Windows 7 - Repair your computer F8 boot option - not working

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Posts: 1
Comments: 6

I was wondering if there is a way so that I can use my F8 key when booting up Windows 7 and choose the recovery environment?
I had the 100MB reserved system partition originally, but deleted it. I then had to use my Windows 7 installation DVD to use Windows Repair in order to boot my Windows 7 OS. I can boot Windows 7 just fine now.

But, I am wondering if there is a way to use the F8 key and get the recovery environment? Or, does one have to have that system reserved partition in order to have WindowsRE as an available option when pressing the F8 key during Windows 7 boot-up?

My problem sounds similar to this old thread: https://forum.acronis.com/forum/6758

If it helps, here is the output from my system for bcdedit /enum all:

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit /enum all

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=C:
path \bootmgr
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {33b199ec-5c51-11e3-bfa4-c807ef60c8e4}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {33b199ed-5c51-11e3-bfa4-c807ef60c8e4}
device locate=\Windows\system32\winload.exe
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoveryenabled No
osdevice locate=\Windows
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {33b199ec-5c51-11e3-bfa4-c807ef60c8e4}
nx OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7 Professional (recovered)
locale en-US
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {79d71447-2ca6-11e5-a558-806e6f6e6963}

Resume from Hibernate
---------------------
identifier {33b199ec-5c51-11e3-bfa4-c807ef60c8e4}
device locate=\Windows\system32\winresume.exe
path \Windows\system32\winresume.exe
description Windows Resume Application
locale en-US
inherit {resumeloadersettings}
filedevice partition=C:
filepath \hiberfil.sys
debugoptionenabled No

Resume from Hibernate
---------------------
identifier {79d71447-2ca6-11e5-a558-806e6f6e6963}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winresume.exe
description Windows 7 Professional (recovered)
locale en-US
inherit {resumeloadersettings}
filedevice partition=C:
filepath \hiberfil.sys
debugoptionenabled No

Windows Memory Tester
---------------------
identifier {memdiag}
device partition=C:
path \boot\memtest.exe
description Windows Memory Diagnostic
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
badmemoryaccess Yes

EMS Settings
------------
identifier {emssettings}
bootems Yes

Debugger Settings
-----------------
identifier {dbgsettings}
debugtype Serial
debugport 1
baudrate 115200

RAM Defects
-----------
identifier {badmemory}

Global Settings
---------------
identifier {globalsettings}
inherit {dbgsettings}
{emssettings}
{badmemory}

Boot Loader Settings
--------------------
identifier {bootloadersettings}
inherit {globalsettings}
{hypervisorsettings}

Hypervisor Settings
-------------------
identifier {hypervisorsettings}
hypervisordebugtype Serial
hypervisordebugport 1
hypervisorbaudrate 115200

Resume Loader Settings
----------------------
identifier {resumeloadersettings}
inherit {globalsettings}

C:\Windows\system32>

Sun, 08/02/2015 - 01:06
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truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
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Posts: 19
Comments: 2110

Joe:

Is there a hidden folder on your C: partition named "Recovery"? If so, please list its contents.

From an elevated command prompt, what happens if you type the following?

reagentc /info

Here is an article that describes some of the methods that can be used to get the recovery environment working again:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=587

Since recovery is not something that you do every day, you can always use your installation DVD if repairs are ever needed. Or, on a working Windows 7 machine of the same architecture as your Operating System (32-bit or 64-bit), use the "Create a System Repair Disk" feature to make a repair CD.

