REAGENTC.EXE: Unable to update Boot Configuration Data.

Question

I am unable to enable WindowsRE?

Answer 1

(1) You've got two System partitions each with its own BCD. C partition is doubling as a System partition, & EFI is a System partition...

That is likely what is confusing ReagentC. It needs to find the BCD in order to enable the Recovery partition. We need to tell Windows that EFI is to be used -- not C. Let's try this...

DiskPart<<<Enter DiskPart

List  Vol<<<List the volumes & letters

Select  Vol  7           <<<Select EFI -- I guess it's still Volume 7

Assign  Letter=S     <<<Give it letter S -- unless List Vol shows it's already there

Exit<<<Exit Diskpart

BCDBoot  C:\Windows  /s  S:  /f  UEFI <<< **** Rebuild the BCD in EFI & all other boot files.

A reboot will be necessary to inform the rest of Windows of the change.

(a) I'm unsure that actually tells Windows to use EFI.

(b) I'm unsure whether that will also remove the System attribute from C.

(c) I'm unsure exactly what would remove it.

(d) So, maybe try this before the reboot...

REN C:\EFI EFI_unwanted <<<Rename the folder

..........................................................................

Then -- if it turns out it can't reboot -- you'll have to rename it back in the recovery environment, thus...

(a) At the Choose an Option screen, click "Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt".

(b) Enter the following commands...

DiskPart

List Vol

Exit

The Windows partition may have a different letter here. Use it instead of C in the following command...

REN C:\EFI_unwanted EFI <<<Rename it back

......................................................................

(2) After the reboot (presuming it did)...

Does BCDEdit /Enum {fwbootmgr} now show {bootmgr} on top?

Does BCDEdit /Enum {Bootmgr} name either HarddiskVolume9 or S: as the Device?

If so, try again...

ReagentC /Disable <<<Moves WinRE.wim to staging area

ReagentC /Enable <<<Moves it to the Recovery partition

ReagentC /Info <<<Show whether it is enabled

If it isn't enabled, let's see C:\Windows\Logs\ReAgent\Reagent.log. Just copy/paste the output of those three commands from the bottom of the log.

(3) A volume is a partition that has a file system on it. The Volume numbers enumerated by DiskPart are not the same as the HarddiskVolume numbers enumerated in the BCD. The BCD counts all partitions (with or without a file system) starting from Disk 0. Disk Management won't show them all. DiskPart will show them, this way...

DiskPart <<<Enter DiskPart

List Disk <<<List your 8 disks

Select Disk 0 <<<Focus on Disk 0

List Part <<<List its partitions

Select Disk 1

List Part

=== Continue with Disks 2 through 7 ===

Exit <<<Leave DiskPart

Looking at your prior listings, I now think the 8th partition down will be C. And EFI will be partition 9. Disks 0-5 will have 1 partition each, then Disk 6 shows...

So -- HarddiskVolume8 is the Windows partition. (EFI is HarddiskVolume9). Yep, the BCD that is on C (shown with /Store) shows the letter...

The one that is on EFI (S:) shows...

We want the one on EFI (S:) to be the only one. Windows gets confused when there is more than one System partition.

Answer 2

Glad to see you safely back. I hope we will have a success in this thread. Thanks for the encouraging words. Those logs are tough to look at. I thought I saw ReagentC possibly getting confused with the multiple BCDs. I think it went for the one on EFI, but it is the one on C that is in effect. So, let's get rid of the C:\EFI folder & set his computer to boot through EFI. I hope that will do it.

Answer 3

Thanks, PCR.

True. Here's a recent case where two System partitions (one on each physical drive) caused an error during Windows setup, though Windows booted correctly.

Answer 4

Yep. That proves it. It's no good to have two System partitions plugged in at once. When it comes time to do a reboot (to complete an install) Windows may get confused. Also, some apps like ReagentC may get confused when looking for the BCD even absent a reboot.

In Lumince's case, both System partitions are on the same drive (HDD). The Windows partition is doubling as a System partition, & he's got an EFI partition. So, he doesn't even have the option to unplug a drive. And it's best anyway to kill one of the System partitions. He can't kill the Windows partition, but he can...

(a) Rename the C:\EFI folder on it.

(b) Then, run that BCDBoot command to fix the BCD in the EFI partition.

That should do it, I think.

Answer 5

Hey! Sorry everyone! I haven't been able to try this out just yet! As soon as I can get access to my PC again I will try the recommendations! Thank you so much for all of your input and suggestions! Ramesh Srinivasan has already helped me so much with getting my windows install to update due to EFI partition issues before! I never thought that an issue like this could even be possible haha