How to Fix Could not find the Recovery Environment Error in Windows 10
If you suddenly find the Windows Recovery Environment not working and you see an error message saying, “Could not find the recovery environment”, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you on how you can fix it. In times when you can’t boot into the Windows Recovery Environment, there could be several reasons behind it. However, have you ever wondered where exactly the Windows Recovery Environment is in your computer?
Windows initially places the Windows RE Image file in the installation partition during Windows Setup so if you have installed Windows in the C drive, you can find the Windows RE at the C:/Windows/System32/Recovery or C:/Recovery folder. Keep in mind that this folder is hidden and later on, the system copies the image file into the recovery tools partition to make sure that one can boot into recovery if there are any issues with the drive partition.
The “Could not find the recovery environment” error mostly occurs if the Windows Recovery Environment is disabled or if the “Winre.wim” file is corrupted. Thus, to fix this error, you need to refer to the given suggestions below.
Option 1 – Try to enable Windows Recovery Environment
- In the Windows Start Search, type “PowerShell” and from the search results that appear, right-click on Windows PowerShell and then select the “Run as administrator” option to open it with admin privileges.
- Next, type the “reagentc /info” command and tap Enter to execute it.
- After that, if the output states that Status is enabled, then you’re all set.
- Now type the “reagentc /enable” command and tap Enter to enable the Windows Recovery Environment. You will see a success message at the end signifying that Windows RE is available.
Option 2 – Try to fix the corrupted or missing “Winre.wim” file
If the Winre.wim file is either corrupted or missing, you need to get a new copy of this file from another computer where the Windows RE is working. Once you’re able to get a new copy of the Winre.wim file, you have to set the image path to a new location. For more details, refer to these steps:
- First, type “Powershell” in Windows Start Search and right-click on Windows PowerShell from the results, and select Run as administrator.
- Next, execute the given command below to change the path of the WIM file to the new location. Note that the steps should be used when the file path of the Windows Recovery Environment is different from the usual spot.
Reagentc /setreimage /path C:RecoveryWindowsRE
- As mentioned, if the file is corrupted, you just have to get a new copy from another PC but before you do that, make sure that the WINRE on that computer is disabled (just enable it later on) and then place it in the C:/Recovery path and then set its path again using the command given above and then verify its path by executing the following command.
reagentc /info command
Note: Since the Recovery folder is hidden as well as the WINRE folder in it and you won’t be able to access them using the Windows File Explorer, you need to use the Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt so that you can access them.
Option 3 – Try checking and fixing the WinRE Reference in the Windows Boot Loader
The Windows Boot Loader is the one that determines if it has to load the Windows Recovery Environment. It could be that the boot loader is pointing to an incorrect location which is why you’re getting the error. To resolve it, you have to check and fix the WinRE Reference in the boot loader. How? Follow these steps:
- In the Windows Start Search, type “PowerShell” and from the search results that appear, right-click on Windows PowerShell and then select the “Run as administrator” option to open it with admin privileges.
- After that, execute the “bcdedit /enum all” command.
- Next, look for an entry in the Windows Boot Loader identifier set as Current and look for “recoverysequence” in that section and take note of the GUID.
- Ensure that the device and the osdevice items show the path for the Winre.wim file and that they are the same. If not, you need to point the current identifier to the one which has the same.
- Once you’ve found the new GUID, execute this command: bcdedit /set {current} recoverysequence {GUID_which_has_same_path_of_device_and_device}
- Now check if the error in the Recovery Environment is fixed or not.
Option 4 – Try creating a Recovery Media
You could also try creating a Recovery Media to resolve the error in the Windows RE. All you have to do is download the Windows 10 ISO file using the Media Creation tool and then create a recovery drive. Once you’re done, check if it fixes the problem or not.
Congratulations, you have just fixed the Could not find the Recovery Environment error in Windows 10 all by yourself. If you would like to read more helpful articles and tips about various software and hardware visit errortools.com daily.
Now that’s how you fix the Could not find the Recovery Environment error in Windows 10 on a computer. On the other hand, if your computer is going through some system-related issues that have to get fixed, there is a one-click solution known as Restoro you could check out to resolve them.
This program is a useful tool that could repair corrupted registries and optimize your PC’s overall performance. Aside from that, it also cleans out your computer for any junk or corrupted files that help you eliminate any unwanted files from your system. This is basically a solution that’s within your grasp with just a click. It’s easy to use as it is user-friendly. For a complete set of instructions in downloading and using it, refer to the steps below
Perform a full system scan using Restoro. To do so, follow the instructions below.
