Use LiveRE to troubleshoot Windows startup problems

The LiveRE tool creates an image that can be used to start a computer through a USB connection. This tool is helpful in troubleshooting "no boot" issues. It can also be used to provide remote access to a non-starting computer through a jump server for support professionals.

Note

This article is intended for use by support agents and IT professionals.

LiveRE to WinRE comparison

Here is a comparison of Live RE to the existing Windows Recovery Environment that's included with Windows ISOs.

Feature	WinRE/WinPE	iDRAC/ILO	Live operating system (OS)
Availability	With DVD	Special hardware	Flash-drive
Remote Access	No	Yes	Yes
DISM	Yes	Via WinRE	Yes with capability to download missing payloads from internet
DiskPart	Yes	Via WinRE	No, but PowerShell equivalent works
BitLocker	Yes	Via WinRE	Yes
Copy/Paste to allow reduced research and log recording	No	No	Yes
Invoke PowerShell scripts	No	No	Yes
Access to Shadow copies	No	No	Yes

System requirements

• Processor: 1.4Ghz 64-bit processor
• RAM: 512 MB
• Disk Space: 32 GB
• Network: Gigabit (10/100/1000baseT) Ethernet adapter (a 1 Gbps connection is ideal)
• Optical Storage: DVD drive (if installing the OS from DVD media)
• USB 3.0 flash drive, 8 GB or greater
• Video: Super VGA (1024x768) or higher resolution (optional)
• Input Devices: Keyboard and mouse (optional)
• Internet: Broadband access (optional)

Set up the USB flash drive

1. Download the LiveRE image.

2. Connect a USB flash drive.

3. Check whether the nonstarting computer is set up for BIOS startup or UEFI startup. Format the USB drive accordingly:

   • For UEFI:

     Diskpart
     List disk
     Sel disk <the number of the flash drive>
     Clean
     Convert gpt
     Create part pri
     Exit
     

     Format the partition for the FAT32 file system.

   • For MBR boot:

     Diskpart
     List disk
     Sel disk <the number of the flash drive>
     Clean
     Convert mbr
     Create part pri
     List part
     Sel part 1
     active
     Exit
     

     Format the partition for the NTFS file system.

4. Run the following commands:

   dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:<complete path of the LiveOS.wim> /Index:1 /ApplyDir:<flash drive letter>:\
   <flash drive letter>:\Windows\System32\bcdboot <flash drive letter>:\Windows /s <flash drive letter>: /f ALL
   

After the USB flash drive is ready, start the affected server from the flash drive.

Create user account for remote access

The following steps help create a user to enable remote access through a jump server:

1. Start the problem computer by using the USB flash drive. Accept the EULA to proceed to the Help console.

2. Press Enter to access PowerShell.

3. Run the following cmdlets:

   $Password = Read-Host -AsSecureString
   
   New-LocalUser "user_name" -Password $Password
   Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" -Member "user_name"
   

   Note

   Enter the password after the first cmdlet.

The computer is now set up for remote access through a jump server. The following screenshot shows a sample cmdlet.

Connect from the jump server

1. Get the IP address from the LiveRE screen.

   

2. On a working computer in the same network as the nonstarting computer, open PowerShell ISE, and run the following script:

   $ip = "172.25.80.68"
   Set-Item WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts $ip
   $user = "$ip\user_name"  
   Enter-PSSession -ComputerName $ip -Credential $user
   

3. When prompted, enter the password.

4. You will be connected to the broken computer through WinRM.

   

If you experience issues when you connect through WinRM, check whether WinRM is enabled. If it isn't, run the winrm qc command to enable WinRM.

If you receive an error message that reassembles the following message, this means that the network connections is set to Public.

You can determine which connections are set to Public by running the following cmdlet:

Get-NetConnectionProfile | select InterfaceAlias, NetworkCategory

The following is a sample output:

You can either disable the public connections or change them to private after you remove permissions from the customer. To do this, run the following cmdlet:

Set-NetConnectionProfile -interfacealias "vEthernet (Internal LAN)" -NetworkCategory Private

Unlock BitLocker drives from LiveRE

1. Run Get-Volume to find the drive letter:

   

2. Run the following command:

   Unlock-BitLocker -MountPoint <drive letter> -RecoveryPassword <recovery password>
   

Disk configuration

Because Diskpart.exe is not available in LiveRE, use PowerShell to achieve similar results. Here are a few commands:

1. Check Disk: Get-Disk
2. Check partitions in a disk: Get-Partition -DiskNumber <number>
3. Set a partition to active: Set-Partition -DiskNumber <number> -PartitionNumber <number> -IsActive $true
4. Check properties of a partition: Get-Partition -DiskNumber <number> -PartitionNumber <number> |fl

For more information, see Windows Storage Management-specific cmdlets.

Registry configuration

There is no registry editor is Live OS. In order to change the registry, access the share for affected OS drive by using the \\<IP Address>\c$ path.

Get the hives from \windows\system32\config, make the changes to the hives, and then continue to the next steps.

Access shadow copies

LiveRE allows access to shadow copies from disks of a computer that is not starting, this can be used to replace previous versions of files.

You can use the following steps to access previous versions of the files:

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ShadowCopy | select volumename,ID,InstallDate,DeviceObject
Get-Volume | select Driveletter,path to get the volume name association with Volume ID

Note

The OS date and time have to be adjusted per the correct time zone to remain accurate. LiveOS uses the Coordinated Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time) time zone.

Copy the DeviceObject for the shadow copy that you want to access, and then run the following commands:

$sobj="<DeviceObject>" + "\"
cmd /c mklink /d c:\shadowcopy "$sobj"

You can now access the previous versions of the file from PowerShell by browsing to \\<IP>\c$\shadowcopy.

Injecting drivers

If you have a RAID-disk setup, you have to install RAID drivers from OEM media to make the volumes visible to the OS.

In LiveRE, you can extract the RAID drivers to the <USB>:\CopyDriversHere folder.

Then, after you start in LiveRE, press the 4 key to install the drivers.

Another way to install drivers is to do the following:

1. Download and extract the drivers to a folder on the LiveRE flash drive.

2. After you connect to the affected conputer, run the following cmdlet:

   pnputil /add-driver <location of raid driver.inf>
   
   Add-WindowsDriver -Path <flash drive letter>:\ -Driver <path of driver folder> -Recurse