dual EFI entries after GPT conversion

Anonymous

For reasons too lengthy to detail here, I was unable to use MBR2GPT for converting my current boot disk. Instead, I used Hasleo Disk Clone to clone the disk to another SSD while also converting it to GPT. This worked fine and the new drive correctly shows up as GPT with the shiny new MSR and EFI partitions. However, it left the protected/system EFI directory intact on the drive. My UEFI has been set to UEFI only with CSM=Disabled and yet I can still see entries for both EFI instances. Booting to the GPT partition works fine, but booting to the EFI directory fails. Is it possible (and safe) to either archive/rename or delete the EFI directory on C:\ so that it is no longer detected by the UEFI and disappears from the boot menu? I'm loathe to take any of the additional steps towards a Win11 upgrade without sorting this out first.

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Anonymous

(1) Even looking at the log, I'm unsure what's up with /SetREImage. But I think it is unnecessary. We'll revisit it if necessary.

(2) It looks like /Disable followed by /Enable would get the job done all by themselves. /Disable moved WinRE.wim from partition 3 into the staging area, namely C:\Windows\system32\Recovery....

2023-03-06 17:24:41, Info [ReAgentc.exe] winreCopyWIMBack moved WIM file from \?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk3\partition3\Recovery\WindowsRE\ to C:\Windows\system32\Recovery\Winre.wim successfully!

Then /Enable wanted to move it into partition 4, which it did recognize to be the Recovery partition. But it found that partition to be too small...

2023-03-06 17:24:49, Info [ReAgentc.exe] Checking partition at offset 497942528000, partition number: 4

2023-03-06 17:24:49, Info [ReAgentc.exe] MeetPartitionRequirements Partition details: {Offset: 497942528000, Free space: 467849216, Total space: 487256064}

2023-03-06 17:24:49, Info [ReAgentc.exe] MeetPartitionRequirements WinRE WIM size: 423565200

2023-03-06 17:24:49, Info [ReAgentc.exe] MeetPartitionRequirements Required free space: 478091152

2023-03-06 17:24:49, Warning [ReAgentc.exe] MeetPartitionRequirements Not enough free space req = 478091152 avail = 467849216 offset = 497942528000

2023-03-06 17:24:49, Info [ReAgentc.exe] skip partition because it does not meet WinRE requirements

(3) So, let's make it bigger. Mine is 848 MB. Your Disk Management (DM) shows the Recovery partition of 465 MB is followed by 1.56 GB of unallocated space...

Unfortunately, DM won't let you make it larger because it is a system partition. Can you easily add 383 MB to it using AOMEI Partition Assistant? If not, we can try this...

DiskPart <<<Enter DiskPart

Select Disk 3 <<<Focus on the EVO 970

List Part <<<Show its partitions

Select Part 4 <<<Focus on its Recovery partition

Detail Part <<<Show it has the Recovery type code

SET ID=ebd0a0a2-b9e5-4433-87c0-68b6b72699c7 Override <<<Basic Data Partition

Detail Part <<<Show the new type code

Exit <<<Leave DiskPart

The 2nd Detail Part should show the new type. It is now a Basic Data Partition. Reboot to be sure the whole system knows. Then open Disk Management, right-click what was the Recovery partition, & see whether you can extend volume to 848 MB. Then make it a Recovery partition again this way...

DiskPart <<<Enter DiskPart

Select Disk 3 <<<Focus on the EVO 970

List Part <<<Show its partitions

Select Part 4 <<<Focus on what was its Recovery partition

Detail Part <<<Show it has the Basic type code

SET ID=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac Override <<<Recovery Partition

Detail Part <<<Show the new type code

Exit <<<Leave DiskPart

I would Reboot again. Then, try...

ReagentC /Disable

ReagentC /Enable

ReagentC /Info

I hope that will do it. Good luck.

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Anonymous

(1) This should move {bootmgr} back to the top of DisplayOrder...

BCDEdit /Set {FWBootMGR} DisplayOrder {BootMGR} /Addfirst

That is where it belongs. I don't know how it got to the bottom. Do a full reboot for it to register in BIOS. Then, show us a new BCDEdit /Enum All.