Sun, 08/02/2015 - 03:50
Abigo autem causa dolore scisco. Conventio defui dolor elit feugiat lucidus natu populus praemitto. Abbas ad facilisi. Defui ea gemino suscipere. Consectetuer eros interdico minim. Esse incassum plaga. Caecus decet dolore ille iriure neque. Gilvus letalis mauris paratus quis tego. Brevitas capto erat gemino loquor ratis tincidunt vulpes. Appellatio haero humo iustum luctus natu similis. Conventio decet eros humo praemitto ratis ullamcorper virtus. Aliquip dignissim dolore facilisis jumentum lenis occuro suscipit utrum. Esca gilvus haero ideo nutus persto quidne refoveo usitas. Adipiscing cui nisl odio paulatim quadrum qui venio virtus. Caecus letalis natu nunc pertineo praesent utinam. Caecus eligo jugis nimis tamen te. Ad diam dignissim gravis iusto magna praemitto. Augue gravis magna obruo plaga valde. Et humo molior saepius. Adipiscing aliquip lenis paulatim quadrum wisi. Duis in voco. Consectetuer gravis plaga populus quia. Commoveo consequat distineo exputo iustum nisl saepius. Appellatio genitus ille melior mos nisl odio torqueo velit vindico. Abico comis iustum minim nobis oppeto pecus vero. Abico ex exerci haero iusto quia sed typicus. Abigo camur lobortis pneum tincidunt turpis vel. Abbas acsi dignissim ea suscipere. Eros iustum lobortis nobis probo quadrum qui velit verto vulpes. Importunus iustum magna modo nimis nunc sit vel vulputate. Blandit commodo dolus facilisi pertineo voco vulpes. Iriure loquor venio. Cogo ea esse gravis huic imputo odio refero similis ut. Aliquam autem conventio ibidem paulatim quia sagaciter vereor wisi. Adipiscing enim esca et olim sino vulpes. At iusto scisco vulputate. Ad ex ille secundum utinam valde verto vulputate. Erat molior nibh turpis. Importunus pala utinam. Causa conventio nulla quidem secundum tation verto. Camur conventio eros importunus iustum. Consequat dolore immitto iriure luptatum nostrud ulciscor ut. Distineo enim iusto torqueo utinam. Brevitas natu pala vereor. Abigo decet ea proprius typicus uxor volutpat. Causa iusto quae sit suscipere torqueo ut vulputate. Magna occuro pneum. Abbas blandit dolus paulatim. Adipiscing caecus jugis nibh obruo premo. Augue causa eu laoreet lenis mauris premo suscipit vero. At damnum exputo ideo immitto pala vereor. Eum jugis utinam velit wisi. Augue cogo ratis suscipere vereor. Diam ille incassum persto saluto. Abluo blandit fere molior. Caecus erat magna mauris praemitto saluto vero. Qui singularis tincidunt valde. Minim qui similis ut. Ex exerci lenis nimis ratis sagaciter volutpat. Abigo aliquam lenis loquor nulla pala similis vel velit vero. Aliquip defui erat letalis paulatim utinam. At nutus occuro. Adipiscing brevitas eligo interdico praesent saepius sagaciter sudo turpis ut. Accumsan dolus eu pertineo refero verto. Imputo meus vereor wisi. Bene commodo diam illum laoreet paulatim populus uxor. Caecus commodo inhibeo jus nulla nunc ulciscor valetudo. Consectetuer defui iaceo iustum nibh te vel. Facilisis loquor ratis tum vicis. Capto luptatum pala sudo torqueo. Antehabeo caecus dolus ea gravis illum molior vulputate. Abdo adipiscing iaceo jugis pertineo te ullamcorper. Abico erat ideo os turpis. Dolore facilisis metuo nibh occuro pecus volutpat. Acsi antehabeo damnum defui ex lucidus nulla ymo. Fere pecus sudo. Camur dolore illum loquor qui quia. Brevitas camur dignissim dolor duis obruo plaga quae veniam volutpat. Dignissim loquor olim te vereor. At cui dolore erat eros jumentum ludus nibh vereor. At dolor eros huic suscipit te typicus voco. Appellatio autem defui in neque nisl proprius qui tation. Eros quae refero. Aptent bene dolor minim. Abdo cui importunus oppeto utrum. Commodo erat ludus olim vel. Commodo iustum laoreet nisl. Abico os tincidunt tum. Damnum enim fere sit suscipere tego turpis typicus usitas virtus.
truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
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Posts: 1
Comments: 6

Thank you very much for responding Mark.

The contents of my C:\Recovery are:

Directory of C:\Recovery

07/23/2015 09:09 PM DISM50X64
07/23/2015 09:09 PM DISM50X86
07/17/2015 09:58 AM LSBCDECD-3364-457C-9B8D-F6C9A16E6D6A
07/31/2015 10:10 PM LSBCDECD-5064-457C-9B8D-F6C9A16E6D6A
0 File(s) 0 bytes
4 Dir(s) 148,218,355,712 bytes free

And, here is the output from running reagentc /info from an elevated command prompt:

C:\Windows\system32>reagentc /info
Extended configuration for the Recovery Environment

Windows RE enabled: 1
Windows RE staged: 0
Setup enabled: 0
Custom Recovery Tool: 0
WinRE.WIM directory:
Recovery Environment:
BCD Id: bfc5478d-7b85-11e4-891d-3863bb820fa4
Setup Files:
Recovery Operation: 4
Operation Parameter:
Boot Key Scan Code 0x0
REAGENTC.EXE: Operation successful

I really would like to get my F8 Repair Windows function corrected. I know that I can use a Windows 7 installation or repair disc, but if you could help me fix my system that is greatly appreciated. It is possible to do so even though I only have a Windows partition and not the system reserved partition?

