OEM Recovery Partition Creator for Windows

There is no icon after the recovery from USB only or never at all?

 

Hi everyone!

I would like to use the post to explain HOW and WHY I had to change the way the « full image » of Windows 10 was change.

Under Windows 10, when using the “build-it” recovery feature, you capture all your applications and drivers in a file name “Recovery.ppkg” which is under “C:\Recovery\Customizations”.

This means that your C drive has:

· Windows + your apps + your apps in the PPKG file.

When using the full image, I also create a full image of your C drive in multiples SWM files (splitted WIM file) under “C:\Recovery\OEM\Image”. This means your computer has:

· Windows + your apps + your apps in the PPKG file + (Windows + your apps + your apps in the PPKG file) in SWM files.

The problems I had to fix was when you had so much apps that the PPKG file was bigger than 4gb, the maximum supported file by FAT32. And FAT32 is required for UEFI systems.

What I didn’t know was that a SWM file is not really a splitted WIM file. Is it in fact a “reorganization” of the files between multiple archives of a desired size. But a file is NEVER splitted between SWM file. So the PPKG file, if too big, was creating a SWM file bigger than 4gb and breaking the process of creating a recovery image.

I tried to find different way around this problem:

1) Remove the option to create full image if the PPKG file is too big

2) Ask the user to create multiple PPKG file

a. Install Windows + APP1 + Capture PPKG file #1

b. Format + reinstall Windows + APP2 + Capture PPKG file #2

c. Etc.

3) Use a file splitting utility to split the WIM file in multiple files

a. I would have to find a native X64 and X86 tools that can run under WinRE, which is free, supported, etc.

Then, I read somewhere that starting with Windows 10 1703, Windows was supporting multiple partition on a USB key drive. Eureka! I could then create two partitions, one in FAT32 for the boot (boot files + WinRE) and a NTFS partition with the SWM file on it.

This is the option I choosed and that is now built-in tools version 4.1.1. Was it the best option? I don’t know, but it works.

Also, the “Full Image” option was created because Windows 10 was creating “broken” recovery drive when the image was created after a local recovery. I tested with 1803 and 1809 and the problems seems to be fixed in the OS. So maybe the “full image” is not needed as much as before, but it is still there. Also is it the only option than allows to create a recovery image with the original Windows build of the system compared to the “Windows 10 built-in recovery option” that create an image using the current build.

Thanks all for your patience and your comments.

 

There is already a file browser but Inhaben’t updated it since a long time. Will donit in the next version.