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@REPLYADDR Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
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@PID: Ratcatcher/2.0.0.25 (Windows/20130802)
@TID: FIDOGATE-5.12-ge4e8b94
On 6/10/2023 7:53 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Paul <
nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
>> On 6/9/2023 2:01 PM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
>>> [Context kept because of age. Please skip to the end.]
>
> [Lots deleted.]
>
>>> I finally re-made the (Macrium Reflect Free) Image backup of the three
>>> non-C: partitions.
>>>
>>> I noticed that now the (image of the) Recovery Partition is (seems to
>>> be?) completely empty, i.e. I can mount it, but File Explorer, DIR and
>>> ATTRIB show no files or folders.
>>>
>>> If my (02AUG2022, i.e pre-MAY2023) notes are correct, it used to
>>> contain a single folder `Recovery` with a single 3-byte file _CNBRP.FLG.
>>>
>>> Why the difference and why is the partition empty/nearly-empty?
>>>
>>> Should I worry?
>>>
>>> FTR, Macrium says this about the partition:
>>>
>>> 4 - (None) Primary - NTFS 603.5 MB 693.0 MB
>>>
>>> The others (non-C:) are:
>>>
>>> 1 - SYSTEM (None) Primary - FAT (LBA) 71.0 MB 260.0 MB
>>> (Contains folder `EFI` with subfolders.)
>>>
>>> 2 - (None) Primary - Unformatted 16.0 MB 16.0 MB
>>>
>>> [...]
>>>
>>
>> (1) is EFS, the "system" partition used by UEFI. It can be
>> as small as 100MB. Linux does not like it to be 100MB and has
>> a different minimum size for it.
>>
>> (2) in your example, is Microsoft Reserved, it is quite small, and
>> it has no file system inside it. Since it has no file system,
>> some utilities are not prepared to even move such a partition.
>> Macrium switches to "dd" mode to back that up. Macrium is not
>> defeated by such "items". Linux GParted on the other hand...
>>
>> (4) is System Reserved and is sized to hold WinRE.wim.
>>
>> With an Admin terminal, try
>>
>> reagentc /info
>>
>> and that will tell you whether the System Reserved is currently being
>> used for its WinRE.wim , or the WIM is coming from somewhere else.
>>
>> If you have several System Reserved, the one "nearest" the right-hand-end
>> of the C: partition, that could be the "real" one. The others may be
>> part of supporting Windows.old rollback procedures on a failure.
>>
>> If the C: partition is ever inaccessible (like, say, BitLocker issue
>> due to TPM resetting), that is when you want the WinRE.wim to be
>> somewhere other than C: . That can function as the Recovery Environment
>> when the OS can`t or won`t boot.
>
> This is what `reagentc /info` says:
>
> Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration
> Information:
>
> Windows RE status: Enabled
> Windows RE location:
\\?\\GLOBALROOT\\device\\harddisk0\\partition4\\Recovery\\WindowsRE
> Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier:
78cb9cd9-c29d-11ed-8d0a-ffb519a0e260
> Recovery image location:
> Recovery image index: 0
> Custom image location:
> Custom image index: 0
>
> REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.
>
> The
>
> Windows RE location:
\\?\\GLOBALROOT\\device\\harddisk0\\partition4\\Recovery\\WindowsRE
>
> part seems to imply that my Recovery Partition (4) is in use and should
> contain WindowsRE[.wim] in folder Recovery, but as I said, the partition
> does not contain/show any files or folders (at least not in File
> Explorer (with (Show) File name extensions and Hidden items ticked), nor
> with DIR and `ATTRIB *.*).
>
> So still:
>
>>> Should I worry?
You should use TestDisk to look in the 0x27 Hidden NTFS "System
Reserved" partition.
https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
The thing is, reagentc.exe cannot claim "Enabled", unless
it has checked that the file in question is present. We
suspect, with a high probability, that it is there, and
it`s just a matter of identifying the partition properly.
The diskpart.exe can list partitions. Compare that list
to Disk Management.
[Picture]
https://i.postimg.cc/cJ1p8BNX/fun-with-partitions-and-winre-wim.gif
Paul
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