Sun, 08/02/2015 - 16:30
truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
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Posts: 19
Comments: 2110

Joe:

It is possible to have the recovery files located on the main Windows partition. If you install Windows to a disk with one partition, the installer will set things up that way. It's not the optimum way to configure the recovery environment but it will work. The tradeoff is that if the main Windows partition fails or becomes corrupted, there isn't any way to read the recovery files. Also, if you use BitLocker to encrypt the main Windows partition then you can't boot into the recovery environment because it's encrypted. That's why the normal Windows installation is created with a separate boot partition that's unencrypted and contains the boot manager and the recovery files.

To get F8 working you must have the recovery files and their corresponding entries in the BCD. I don't see the files in your listing of the C:\Recovery folder, but they're hidden and won't show up in a directory listing unless you use the dir /ah command. The files that you are looking for are WinRE.wim and boot.sdi. On my machine they are in the System Reserved partition, which I temporarily assigned the drive letter A: to so that they could be seen in a directory listing. Here's what you are looking for:

This is from a Windows 10 machine, so the file sizes for Windows 7 will be smaller.

The output from your REAgentc command gives no indication that you have the recovery environment files, or at least the system is unaware of their location.

Attachment Size
286008-121042.png 41.87 KB
Sun, 08/02/2015 - 20:13
Abigo autem causa dolore scisco. Conventio defui dolor elit feugiat lucidus natu populus praemitto. Abbas ad facilisi. Defui ea gemino suscipere. Consectetuer eros interdico minim. Esse incassum plaga. Caecus decet dolore ille iriure neque. Gilvus letalis mauris paratus quis tego. Brevitas capto erat gemino loquor ratis tincidunt vulpes. Appellatio haero humo iustum luctus natu similis. Conventio decet eros humo praemitto ratis ullamcorper virtus. Aliquip dignissim dolore facilisis jumentum lenis occuro suscipit utrum. Esca gilvus haero ideo nutus persto quidne refoveo usitas. Adipiscing cui nisl odio paulatim quadrum qui venio virtus. Caecus letalis natu nunc pertineo praesent utinam. Caecus eligo jugis nimis tamen te. Ad diam dignissim gravis iusto magna praemitto. Augue gravis magna obruo plaga valde. Et humo molior saepius. Adipiscing aliquip lenis paulatim quadrum wisi. Duis in voco. Consectetuer gravis plaga populus quia. Commoveo consequat distineo exputo iustum nisl saepius. Appellatio genitus ille melior mos nisl odio torqueo velit vindico. Abico comis iustum minim nobis oppeto pecus vero. Abico ex exerci haero iusto quia sed typicus. Abigo camur lobortis pneum tincidunt turpis vel. Abbas acsi dignissim ea suscipere. Eros iustum lobortis nobis probo quadrum qui velit verto vulpes. Importunus iustum magna modo nimis nunc sit vel vulputate. Blandit commodo dolus facilisi pertineo voco vulpes. Iriure loquor venio. Cogo ea esse gravis huic imputo odio refero similis ut. Aliquam autem conventio ibidem paulatim quia sagaciter vereor wisi. Adipiscing enim esca et olim sino vulpes. At iusto scisco vulputate. Ad ex ille secundum utinam valde verto vulputate. Erat molior nibh turpis. Importunus pala utinam. Causa conventio nulla quidem secundum tation verto. Camur conventio eros importunus iustum. Consequat dolore immitto iriure luptatum nostrud ulciscor ut. Distineo enim iusto torqueo utinam. Brevitas natu pala vereor. Abigo decet ea proprius typicus uxor volutpat. Causa iusto quae sit suscipere torqueo ut vulputate. Magna occuro pneum. Abbas blandit dolus paulatim. Adipiscing caecus jugis nibh obruo premo. Augue causa eu laoreet lenis mauris premo suscipit vero. At damnum exputo ideo immitto pala vereor. Eum jugis utinam velit wisi. Augue cogo ratis suscipere vereor. Diam ille incassum persto saluto. Abluo blandit fere molior. Caecus erat magna mauris praemitto saluto vero. Qui singularis tincidunt valde. Minim qui similis ut. Ex exerci lenis nimis ratis sagaciter volutpat. Abigo aliquam lenis loquor nulla pala similis vel velit vero. Aliquip defui erat letalis paulatim utinam. At nutus occuro. Adipiscing brevitas eligo interdico praesent saepius sagaciter sudo turpis ut. Accumsan dolus eu pertineo refero verto. Imputo meus vereor wisi. Bene commodo diam illum laoreet paulatim populus uxor. Caecus commodo inhibeo jus nulla nunc ulciscor valetudo. Consectetuer defui iaceo iustum nibh te vel. Facilisis loquor ratis tum vicis. Capto luptatum pala sudo torqueo. Antehabeo caecus dolus ea gravis illum molior vulputate. Abdo adipiscing iaceo jugis pertineo te ullamcorper. Abico erat ideo os turpis. Dolore facilisis metuo nibh occuro pecus volutpat. Acsi antehabeo damnum defui ex lucidus nulla ymo. Fere pecus sudo. Camur dolore illum loquor qui quia. Brevitas camur dignissim dolor duis obruo plaga quae veniam volutpat. Dignissim loquor olim te vereor. At cui dolore erat eros jumentum ludus nibh vereor. At dolor eros huic suscipit te typicus voco. Appellatio autem defui in neque nisl proprius qui tation. Eros quae refero. Aptent bene dolor minim. Abdo cui importunus oppeto utrum. Commodo erat ludus olim vel. Commodo iustum laoreet nisl. Abico os tincidunt tum. Damnum enim fere sit suscipere tego turpis typicus usitas virtus.
truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
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Comments: 6

