Solved Need help with reagentc.exe - setting OEM recovery image

rowlands111

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Hey guys,

I had my Acer desktop come back from the factory a couple of weeks ago. They did a great job in reparing it, however:

When confirming that they had did everything correctly, I out of curiosity, ran the ''reagentc.exe /showcurrent'' command from an eleveated command prompt. Whoops, there was no recovery image specified.

After hurting my brain somewhat, I deduced I would need to mount the ''Push Button Reset'' partition with a letter - I used ''Z'' for clarity. *EDIT* So I could locate the folder that the image was stored in, and specify it in the command..** (I used Acronis Disk Director for this simple operation)

I was then able to use the ''REAGENTC /SetOSImage ... '' commmand and specified it in the folder in my OEM Push Button Recovery partition.

My question is this, if I unmount the letter Z, and therefore make it a hidden partition, I guess that Windows won't be able to find it if I need to do a recovery? Would you know of any work a round, or if I could perhaps use another command to specify the OEM recovery image, which is located in that hiddden partition.

Cheers, and many thanks in advance!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Predator G3-605
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4770 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Acer Predator
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 @ 798MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GTX 770 2GB - Personally Overclocked
    Sound Card
    N/A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer Pradator full HD LED 24''
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Neutron GTX 240 GB (Boot)
    2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    500W
    Case
    Acer Pradator G3-605
    Cooling
    All standard
    Keyboard
    Corsair Raptor K50 RGB
    Mouse
    Acer Optical Mouse
    Internet Speed
    40Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Windows 8 Security
Update! - sorry for wasting anyone's time. Should have thought more before posting that essay....

I ran the ''reagentc.exe /info'' after unmounting the letter and whoopie! Instead of specifying a drive letter, it specified the correct partition of the Push Button Reset and confirmed that Windows still recognised there was a valid image set.

This was a bit of a saga for me tonight, I already have drive images using macrium and a recovery usb drive, but like to have other options should worst come to worst.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Predator G3-605
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4770 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Acer Predator
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 @ 798MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GTX 770 2GB - Personally Overclocked
    Sound Card
    N/A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer Pradator full HD LED 24''
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Neutron GTX 240 GB (Boot)
    2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    500W
    Case
    Acer Pradator G3-605
    Cooling
    All standard
    Keyboard
    Corsair Raptor K50 RGB
    Mouse
    Acer Optical Mouse
    Internet Speed
    40Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Windows 8 Security
As far as I know, there is no /showcurrent switch for reagentc.exe. I believe that is for the recimg.exe utility which sets up the Custom Refresh Image.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Haha, aye you're right there, my mistake; that would've voided my post.
I meant ''REAGENTC.EXE /Info'' for this particular post.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Predator G3-605
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4770 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Acer Predator
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 @ 798MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GTX 770 2GB - Personally Overclocked
    Sound Card
    N/A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer Pradator full HD LED 24''
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Neutron GTX 240 GB (Boot)
    2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    500W
    Case
    Acer Pradator G3-605
    Cooling
    All standard
    Keyboard
    Corsair Raptor K50 RGB
    Mouse
    Acer Optical Mouse
    Internet Speed
    40Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Windows 8 Security
Personally, I gave up on the idea of a custom refresh image a little while ago. Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on it as a viable means of efficient recovery/maintenance?

I think other backup and restore solutions do more, and offer more reliability! There was an absolutely stellar guide someone posted on this (and I'm new to this forum, and more advanced topics in general) that allowed the recovery drive which houses the restore and refresh image (which you can use if the partitions aren't hosed) to re-partition and install Windows onto a failed, or bare metal, system. Fantastic reading.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Predator G3-605
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4770 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Acer Predator
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 @ 798MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GTX 770 2GB - Personally Overclocked
    Sound Card
    N/A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer Pradator full HD LED 24''
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Neutron GTX 240 GB (Boot)
    2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    500W
    Case
    Acer Pradator G3-605
    Cooling
    All standard
    Keyboard
    Corsair Raptor K50 RGB
    Mouse
    Acer Optical Mouse
    Internet Speed
    40Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Windows 8 Security
Personally, I don't use a Custom Refresh Image. But if you have an updated to 8.1 install, it would give you an option to Refresh if you do not have the 8.1 media.

The restore options are great, and the OEM and Windows 8 ones do vary somewhat. But the big problem recently has been the 8.1 update, which is a different OS version, causing problems for those operations. Hopefully yours still works fine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Personally, I don't use a Custom Refresh Image. But if you have an updated to 8.1 install, it would give you an option to Refresh if you do not have the 8.1 media.

Very good point

I didn't know the OEM versions vary, that's interesting, and annoying!

Saltgrass, it quite literally has taken weeks for me to come to terms with this OS and feel comfortable about my data recovery solution; my different options built in the OS, and 3rd party providers that are going to work with OEM 8.1 and all the new technology that owning a circa 2014 OEM machine brings. (Never will I not have a backup solution, after my PC wouldn't boot after me breaking Windows Boot Manager in my machine :( )
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Predator G3-605
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4770 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Acer Predator
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 @ 798MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GTX 770 2GB - Personally Overclocked
    Sound Card
    N/A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer Pradator full HD LED 24''
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Neutron GTX 240 GB (Boot)
    2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    500W
    Case
    Acer Pradator G3-605
    Cooling
    All standard
    Keyboard
    Corsair Raptor K50 RGB
    Mouse
    Acer Optical Mouse
    Internet Speed
    40Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Windows 8 Security
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