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rptr's avatar
rptr
Copper Contributor
May 26, 2026

Windows 11 Partitions

Recently I bought a new computer because Windows 10 is no longer supported.  It came with Windows11 Pro installed.  When I ran setup it partitioned my SSD into two drives.  The second drive is called Data.  Does Windows use this drive for anything?  If not, can I delete the second drive so I can increase the size of the primary drive?  Otherwise I will have no use for over half my 512 Gb SSD.  I have attached a screenshot of Disk Manager above.  

configuration
device management

2 Replies

  • avishkaBandara's avatar
    avishkaBandara
    Copper Contributor
    Jun 01, 2026

    IF you deleted your original recovery partition earlier, you accidentally deleted the actual recovery file (which is called winre.wim). Making a new empty partition doesn't fix the error because the file itself is gone, and Windows can't enable something that doesn't exist. We just need to put a fresh copy of that file back.

    Let's see if a backup is hiding on your PC.

    1. Go to C:\Windows\System32\Recovery.
    2. You'll need to enable hidden files to see anything. Click View > Show > Hidden items (you might also need to go into Options and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files").
    3. If you see the winre.wim file in there, awesome! If the folder is empty, no biggie, just move to Step 2

    Step 2: Grab a fresh copy from Microsoft : Since the file is gone, we'll extract a new one from a Windows installer.

    1. Download the Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft's website.
    2. Double-click the downloaded ISO to "mount" it (it’ll show up on your PC like a DVD drive).
    3. Open it up, go to the sources folder, and look for a file called install.wim or install.esd.
    4. You'll need a free app like 7-Zip to open it. Just right-click the install file, choose to open it as an archive with 7-Zip, and dig down into the Windows\System32\Recovery folder.
    5. Drag the winre.wim file out onto your Desktop, and then copy it into your C:\Windows\System32\Recovery folder.

    Step 3: Tell Windows where the file is

    1. Almost done! Open Command Prompt as an Administrator and type in these commands one by one, hitting Enter after each:
    2. Tell Windows where we put the file: reagentc /setreimage /path C:\Windows\System32\Recovery
    3. Turn the recovery environment on (this automatically moves the file into your new 1 GB partition): reagentc /enable
    4. Double-check our work: reagentc /info

    It should now say "Windows RE status: Enabled"!

  • rptr's avatar
    rptr
    Copper Contributor
    Jun 01, 2026

    I was told that my new computer had a 512 Gb SSD.  But I have found that I have a 223 Gb SSD and a 238 Gb SSD.  So I cannot delete Drive D and extend Drive C.

    The recovery partition was 850 Mb which, I was told was too small, so I deleted the recovery partition, shrank the C Drive partition, and made a new recovery partition of 1 Gb.  Everything went well until I tried to enable the new recovery partition.  Reagentc gives the error message "The Windows RE image was not found".  How can I enable it?