Update KB5034441 fails to install

While looking for reasons why this does not install,I found this note from Microsoft that may help a lot of you.

Checking my system I do not have a recovery partition and this update can be ignored.

Devices attempting to install the January 2024 Windows Recovery Environment update (KB5034441) might display an error related to the size of the Recovery Environment's partition. The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is used to repair or recover from issues affecting Windows.

Resulting from this error, the following message might be displayed.

• ​"0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE"

Important: If your Windows device does not have a recovery environment configured, you do not need this update (KB5034441). In this case, the error can be ignored.

To determine whether your device has a recovery environment configured, inspect the WinRE status by following these steps:

1. ​Open a Command Prompt window (cmd) as admin.
2. ​To check the WinRE status, run reagentc /info. If the WinRE is configured, a "Windows RE status" field will appear in the output, with value "Enabled". If WinRE is not configured, this field will have the value "Disabled".

**Workaround:**It might be necessary to increase the size of the WinRE partition in order to avoid this issue and complete the installation. Note that 250 megabytes of free space is required in the recovery partition. Devices which do not have sufficient free space in the recovery partition can use a script to extend the partition size. A sample script has been provided in the documentation for adding an update package to WinRE, Extend the Windows RE Partition. Guidance to manually change the WinRE partition size can additionally be found in KB5028997: Instructions to manually resize your partition to install the WinRE update.

**Next steps:**We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

Affected platforms:

• ​Client: Windows 11, version 21H2; Windows 10, version 22H2; Windows 10, version 21H2
• ​Server: Windows Server 2022

While looking for reasons why this does not install,I found this note from Microsoft that may help a lot of you.

Checking my system I do not have a recovery partition and this update can be ignored.

Status	Originating update	History
Mitigated	N/A <br>KB5034441 <br>2024-01-09	Last updated: 2024-02-09, 17:04 PT <br>Opened: 2024-01-12, 14:10 PT

Devices attempting to install the January 2024 Windows Recovery Environment update (KB5034441) might display an error related to the size of the Recovery Environment's partition. The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is used to repair or recover from issues affecting Windows.

Resulting from this error, the following message might be displayed.

• ​"0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE"

Important: If your Windows device does not have a recovery environment configured, you do not need this update (KB5034441). In this case, the error can be ignored.

To determine whether your device has a recovery environment configured, inspect the WinRE status by following these steps:

1. ​Open a Command Prompt window (cmd) as admin.
2. ​To check the WinRE status, run reagentc /info. If the WinRE is configured, a "Windows RE status" field will appear in the output, with value "Enabled". If WinRE is not configured, this field will have the value "Disabled".

**Workaround:**It might be necessary to increase the size of the WinRE partition in order to avoid this issue and complete the installation. Note that 250 megabytes of free space is required in the recovery partition. Devices which do not have sufficient free space in the recovery partition can use a script to extend the partition size. A sample script has been provided in the documentation for adding an update package to WinRE, Extend the Windows RE Partition. Guidance to manually change the WinRE partition size can additionally be found in KB5028997: Instructions to manually resize your partition to install the WinRE update.

**Next steps:**We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

Affected platforms:

• ​Client: Windows 11, version 21H2; Windows 10, version 22H2; Windows 10, version 21H2
• ​Server: Windows Server 2022

This is old news; it has been there since the first day. Most people don’t need it, but they were lazy, and instead of checking and offering it only to people that needed it, they pushed it on everyone.

• Only people using BitLocker need it, so no one with Windows Home, only Pro, has BitLocker.
• If you use Pro but don’t use BitLocker, you don’t need it either.
• If you use Pro and BitLocker, as the article says, the vulnerability uses the WinRE partition; some people don’t even have it, so those don’t need it either; there is nothing to hack.

And even if all those cases are covered, it is not that dangerous. Is not like, if a hacker in a faraway country is going to take over your device online, it needs physical access to your PC.

So the only ones I feel would need to worry are corps with lots of PCs with W10 Pro using BitLocker and distrust of people having access to their PCs.

Some people here have tried to ignore it, but they say it causes some conflicts.

There is a tool to hide it; it works for most people (including me), but some say it causes them conflicts too.

I feel many are just doing unnecessary, weird, wishy-washy experiments, downloading 3^rd^ party tools, messing with their partitions, etc. all that more dangerous than the supposed vulnerability it fixes.

Don't know if this will will be an issue going forward. My PC died as in not powering up & all signs indicate a dead motherboard. I have parts coming to build a new one & hopefully a fresh install of the latest version of Win10 won't have this update problem, but I'm not counting on that. At least the partitions will be in the correct order.

It's all well and good to say that this update isn't needed so ignore it... the simple fact of the matter is that it has messed up aspects of my computer and I believe many others, so it can't just be ignored unless you're happy to live with a vulnerable computer that could fail without the option to recover it... I no longer have a system restore that works.