Moving the WinRE Recovery partition to a different disk

Question

I'm working on a server 2022 where I'm trying to get a usable WinRE to be bootable from a different volume that is attached to the server. Prior to attempting this, I confirmed that I was able to boot into the Recovery partition via reagentc /boottore. The server has 2 disks. Disk 0 and Disk 1. The recovery partition was copied from Disk 0 to Disk 1. The only things on Disk 1 are partition 1 type reserved and partition 2 type recovery. After making the copy, I deleted the Recovery partition that originally was on Disk 0.

After re-hooking up the new Recovery partition, you can see how it looks in the Diskmanager .png

Also attached a pic on Recovery Environment information and how it is mapped to the proper disk and partition.

Now when I try to boot into the WinRE, it comes back with a Windows Boot Manager error.

Any ideas on how to make this work?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Thanks for the reply but fail to see how this will help me resolve or answer my questions.

Prior to cloning the partition to a new disk, I confirmed that the WinRE booted up just fine. As stated before, I moved the partition off of the original disk to a separate disk following the example on this threadon how to reconnect the back end so it is able to use the moved Recovery Partition.

Question 1: Is it even possible to have a system be able to boot into the Recovery Partition if it is on a different disk?

Question 2: If Q1 is yes, with all the info that's been shared, what am I missing.

Question 3: Xu, I appreciated you actually responding.....but are you AI?

Please answer directly to Q1-Q3 and not instructions how to recreate the partition since that is not what I'm asking. Recreating the normal way will only put me back to where the Recovery partition is on the original disk, which is not the goal.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Hi Brendan,

Thanks for the update.

Q1:

Yes, it is possible to boot into the Recovery Partition if it is on a different disk.

One possible solution is to use the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to boot into the Recovery Partition. To do this, you will need to create a bootable USB drive with WinRE on it and then configure your system to boot from the USB drive. Once you have booted into WinRE, you can use the tools provided to access the Recovery Partition on the other disk.

Another option is to use a third-party boot manager to configure your system to boot into the Recovery Partition on the other disk.

Q3:

I'm not AI. Since this issue may relate to Device and Deployment, and I'm from the Storage and High Availability Team, I can only reply to you from my perspective and experience.

If you need to further check this issue, I suggest you go to the Microsoft Customer Service Center to open a Premier-level case so that with their permission level and resource, Microsoft could provide you with better help on your request.

Thanks for your understanding.

Best Regards

Answer 3

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something but I thought WinRE and Recovery Partition are mostly one in the same. WinRE is booted from the Recovery Partition when there is a problem with the regular partition.

This is why when using BCD the Recovery Partition is part of the boot list. Also, when I assign a drive letter (R:) to the Recovery Partition, I can see that the WinRE image is present for the boot up process.

I was able to boot up into the Recovery Partition via WinRE that is on Recovery Partition before attempting this. Cloning the Recovery Partition to a different disk and adjusting the backend pointers makes it no longer boot up in WinRE.

I don't understand why using a USB drive is suggested for this since it is supposed to boot up WinRE that is already present in the Recovery Partition. If I create a USB with WinRE on it, boot it up, what value will that have to access the Recovery Partition that has the same files that is on the USB disk I already booted from?

Since Q1 was answered with a Yes, "with all the info that's been shared, what am I missing?"

Thanks

Answer 4

(Bump)

Answer 5

After lots of research, ended up just blowing the WinRE away since we have never used it in all our years and it's become an annoyance.