Deploy Windows RE
Applies To: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2
Use these steps to deploy Windows® Recovery Environment (Windows RE) to a new computer, to help end users repair a PC when a system failure occurs.
In this topic:
Step 1: Deploying Windows RE
Step 2: Identifying the Recovery Partitions and Hide the Drive Letters
To complete this walkthrough, you need the following:
A destination computer that has been configured with a Windows RE tools partition, and optionally, a recovery image partition. For more information, see Capture and Apply Windows, System, and Recovery Partitions.
Optional: Customize your recovery media. For more information, see Customize Windows RE.
Optional: Customize your recovery media to include custom tools. For more information, see Add a Custom Tool to the Windows RE Boot Options Menu.
Create a new directory in the Windows RE Tools partition, and then copy your custom Windows RE tools image (Winre.wim) to this directory. The following are examples based on your firmware type:
UEFI:
mkdir T:\Recovery\WindowsRE xcopy /h W:\Windows\System32\Recovery\Winre.wim T:\Recovery\WindowsRE
where T: is the drive letter of your Windows RE Tools partition. For example:
BIOS:
mkdir S:\Recovery\WindowsRE xcopy /h W:\Windows\System32\Recovery\Winre.wim S:\Recovery\WindowsRE
where S: is the system partition.
Register your custom Windows RE tools image:
UEFI:
C:\Windows\System32\Reagentc /setreimage /path T:\Recovery\WindowsRE /target W:\Windows
where T: is the Windows RE Tools partition.
BIOS
C:\Windows\System32\Reagentc /setreimage /path S:\Recovery\WindowsRE /target W:\Windows
where S: is the System partition.
Optional: If you have added a custom tool to your Windows RE boot image, register it so that it will appear on the Boot Options menu:
Reagentc /setbootshelllink /configfile E:\Recovery\BootMenu\AddDiagnosticsToolToBootMenu.xml
For more information about adding a custom tool, see Add a Custom Tool to the Windows RE Boot Options Menu.
Optional: Configure a hardware recovery button (or button combination) to run a secondary boot path that contains Windows RE. For more information, see Add a Hardware Recovery Button to Start Windows RE.
Note
If you want to configure push-button reset features for Windows® 8 editions, skip this section, and go to the topic: Deploy Push-Button Reset Features.
Configure your partitions as recovery partitions, and then conceal the drive letters so the partitions don't appear in common Windows menus, such as File Explorer.
In Notepad, create a text file that includes commands to identify and hide the recovery partitions. The following examples are based on your firmware type:
UEFI:
Use the ID: PARTITION_MSFT_RECOVERY_GUID (de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac) to define the partitions as recovery partitions.
Use the GPT attributes: 0x8000000000000001 to hide the drive letters and to mark them as required, by using a combination of two attributes: GPT_BASIC_DATA_ATTRIBUTE_NO_DRIVE_LETTER and GPT_ATTRIBUTE_PLATFORM_REQUIRED.
For more information about UEFI hard drive partition attributes, see PARTITION_INFORMATION_GPT structure.
rem == HideRecoveryPartitions-UEFI.txt select disk 0 select partition 1 remove set id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001 rem == If Push-button reset features are included, add the following commands: rem select partition 5 rem remove rem set id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac rem gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001 list volume
BIOS:
Use the attribute:
id=27
to define the system partition, and use theremove
command to remove the drive letter.rem == HideRecoveryPartitions-BIOS.txt select disk 0 select partition 3 set id=27 remove list volume exit
Save your completed file as either E:\Recovery\HideRecoveryPartitions-UEFI.txt or E:\Recovery\HideRecoveryPartitions-BIOS.txt, based on your firmware type.
Run the diskpart script to identify and hide the recovery partitions:
Diskpart /s E:\Recovery\HideRecoveryPartitions-<firmware>.txt
Where <firmware> is either UEFI or BIOS.
Open an administrative command prompt.
Verify the Windows RE information:
reagentc /info
Verify the following:
Windows RE status is enabled.
Windows RE location is on the correct partition.
The BCD GUID entry for WinRE is the same as the WinRE GUID entry in the file: reagent.xml. On BIOS-based PCs, this file is on the system partition, at \Recovery\(GUID)\. On UEFI-based PCs, this file is on the Windows RE Tools partition, at \Recovery\WindowsRE\.
WinRE is located in the \Recovery\WindowsRE directory
Customize Windows RE
Add a Custom Tool to the Windows RE Boot Options Menu