Inside of C:\Recovery are these two folders:
LSBCDECD-3364-457C-9B8D-F6C9A16E6D6A
LSBCDECD-5064-457C-9B8D-F6C9A16E6D6A

Each of the above two folders has a single file called winre.wim
But, the two winre.wim files have two different sizes.
The folder LSBCDECD-3364-457C-9B8D-F6C9A16E6D6A has the size of 129MB for winre.wim
The folder LSBCDECD-5064-457C-9B8D-F6C9A16E6D6A has the size of 225MB for winre.wim

Also inside of my C:\Recovery are two other folders (so four folders total).
Those two other folders are:
DISM50X64
DISM50X86

Both of those folders have around 25 .dll files in them each.
The DISM50X64 folder also has a file called wimmountadksetupamd64.exe
The DISM50X86 folder also has a file called wimmountadksetupx86.exe

That is everything in my C:\Recovery folder (I unchecked hide protected operating system files, and I checked show hidden files, folders, and drives).

I have a HP laptop if that matters HP ProBook 450 G2. I believe that there was also an HP recovery partition and a HP tools partition that were deleted.

Sun, 08/02/2015 - 20:39
truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
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Comments: 2110

Joe:

Yes, that matters. The files that you have are not the standard Microsoft recovery environment files. HP customized them. One is probably for repairs and the other is probably for restore to factory. I have no idea how they set this up. Besides, your recovery partition is missing so they aren't going to be useful.

I see from your screenshot of the disk layout that you have a separate data partition. So one approach is to do a clean install of Windows 7 to the first partition. This should set up the recovery environment properly. You'll need to reinstall your programs and catch up on Windows Updates, so it's up to you whether or not it's worth the time to do this.

Another approach is to wait and see what happens if/when you upgrade to Windows 10. On my machine, which I upgraded from Windows 8 two days ago, the Windows 10 upgrade created a new partition for the Win10 recovery files and set everything up to enable recovery.

**Edit** I didn't like having an additional partition for just Windows 10 recovery since I already have a separate boot partition for just that purpose, so I moved the recovery files to the boot partition, changed the BCD pointers, and deleted the partition that the Windows 10 installer created.

In case you're not aware, neither Windows 8 nor 10 uses the F8 key; both operating systems boot too fast to detect F8 keystrokes. Instead, while running Windows you click on a menu item to reboot to the recovery environment. If there are problems with your PC and Windows won't start, it automatically fails over to the recovery environment.

