Need explanation of \recovery entries

[karlsnooks]

Good People,
Here's a listing of folders and files in my \Recovery folder

C:\recovery 87%>dir -force -recurse


Directory: C:\recovery


Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d--hs 06-May-09 9:22 AM 0ffdb386-3a5a-11de-b603-001e33972569
d--hs 04-Dec-09 4:43 PM 0ffdb38c-3a5a-11de-b603-001e33972569


Directory: C:\recovery\0ffdb386-3a5a-11de-b603-001e33972569


Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
---hs 20-Mar-09 8:45 AM 3170304 boot.sdi
---hs 22-Apr-09 12:07 AM 144526296 Winre.wim


Directory: C:\recovery\0ffdb38c-3a5a-11de-b603-001e33972569


Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
---hs 10-Jun-09 2:44 PM 3170304 boot.sdi
---hs 13-Jul-09 8:09 PM 144838785 Winre.wim


Listing was made using PowerShell.

As you can see \recovery has two folders. When does a new folder get created in \Recovery? Can I safely delete the older of these two?

Oh yes, didn't really know where to post this msg. If I've made the wrong choice, please let me know.

 

[Frostmourne]

Leave the files alone. Last thing windows need is someone digging around in its guts.

 

[karlsnooks]

I'm looking for technical answers. I seek knowledge, not opinions.

 

[Frostmourne]

The files are there and can be used for recovery - system restore etc. You don't need to modify or delete them - use disk cleanup to clean up older points if you need space.

 

[karlsnooks]

files in \recovery are never touched by Disk Cleanup, at least not on any system where I've checked such.

I have plenty of free space. Free space is not the question.

 

[Frostmourne]

Here:

Windows 7 recovery folder - duplicate folders/files

 

[karlsnooks]

Thanks,
Followed the link. Unfortunately, no new facts given.

As the poster there suspected, I too suspected that the older folder could be deleted safely.

I took the plunge. I deleted the older folder. Shutdown. Did a f8 boot, choose repair, etc. All worked fine.

Still hope to learn when and under what conditions a new folder is created under \Recovery.

 

[TimStitt]

Good People,
Here's a listing of folders and files in my \Recovery folder

C:\recovery 87%>dir -force -recurse


Directory: C:\recovery


Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d--hs 06-May-09 9:22 AM 0ffdb386-3a5a-11de-b603-001e33972569
d--hs 04-Dec-09 4:43 PM 0ffdb38c-3a5a-11de-b603-001e33972569


Directory: C:\recovery\0ffdb386-3a5a-11de-b603-001e33972569


Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
---hs 20-Mar-09 8:45 AM 3170304 boot.sdi
---hs 22-Apr-09 12:07 AM 144526296 Winre.wim


Directory: C:\recovery\0ffdb38c-3a5a-11de-b603-001e33972569


Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
---hs 10-Jun-09 2:44 PM 3170304 boot.sdi
---hs 13-Jul-09 8:09 PM 144838785 Winre.wim


Listing was made using PowerShell.

As you can see \recovery has two folders. When does a new folder get created in \Recovery? Can I safely delete the older of these two?

Oh yes, didn't really know where to post this msg. If I've made the wrong choice, please let me know.

Here's what I know:
- The Recovery Environment is normally created during Install and the Winre.wim is the RE image that is loaded when you press F8 during boot to recover your system.
- There's some very informative details here on technet Configure Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE).
- From an elevated prompt you can also type bcdedit /enum all to view the boot loader information and check if you have the Recovery Environment configured.
- If you delete the files the recovery will simply fail and you will need to reconfigure the recovery environment. Many techies create custom RE's.... see the link above for details.

It's not much, I'm still learning more about this feature myself.

 

[karlsnooks]

I've already, with no ill-effects, deleted the older of the two sub-folders.

Of course, deleting the remaining sub-folder would have ill-effects if one desired to do a recovery. Although I have an RE dvd and an RE usb stick, as backups in case of a disaster, I still see no need to complicate my life by deleting the \recovery folder from my system.

 

[TimStitt]

I've already, with no ill-effects, deleted the older of the two sub-folders.

Of course, deleting the remaining sub-folder would have ill-effects if one desired to do a recovery. Although I have an RE dvd and an RE usb stick, as backups in case of a disaster, I still see no need to complicate my life by deleting the \recovery folder from my system.

Agreed, there's no need to delete it, unless you feel like rebuilding it or building a custom RE.

I guess all your questions are answered now. yeah?

 

[karlsnooks]

Actually, if you review my original questions then you will see that my questions are still not answered. I'm presently pouring over some MSDN and Technet documentation.

 

[TimStitt]

Actually, if you review my original questions then you will see that my questions are still not answered. I'm presently pouring over some MSDN and Technet documentation.

I admit to a day of confusion from me yesterday. I really didn't get what you wanted to know...So....

