We cannot create a recovery drive on this PC

Some Windows users see the error »We cannot create a recovery drive on this PC» when they try to create a new recovery media in Windows. This problem has been reported to occur on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10.

We cannot create a recovery disc on this PC

Some required files are missing.

What is causing the error? We cannot create a recovery drive on this PC

We investigated this error message by looking at various user reports. Based on what we have collected, there are several common scenarios that will trigger this behavior. Here is a list of possible culprits that could be responsible for the problem:

• Recovery partition information is lost: this is known to occur if the user has previously tried to clone the system to another disk.

• Winre.wip file is missing from the computer: this file is responsible for saving the Windows recovery files. Without him, it is no longer possible to create a recovery drive.

• The current system build does not have a recovery environment: this is known to occur if the user has upgraded to Windows 10 from an older version of Windows.

If you have difficulty solving this particular problem, this article will provide you with a list of verified troubleshooting guides. Here is a collection of methods that other users in a similar situation have followed to permanently resolve the error message.

To make sure not to dive into unnecessary operations, follow the following methods in order: are ordered by efficiency and severity.

Method 1: re-create the recovery environment using CMD

Most of the users who have encountered this problem have managed to solve it by using an elevated command window to restore the recovery environment. Here is a quick guide on how to do it:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. Then type »cmd» and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open an elevated command prompt. If requested UAC (User account control), choose Yes to grant administrator privileges. Run dialog: cmd, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter

2. At the elevated command prompt, type the following commands in order and hit Enter after each one:

   reagentc /disable
   reagentc /setreimage /path N - globalroot device - hard disk partition - Recovery - windowsre
   reagentc /enable

3. Reboot your machine and try to use Recovery Disc Creator on next boot.

If you still have the problem, go to next method.

Method 2: recover winre.wip file

Some users who have encountered the same problem have managed to resolve it after discovering that the winre.wim file was missing from their computer. This is one of the most common reasons why Windows users receive the error We cannot create a recovery drive on this PC.

It is quite rare that the winre.wim file is lost, but it is known to happen if user implements deep cleaning scan with various third party tools or after user tries to clone system to another drive.

If you suspect that the winre.wim file may be missing, there are two different methods you can follow to get it back. We will cover both methods below. Follow the guide that is most suitable for your current situation and configuration.

Option one: get a copy of winre.wim from a different Windows system

For this method to work, you will need to access a different Windows system that has a good winre.wim file. Note that it must match the Windows version of the affected computer.

If this scenario applies to you, follow the steps below to get the winre.wim file back in good condition:

1. On the Windows computer in good condition (not the machine showing the error), press the Windows key + R to open a Run dialog. Later, scribe “cmd” and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open an elevated command prompt window. Run dialog: cmd, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter

2. On the elevated command line, type below command to disable recovery environment and make winre.wim file available from hidden recovery to C: Windows system32 N recovery.

   reagent/disabled

   Note: REAgentC is a support tool that will set up a user-defined Windows recovery environment.

3. Minimize the high command prompt and navigate to C: ³³³ 0027windows³ $ 0027 system32 ³³³ 0027recovery $ 0027 $ 0027. Once there, copy the winre.wim file from that folder to a USB storage drive. Searching for the winre.wim file

4. In the same elevated command, type the following command to re-enable Windows recovery environment again:

   reagentc /enable

   Re-enable Windows Recovery Environment on a healthy PC

5. Go to the affected machine and connect the USB drive containing the winre.wim file. Then copy and paste it to recovery system C: 32N.

6. With the restored winre.wim file, try creating a new recovery drive and see if the problem returns.

Option 2: Copy the winre file. wim from the installation media

Another approach you can take to recover the winre.wim file is to insert your active OS installation media and mount install.wim. You can copy the winre.wim file from there and then paste it into recovery C: windows system32.

Note: This method is only confirmed to work with Windows 8.1.

Here is a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Insert or mount the Windows installation media.

