Post

Creating a Recovery Partition in Windows

Step-by-step guide to shrinking the Windows partition, creating a 1.5 GB recovery partition in the correct disk position, and re-registering WinRE with reagentc.

Posted Updated
By Michael Schmitz
5 min read
Creating a Recovery Partition in Windows

Creating a Recovery Partition in Windows

TLDR: Shrink the Windows partition using GParted or MiniTool, create a 1.5 GB recovery partition in the freed space using diskpart, then re-register WinRE using reagentc from within Windows.

Why bother?

By default, Windows sometimes places the recovery partition at the end of the disk, or omits a proper one entirely after certain upgrade or clone operations. The correct layout — EFI → MSR → Recovery → Windows — ensures that WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) is accessible even if the Windows partition is damaged, and makes future partition resizing cleaner since the recovery partition won’t be stranded at the end of the drive.

This guide assumes you have a medium level of comfort with disk tools and the command line. You will be working with partition operations — back up your data before proceeding.

Overview of the Process

  1. Backup WinRE - Backup the Recovery folder to a safe location.
  2. Disable WinRE from within Windows so the recovery partition is not locked.
  3. Shrink the Windows partition using GParted or MiniTool Partition Wizard (bootable USB), freeing 1.5 GB immediately before the Windows partition.
  4. Create and configure the recovery partition using diskpart.
  5. Re-enable and re-register WinRE using reagentc.
  6. Cleanup - Remove the drive letter R.

Target Partition Layout

#TypeSize
1EFI System Partition500 MB
2Microsoft Reserved (MSR)128 MB
3Recovery (WinRE)1.5 GB
4Windows (C:)Remainder
5Data / Other(if applicable)

The Process

Step 1 — Backup the WinRE Recovery folder to a safe location.

from diskpart assign the Recovery Partition a drive letter

Assuming our Recovery partition was partition 4 in Windows

1
2
3
4
5
6

diskpart
    list disk
    select disk 0
    list partition
    sel part 4
    ass letter R

Browse to the partition and backup the Recovery Folder

You may need to unhide system and hidden folders and backup the Recovery folder which will have the Winre.wim file within it to somewhere in the Windows Partition

Step 2 — Disable WinRE (run as Administrator in Windows)

Before touching partitions, disable WinRE so Windows releases its lock on the recovery partition.

1

reagentc /disable

Verify the status:

1

reagentc /info

WinRE status should show Disabled.

Step 3 — Shrink the Windows Partition (GParted or MiniTool)

Boot from a GParted Live USB or MiniTool Partition Wizard bootable USB.

  • Select the Windows (C:) partition.
  • Shrink it by 1536 MB (1.5 GB), placing the freed space before the Windows partition (i.e., to the left in the visual layout).
  • Create a new partition in the freed space with the following settings:
    • Type: Primary
    • Size: 1536 MB
    • File System: NTFS
    • Boot Flag: Off
  • Apply the operation and reboot back into Windows.

Make sure the freed unallocated space lands between the MSR partition and the Windows partition — not at the end of the disk.

While you are at it, it’s much easier to create that partition from Gparted or Minitool Parition Wizard

But we will the commands below just in case

Step 4 — Create the Recovery Partition (diskpart)

Open Command Prompt as Administrator and launch diskpart:

1

diskpart

1
2
3

list disk
select disk 0
list partition

Note the partition number of your Windows (C:) partition and confirm unallocated space is visible before it.

Create and configure the recovery partition:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

diskpart
  create partition primary size=1536 offset=643072
  format quick fs=ntfs label="Recovery"
  set id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac
  gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
  list partition
  ass letter=r
  exit

The GUID de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac is the standard Windows Recovery partition type.

The GPT attribute flags mark it as required and hidden.

The meaning of the GPT Attributes:

  • 0x8000000000000000: Hidden and No Drive Letter.
  • 0x0000000000000001: Required partition.
  • 0x8000000000000001: Combined: Required, hidden, and no drive letter.

Copy back the Recovery folder previously backed up

Step 5 — Re-enable WinRE and Register the New Partition

Back in an elevated Command Prompt:

1
2
3

reagentc /setreimage /path R:\Recovery\WindowsRE /target c:\Windows
reagentc /enable
reagentc /info

A successful result looks like this:

reagentcinfo showing WinRE Enabled

WinRE status should show Enabled and the path should point to the new partition.

Step 6 — Cleanup (Remove Drive Letter)

At this point we can remove the drive letter R: from showing up in the system.

1
2
3
4

diskpart
  sel vol r
  remove letter=r
  exit

Prevent the drive mount from showing up in the system.

From an elevated Command Prompt:

1

  mountvol /R

Quick Reference — Commands Only

Step 1 — Backup andDisable WinRE

1
2
3
4
5
6

diskpart
    list disk
    select disk 0
    list partition
    sel part 4
    ass letter R

Copy the Recovery folder from R: to a safe location.

1

  reagentc /disable
  • Remove the Recovery partition from the system.
  • Resize the Windows partition to make room for the new Recovery partition.
  • Recreate the Recovery partition with the correct size and attributes.

Step 4 — diskpart Create the Recovery Partition

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

diskpart
  list disk
  select disk 0
  list partition
  create partition primary size=1536 offset=643072
  format quick fs=ntfs label="Recovery"
  set id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac
  gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
  exit
  • Copy the Recovery folder from the backup location to the new Recovery partition.

Step 5 — reagentc Re-enable WinRE

1
2
3

reagentc /setreimage /path R:\Recovery\WindowsRE /target c:\Windows
reagentc /enable
reagentc /info
  • Reboot to test

Step 6 — Cleanup

1
2
3
4
5

diskpart
  sel vol r
  remove letter=r
  exit
mountvol /R

Troubleshooting

  • reagentc /enable fails — confirm the partition type GUID and GPT attributes were set correctly in diskpart. Run list partition and verify the recovery partition exists.
  • WinRE path points to wrong location — use reagentc /setreimage /path <path> to manually point it to the correct partition if auto-detection fails.

This is a personal reference guide. Always verify partition numbers on your specific disk before running destructive commands.

© 2026 Michael Schmitz
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
You are free to share and adapt this work with attribution. Derivative works must be distributed under the same license.

Tech, Windows, How-To
windows windows11 recovery diskpart reagentc partition gparted minitool sysadmin
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.