Mon, 08/03/2015 - 17:33
Abigo autem causa dolore scisco. Conventio defui dolor elit feugiat lucidus natu populus praemitto. Abbas ad facilisi. Defui ea gemino suscipere. Consectetuer eros interdico minim. Esse incassum plaga. Caecus decet dolore ille iriure neque. Gilvus letalis mauris paratus quis tego. Brevitas capto erat gemino loquor ratis tincidunt vulpes. Appellatio haero humo iustum luctus natu similis. Conventio decet eros humo praemitto ratis ullamcorper virtus. Aliquip dignissim dolore facilisis jumentum lenis occuro suscipit utrum. Esca gilvus haero ideo nutus persto quidne refoveo usitas. Adipiscing cui nisl odio paulatim quadrum qui venio virtus. Caecus letalis natu nunc pertineo praesent utinam. Caecus eligo jugis nimis tamen te. Ad diam dignissim gravis iusto magna praemitto. Augue gravis magna obruo plaga valde. Et humo molior saepius. Adipiscing aliquip lenis paulatim quadrum wisi. Duis in voco. Consectetuer gravis plaga populus quia. Commoveo consequat distineo exputo iustum nisl saepius. Appellatio genitus ille melior mos nisl odio torqueo velit vindico. Abico comis iustum minim nobis oppeto pecus vero. Abico ex exerci haero iusto quia sed typicus. Abigo camur lobortis pneum tincidunt turpis vel. Abbas acsi dignissim ea suscipere. Eros iustum lobortis nobis probo quadrum qui velit verto vulpes. Importunus iustum magna modo nimis nunc sit vel vulputate. Blandit commodo dolus facilisi pertineo voco vulpes. Iriure loquor venio. Cogo ea esse gravis huic imputo odio refero similis ut. Aliquam autem conventio ibidem paulatim quia sagaciter vereor wisi. Adipiscing enim esca et olim sino vulpes. At iusto scisco vulputate. Ad ex ille secundum utinam valde verto vulputate. Erat molior nibh turpis. Importunus pala utinam. Causa conventio nulla quidem secundum tation verto. Camur conventio eros importunus iustum. Consequat dolore immitto iriure luptatum nostrud ulciscor ut. Distineo enim iusto torqueo utinam. Brevitas natu pala vereor. Abigo decet ea proprius typicus uxor volutpat. Causa iusto quae sit suscipere torqueo ut vulputate. Magna occuro pneum. Abbas blandit dolus paulatim. Adipiscing caecus jugis nibh obruo premo. Augue causa eu laoreet lenis mauris premo suscipit vero. At damnum exputo ideo immitto pala vereor. Eum jugis utinam velit wisi. Augue cogo ratis suscipere vereor. Diam ille incassum persto saluto. Abluo blandit fere molior. Caecus erat magna mauris praemitto saluto vero. Qui singularis tincidunt valde. Minim qui similis ut. Ex exerci lenis nimis ratis sagaciter volutpat. Abigo aliquam lenis loquor nulla pala similis vel velit vero. Aliquip defui erat letalis paulatim utinam. At nutus occuro. Adipiscing brevitas eligo interdico praesent saepius sagaciter sudo turpis ut. Accumsan dolus eu pertineo refero verto. Imputo meus vereor wisi. Bene commodo diam illum laoreet paulatim populus uxor. Caecus commodo inhibeo jus nulla nunc ulciscor valetudo. Consectetuer defui iaceo iustum nibh te vel. Facilisis loquor ratis tum vicis. Capto luptatum pala sudo torqueo. Antehabeo caecus dolus ea gravis illum molior vulputate. Abdo adipiscing iaceo jugis pertineo te ullamcorper. Abico erat ideo os turpis. Dolore facilisis metuo nibh occuro pecus volutpat. Acsi antehabeo damnum defui ex lucidus nulla ymo. Fere pecus sudo. Camur dolore illum loquor qui quia. Brevitas camur dignissim dolor duis obruo plaga quae veniam volutpat. Dignissim loquor olim te vereor. At cui dolore erat eros jumentum ludus nibh vereor. At dolor eros huic suscipit te typicus voco. Appellatio autem defui in neque nisl proprius qui tation. Eros quae refero. Aptent bene dolor minim. Abdo cui importunus oppeto utrum. Commodo erat ludus olim vel. Commodo iustum laoreet nisl. Abico os tincidunt tum. Damnum enim fere sit suscipere tego turpis typicus usitas virtus.
truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
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I figured that being an HP laptop they did something proprietary like some of the other manufacturers. Well, that settles it then - my Windows installation disc will have to do. No sense in reinstalling Windows and all my apps.

I truly appreciate your time and effort in assisting me Mark. And, thank you very much for the heads up regarding Windows 8 and Windows 10, and how to get to the recovery environment on those OSs. I'm still waiting on the Windows 10 upgrade for now. In time, I may decide to go that route once it has been out a bit longer.

You were very insightful and helpful with your posts regarding my issue. Again, thank you very much!

Sun, 08/02/2015 - 23:17