Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on Hard Drive

The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) can be used when troubleshooting issues where the computer cannot boot into Windows. It can be used for automatic diagnosis and recovery using Startup Repair, or it can be used to manually recover the computer using the tools available from within the environment such as the Registry Editor or System Restore.

  1. Turn on the computer.

  2. After the Gateway BIOS logo appears, repeatedly press the F8 key. The Advanced Boot Options menu opens.

  3. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to select Repair your Computer, and then press ENTER.
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  4. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, select the appropriate keyboard layout, and then click Next.
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  5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, select the user account that has Administrator rights, and then click OK.
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    Note: The Administrator account is disabled by default.

  6. In the System Recovery Options window, select the appropriate option.
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From within the Windows Recovery Environment there are a variety of tools that can be used for troubleshooting:

  • Startup Repair - Can be used to automatically diagnose and fix problems that are preventing Windows from starting. These problems could be registry corruption and missing/corrupted/damaged system or driver files. It can also diagnose some hardware failures.

  • System Restore - Restore Windows to an earlier point in time.

  • Complete PC Restore - Restore a system-level backup. This assumes you have done a Complete PC backup prior to attempting to use this tool. This backup point could be stored on DVD/CD discs or a local hard drive.

    Note: This option is only functional within Windows Vista Ultimate.

  • Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool - This tool checks your computer for memory hardware errors. For additional information on how to use the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool see the Tools and Troubleshooting - Memory Diagnostic Tool document.

  • Command Prompt - Opens a command prompt window. Focus is not on the system drive, but instead on the RAM drive (X:\Sources).

    • From there you have the ability to use the WinPE image to perform all of the tasks that could be done from the Recovery Console in Windows XP, with additional access and capabilities.
    • You can launch utilities like regedit (Registry Editor) and taskmgr (Task Manager). You can also launch msinfo32 but you need to navigate to your system32 directory on your system drive (i.e.: c:\windows\system32). Note that some of the information from msinfo will be from what is loaded in WinRE rather than what is on the system you are trying to diagnose.
    • You can launch the Malicious Removal Tool (MRT) and scan the drive, which by default would be the system drive. Keep in mind that if you run the tool from the install media, it might not have the latest updated bits and signatures.
    • It is not possible to launch utilities such as msconfig, Device Manager and Computer Manager from within WinRE.

  • Restore Application - This provides Gateway specific utilities to recover the computer to a near factory installation using the hard drive recovery partition.

    Note: This option is not available from the Windows Vista backup media.

Note: Some of the information in this document was provided by Microsoft.