When you try to refresh/reset your PC from the Windows 8 recovery USB flash drive.
- Refresh your PC: "
The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again."
- Reset your PC: "
Unable to reset your PC. A required drive partition is missing."
The Windows 8 recovery USB flash drive do not re-create partitions on a hard disk or install Windows 8 to a blank hard disk.
You can manually create the required partitions (special GPT attributes are required beyond just the empty partitions) and manually restore using your Windows 8 recovery USB flash drive.
NOTE: Before you start, make sure that the
sources folder contains
*.swm files in the Windows 8 recovery USB flash drive (see screenshot below).
Why the USB boot media does not contain the
install.wim image file?
- With GPT partitions only FAT32 can be used on the USB boot media.
- With FAT32 you can't put a file larger than ~4GB on the drive.
View attachment 41324
1.
Sample: Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions by Using Windows PE and DiskPart
Save the following code as
CreatePartitions.txt
- In this example, the recovery image partition size is 20480 MB (20 GB).
- In this example, the Windows RE tools partition size is 1000 MB. Do not reduce the size of the partition or you will receive error message "There is not enough space on the disk", when you run the batch file.
Code:
rem == CreatePartitions.txt ==
rem == These commands are used with DiskPart to
rem create five partitions
rem for a UEFI/GPT-based PC.
rem == Usage: diskpart /s ScriptFileName
rem == Example: diskpart /s D:\CreatePartitions.txt
rem ================================================
select disk 0
clean
convert gpt
rem == 1. Windows RE tools partition ===============
create partition primary size=1000
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows RE tools"
assign letter="T"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
rem == 2. System partition =========================
create partition efi size=260
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
assign letter="S"
rem == 3. Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition =======
create partition msr size=128
rem == 4. Windows partition ========================
rem == a. Create the Windows partition ==========
create partition primary
rem == b. Create space for the recovery image ===
shrink minimum=20480
rem ** NOTE: Update this size to match the size
rem of the recovery image **
rem == c. Prepare the Windows partition =========
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
assign letter="W"
rem === 5. Recovery image partition ================
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs label="Recovery image"
assign letter="R"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
list volume
exit
2.
Samples: Applying Windows, System, and Recovery Partitions by using a Deployment Script
Save the following code as
ApplyImage.bat
- In this example, the image file is
*.swm (install.swm, install2.swm, install3.swm, etc.)
- In this example, the recovery image path is R:\RecoveryImage
Code:
@echo off
rem == ApplyImage.bat ==
rem == These commands copy the selected image file to
rem predefined hard disk partitions on a UEFI-based computer.
rem == Usage: ApplyImage.bat WimFileName
rem == Example: D:\ApplyImage D:\sources\*.swm
rem === Copy the image to the recovery image partition =======================
md R:\RecoveryImage
xcopy %1 R:\RecoveryImage\
rem === Apply the image to the Windows partition =============================
dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:R:\RecoveryImage\install.swm /SWMFile:R:\RecoveryImage\install*.swm /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\
rem === dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:R:\RecoveryImage\install.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\
rem === Copy the Windows RE Tools to the Windows RE Tools partition ==========
md T:\Recovery\WindowsRE
copy W:\windows\system32\recovery\winre.wim T:\Recovery\WindowsRE\winre.wim
rem === Copy boot files from the Windows partition to the System partition ===
bcdboot W:\Windows
rem === Register the location of the recovery tools ==========================
W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setreimage /path T:\Recovery\WindowsRE /target W:\Windows
rem === Register the location of the push-button reset recovery image ========
W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setosimage /path R:\RecoveryImage /target W:\Windows /index 1
3.
Copy
CreatePartitions.txt and
ApplyImage.bat into the root dir of your recovery USB flash drive.
4.
Boot to the
System Recovery Options screen using your recovery USB flash drive and select:
- Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt
5.
Run the Diskpart script.
Warning: This will completely deletes all data contained on the
Disk 0
diskpart /s D:\CreatePartitions.txt
Where D is a drive letter of your recovery USB flash drive.
6.
Run the ApplyImage.bat batch file.
D:\ApplyImage D:\sources\*.swm
Where D is a drive letter of your recovery USB flash drive.
7.
Once everything is done, remove your recovery USB flash drive, close command prompt window and select "Continue - Exit and continue to Windows 8".
8.
Once you finished the Windows installation, you can check the information of the Recovery Environment (see screenshot below).
In the elevated command prompt, type:
reagentc /info
View attachment 41325
You can also type commands:
diskpart >
select disk 0 >
list partition (see screenshot below).
View attachment 41326
View attachment 41327
