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@REPLYADDR Frank Slootweg
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Paul <
nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
> 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
Thanks Paul, for yet another detailed response!
As I mentioned, I was looking at the (Macrium Reflect) *image of* the
Recovery Partition, not at the Recovery Partition itself (because you
can not - at least not easily - give that a drive letter).
While Macrium Reflect should *backup* the content of the Recovery
Partition, perhaps it does not *show* the (hidden?) content in the
image.
If I`ve the time, I will look into this. Alternatively others could
perhaps `mount` (`Browse` in Macrium Reflect) the image of their
Recovery Partition and see if it`s `empty` like in my case.
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