Enable or Disable Windows Recovery Environment via Two Ways

Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) includes a series of troubleshooting tools such as Automatic Repair, Reset to Factory Default Settings, System Image Recovery, etc. Therefore, if your PC doesn’t start or run correctly, boot into Windows Recovery Environment and then use the offered tools to fix PC issues.

For unbootable PCs, you can directly boot from a bootable MiniTool USB drive and then apply MiniTool Partition Wizard to resolve errors. Create a bootable CD/DVD/USB drive via the Bootable Media of MiniTool Partition Wizard on another computer. Then plug the bootable drive into the faulty PC and then boot the device from the burned media. Follow the on-screen instructions to launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.

After entering the main interface of the software, fix hard drive issues by rebuilding MBR, setting active, checking file system, etc.

MiniTool Partition Wizard DemoClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Further reading:

Why disable Windows Recovery Environment? A lot of users want to disable Windows Recovery Environment because it allows unauthorized users to factory reset their PCs and wipe out user data. After you disable Windows Recovery Environment, the Advanced Options menu won’t include the “Reset this PC” option anymore.

Way 1: Enable or Disable Windows Recovery Environment via Command Prompt

Step 1: Type cmd in the search box and then click Run as administrator under the displayed Command Prompt app.

run Command Prompt as administrator from the search box

Step 2: In the elevated window, type the command below and hit the Enter key to enable Windows Recovery Environment.

reagentc.exe /enable

Step 3: To disable Windows Recovery Environment on Windows 10, type the command “reagentc.exe /disable” and hit Enter.

Way 2: Enable or Disable Windows Recovery Environment via Registry Editor

In addition to Command Prompt, Registry Editor also enables you to enable or disable Windows Recovery Environment. Here’s how to do.

Tips:

It’s recommended to back up Windows, create a system restore point, or back up Registry Editor before you edit Registry. Once your computer becomes unbootable or prompts other disastrous errors, you can directly restore the system to let the PC runs again. Copying the whole system disk is a simple way to make a Windows backup. Simply do that by using the Copy Disk feature of MiniTool Partition Wizard.

MiniTool Partition Wizard DemoClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1: Open the Run window by pressing the Windows and R keys simultaneously.

Step 2: Type regedit and click OK to open Registry Editor.

open Registry Editor from the Run window

Step 3: Follow the path below to navigate to the destination.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager

Step 4: Move to the right side of the window, and then find and open the BootExecute string value. After that, enter the text “autocheck autochk *” under the Value data field and click OK. This will enable Windows Recovery Environment for you.

Tips:

On the contrary, if you want to disable Windows Recovery Environment on Windows 10, delete the text under the Value data section and click OK to confirm the operation.

Step 5: Close Registry Editor and restart your computer. After the PC boots up, the Windows Recovery Environment should be enabled.

Bonus Tip: Check the Status of WinRE

To know the status of the Windows Recovery Environment, please refer to the steps below.

Step 1: Run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2: In the pop-up window, type reagentc /info and hit Enter. Then check the Windows RE status as the picture below shows. If the status is disabled, you can enable Windows Recovery Environment with above methods.

About The Author

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Having writing articles about computer tech for a long time, I am rather experienced especially on the aspect of computer optimization, PC enhancement, as well as tech terms explanation. The habit of looking through tech forums makes me a great computer issues collector. And then, many articles related to these issues are released, which benefit plenty of users. Professional, effective, and innovative are always the pursuit of an editing worker.