Configure Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE)

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2

Note

This content applies to Windows 7. For Windows 8 content, see Windows Deployment with the Windows ADK.

This section describes how to configure the Windows® Recovery Environment (Windows RE) settings on a Windows system.

Windows Setup installs Windows RE by default on Windows® 7 computers and optionally on Windows Server® 2008 R2 computers. In the event of a system failure, an end user can start the computer by using either the preinstalled set of Windows RE tools or Windows RE recovery media and then attempt to fix the system.

To provide better reliability in case of a critical situation, you can deploy Windows RE to a separate partition on the computer or to separate recovery media, such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

To save hard-drive space, you can configure Windows to uninstall Windows RE. For more information, see UninstallWindowsRE in the Windows® Unattended Setup Reference.

In This Section

Walkthrough: Create a Windows RE Image

Describes how to extract the default Windows RE Image from a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 computer and apply a set of supported customizations.

Walkthrough: Create a Windows RE Recovery Media

Describes how to create a recovery media using Windows RE and Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE).

Customizing the Windows RE Experience

Describes how to customize the user experience of Windows RE to include a recovery image compatible with Windows Setup or a custom recovery solution.

See Also

Concepts

Understanding Windows Recovery
Deploy a System Recovery Image