When does a new folder get created in \Recovery?
- During initial Install and later if you manually do it or a third party program creates it. I don't know 100% if a repair or an upgrade install will create a new one; but I would guess that they would.

Can I safely delete the older of these two?
-Yes, but you really should check the bootloader to see what is referenced for RE. Just on to be certain which can be safely deleted.
To do this, type bcdedit /enum all from an elevated prompt and check the recovery entries in the boot loader and device options. I also searched for a technet guide or similar on this for you; but came up empty. However this blog showing how to repair the broken boot loader should be enough to show you where the entries are and how they fit in. you can also take a look for the identifier string in your Windows Registry if I'm not mistaken. Hope this helps a little more today and if a still don't get it... please elaborate.

-Tim

 

[karlsnooks]

Tim,
I, also, ran across the statement re "when does a new folder get...". Personally, I can't conceive of someone "manually" creating a \Recovery subfolder or under what circumstances one would do such. I have a clean install of Win 7 RTM. Had RC on previously. I've installed no 3rd party recovery or recovery-related software. I was wondering if MS slipped in an updated version of WinRE in one of their updates. Although I've investigated the System Recovery menu, I've never needed to actually perform a system repair. Since WinRE is a .wim file, I find it unlikely that a repair or other operation would put a second WinRE in there. I failed to compare the sizes of the two WinRE.Wim files before deleting the older of the two. I simply compared subfolder dates and deleted the older.

Using PowerShell and some of the options there which aren't available via command shell's DIR, then I had searched every nook and cranny of my laptop and only came up with the winre.wim files in c:\recovery.

I only have a Toshiba recovery partition of 1500 MB and the normal primary partition-in my case, 147 GB. I do not have a Win7 recovery partition. Partition info shown by DiskMgmt.msc and by DiskPart both agree.

Before deleting the older \recovery sub-folder, I had used BCDEDIT to verify my assumption as to which could be deleted. BCDEDIT defaults to BCDEDIT enum /all.

If you get a chance, could you check your \Recovery folder and see if you have more than one sub-folder there. I don't ever recall doing a repair install on this laptop but I've installed/removed various software and MS beta software so perhaps somewhere along the road to restore my system from beta software from MS which doesn't always remove cleanly, I ended up with a "system repair".

 

[TimStitt]

Ok karlsnooks,
To clarify:
1. Your outstanding question is about why you have more than one *.wim file and how did it get there?
2. Your Toshiba image is on a separate partition and your multiple *.wim file scenario occurred on the %systemdrive%\Recovery folder?

In regards to why someone would create a custom recovery - to me this seems obvious, customisation. I suppose, for all the same reasons that we create slipstreamed OS install disks, just to make the final release closer to our individual environments. I can see the benefits for many companies of doing this. For example creating multilingual images or adding more than one image to the same *.wim file, injecting drivers and updates into the *.wim file. But as you said you haven't been near that, so'll we'll cross that off the list.

You said...If you get a chance, could you check your Recovery folder and see if you have more than one sub-folder there. I really wish I could, I want to now the answer too; but I can't check my recovery folder for you at the moment. I'm in the process of an international move and my WIndows 7 machine is on a ship in transit to my new address. I'm on my XP netbook. Hopefully someone else will read this and chip in. (I've highlighted the question and reposted to help us here).

A side thought - you didn't use the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) did you? It contains IMAGEX that is used to create and modify *.Wim files. I thought it's worth bringing up and ticking off as well.

Given that you've been through all I've suggested previously, I've shot a quick note off to the Microsoft Recovery Environment team, I'll let you know when I hear back from them. In the interim, lets hope that someone checks their recovery folder and lets us know the contents. I also want to find out the pre-installation Environment might have a play in creating another *.wim and if repairing your installation builds another.

I've had a bit of a search since our last conversation. There's really not much info out there that focus on the specifics behind WinRE and recovery *.wim files. I don't like to assume based on web generic info. I like nice little Microsoft issued white papers that tell me 100% what is going on. So fingers crossed that we an official response. No doubt we'll all be the-wiser after this.

Tim

 

[karlsnooks]

Tim,
True. True. As answers to questions 1 and 2.

Although I've used WAIK, I've not used WAIK to install or modify software on the Toshiba laptop. Hope the international move goes smoothly. I've been thru a couple of those myself.

Many thanks for the info and the time and energy you've expended on my questions.

 

[TimStitt]

Tim,
True. True. As answers to questions 1 and 2.

Although I've used WAIK, I've not used WAIK to install or modify software on the Toshiba laptop. Hope the international move goes smoothly. I've been thru a couple of those myself.

Many thanks for the info and the time and energy you've expended on my questions.

You're very welcome, I'm here to help but also to learn more about the areas that I don't use so often.... or in this case, never really spent much time investigating. You've sure supplied with a grey area that I'm quite happy to learn more about.
As soon as I hear anything from the MS team, I'll let you know.

Tim