want to use:
    
    echo.
    echo Performing Fixboot...
    echo.
    fixboot %partition%
    goto menu
)

if "%selection%"=="5" (
    echo.
    echo Performing Bootrec...
    echo.

    bootrec /scanos
    bootrec /fixmbr
    bootrec /fixboot
    bootrec /rebuildbcd
    goto menu
)

if "%selection%"=="6" (
    call :use_diskpart_to_mark_a_partition_as_a_recovery_partition
    goto menu
)

if "%selection%"=="7" (
   rstrui.exe
   goto menu
)

if "%selection%"=="8" (
   exit /b 0
)

:: Use Diskpart to mark a partition as a recovery partition
:use_diskpart_to_mark_a_partition_as_a_recovery_partition

    @echo off
    (
    echo Rescan 
    echo List Disk
    ) | diskpart

    set /p disk=Enter the number of the disk you want to use:

    (
    echo Rescan 
    echo Select Disk %disk%
    echo List Partition 
    ) | diskpart

    set /p partition=Enter the number of the partition you want to mark as a recovery partition:

    (
    echo Rescan 
    echo Select Disk %disk%
    echo Select Partition %partition%
    echo Assign Letter=R
    echo set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
    echo gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
    echo Detail Partition 
    echo exit
    ) > script.txt

    diskpart /s script.txt

    echo.
    echo Successfully marked partition %partition% as a recovery:
    echo.
    
    set /p YN=Do you want to use reagentc to connect your recovery to the GPT boot record (Y/N)?:
    
    if "%YN%"=="Y" (
    reagentc /setreimage /path R:\Recovery\WindowsRE

    echo.
    echo Note: If this failed, your recovery partition probably does not have a Recovery\WindowsRE folder with the right files, you need to use a different method
    echo.
    )
    pause

SIW2 · 14 Jul 2023

You would be better off using %systemdrive% in your cmd file. Contrary to popular belief the osletter is not always C

Problem Setting Recovery Partition after Moving Partitions

Problem Setting Recovery Partition after Moving Partitions

Boot repair script