2. Go to your operating system drive (C 🙂 and create an empty directory called mount.

   Creating an empty directory called mount

3. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. Then write “cmd” and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open an elevated command prompt window. When prompted UAC (User account control), press Yes to grant administrative privileges. Run dialog: cmd, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter

4. At the elevated command prompt, type the following command to mount the install.wim file and make the winre.wim file visible inside the new directory you created earlier.

   dism /Mount-wim /wimfile:D:sourcesinstall.wim /index:1 /mountdir:C:mount /readonly

   Note: Please note that your installation media may be on a different drive. In this case, change partition letter (D, in our case) in consecuense.

5. With the file explorer, go to C: mount the Nsystem32 recovery windows and copy the Windre.wim file from there. Then paste it in C: Windows Nsystem32 recovery N. Paste the winre.wim file in the recovery directory

6. Go back to the elevated command prompt and run the following command to unmount install.wim. Once this is done, you can safely remove the installation media

   dism /Unmount-Wim /Mountdir:C:mount /discard

7. Finally, run the following command on the same elevated command line to enable recovery environment:

   reagentc /enable

8. Reboot your machine and see if you can create a new recovery media.

If this method was not successful, proceed to the next method shown below.

Method 3: recover information from lost recovery partition

If you are sure that your hard drive contains a recovery partition, there is a procedure that several users have followed to recover lost recovery information.

But keep in mind that if you don't have recovery partitions, this procedure will not work for you. This is what you need to do to get back information from lost recovery partition:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open a Run dialog. Then type »powershell» and hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open an elevated Powershell window. When prompted UAC (User account control), click Yes to the message. Run dialog: Powershell Then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter

2. Inside the raised gauge, type the following command to run the disk partition tool:

    diskpart 

3. Type volume from the list and press Enter to see if you have any volumes that contain the word Recovery. Yes there is one, most likely you are looking at your recovery partition. If so, write down your volume number. Recovery environment identification

4. Then type select volume X and hit Enter. Later, type the details volume and hit Enter again to see what disk you are on. Once i see it, write down the disk number. Find out the disk number of the recovery volume

   Note: X is a placeholder for the recovery drive volume number.

5. Use the following command to select the disk that you discovered earlier in step 4 and press Enter:

    select disk X 

   Note: X is simply a placeholder for the disk number you got earlier in step 4.

6. Use the following command to list all partitions and inspect them. It should be able to detect a partition that matches the volume size of the recovery partition. Should have a * beside. Make a note of the partition number.

   partition list

   Identify the recovery environment partition number

7. Close the disk partition tool by typing exit and hitting Enter.

8. Once you manage to exit the DiskPart tool, enter the following command and make sure to replace the X and Y placeholders:

    reagentc /setreimage /path N?¬GlobalrootN deviceHard driveXNRecoveryWindowsRE
    

   Note: Replace X with the disk number obtained in step 4 and Y with the partition number obtained in step 6.

9. Finally, type the following command and hit Enter to activate the recovery partition:

    reagentc /enable 

10. Reboot the machine and see if you can create the recovery drive on the next boot.

If this method was unsuccessful or you don't have a recovery environment set up on your machine, proceed to the next method below.

Method 4: Clone your computer and save it to a USB hard drive

If you've come this far with no results, just know that you can use a third party solution to create the equivalent of a recovery drive created by Windows.

Multiple users who encountered the same problem were able to create a third-party recovery drive using Macrium Reflect (FREE) or similar software.

Si decide utilizar Macrium Reflect, follow this guide ( here ) to create a backup of your computer, the equivalent of a recovery unit.

Method 5: perform a clean install or repair install

If you have come this far without results, your current system configuration is most likely not designed to create a recovery media. This usually happens if the user has previously upgraded to Windows 10 from an older version of Windows.

If you are in the same situation, the only solution (in addition to the method 3) is to perform a clean install.

A clean installation will restart all Windows components, including Windows recovery environment. You can follow this guide (here) for the steps required to perform a clean install.