That's nasty that BIOS adds one back after you have deleted it.

(2) The order of the GUIDs in DisplayOrder does not have to be the same as they are in the body of the BCD. In the body, they are in the order the boot entry was created. Moving one to the top of DisplayOrder should also move it to the top in BIOS Setup (after a full reboot). It then becomes the one that will boot by default. That is, it's the one that boots unless you chose another by using the one-time BIOS Boot Options menu. I think in your Asrock that is invoked with F11. (And DEL or F2 goes to BIOS Setup).

(3) I'm confused about your BIOS. I don't have one that complex.

(a) I don't know why it's got 4 Boot Options.

(b) Are you sure it is Boot Option #1 that is executing? Maybe disable ...#2 to be sure.

(d) What is that item that is disabled within ...#1?

Our goal is to have you boot to the EVO that has Windows on it. So, that is the drive that needs to be at the top of the Boot Order in your Boot Option #1. Is it...?...

The way to know that it is the correct Windows partition that is booted is that your C: partition will be 463 GB...

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Answer accepted by question author

Ramesh 181.8K Volunteer Moderator

Rebuilding the BCD should be enough, not the entire boot files, even though rebuilding the entire boot files doesn't do any harm.

And wondering why you're trying to create a Recovery drive with system files? Is it for backup/restore purposes or only for accessing WinRE? If it's for accessing WinRE, you can uncheck "Backup system files..." and create the media.

Regarding your question about C:\EFI folder, you can simply rename it. If Windows reboots correctly, that folder can be deleted. Do this only after creating the USB setup disk or Recovery drive.

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56 additional answers

Anonymous

2023-02-28T05:47:25+00:00

(1) Have you rebooted yet? Then, do a /Info to see whether partition 4 is set. If not, then....

(2) The reboot is necessary to have the system recognize the change. But I must confess I'm not sure exactly when the reboot must occur. Let's try it after the /SetREImage & before the /Enable...

ReagentC /Info <<<Shows partition 3 has RE

ReagentC /Disable <<<Moves WinRE.wim into a "staging area"

ReagentC /SetREImage /Path R:\Recovery\WindowsRE /Target C:\Windows

=== Reboot here ===

ReagentC /Enable <<<Moves it to the new location (we hope)

ReagentC /Info <<<Should show RE is partition 4 now
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Anonymous

2023-02-27T23:50:28+00:00
You folks are incredibly patient and helpful, but my system appears to be jinxed relative to that recovery partition. Initially, it looked like the missing command did the trick and pointed to part4, but when I ran the info command it still sees part3. I didn't bother to reboot given that discrepancy. I will say that when I look at part4, I see that ReAgent.xml is still dated 12/7/2019 whereas that file on part3 has been updated to 2/27/2023 (pasted below). [[I also found a file in part3 named $PBR_ResetConfig.xml - which seems to be pointed to the correct places. I think it's leftover from the reformatting and GPT conversion of the 970 that we're working on and probably irrelevant as it's dated 2/23/2023, but I pasted it below anyway.]]

=========================

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.2604]

(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>reagentc /info

Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration

Information:
```
Windows RE status:         Enabled 

Windows RE location:       \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk3\partition3\Recovery\WindowsRE 

Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: e1f8ff58-b603-11ed-850b-a8a1594c6c15 

Recovery image location: 

Recovery image index:      0 

Custom image location: 

Custom image index:        0 
```
REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.

C:\Windows\system32>reagentc /disable

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.

C:\Windows\system32>ReagentC /SetREImage /Path R:\Recovery\WindowsRE /Target C:\Windows

Directory set to: \?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk3*partition4*\Recovery\WindowsRE

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.

C:\Windows\system32>reagentc /enable

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.

C:\Windows\system32>reagentc /info

Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration

Information:
```
Windows RE status:         Enabled 

Windows RE location:       \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk3\**partition3**\Recovery\WindowsRE 

Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: e1f8ff5a-b603-11ed-850b-a8a1594c6c15 

Recovery image location: 

Recovery image index:      0 

Custom image location: 

Custom image index:        0 
```
REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.

================

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

<WindowsRE version="2.0">

  <WinreBCD id="{e1f8ff5a-b603-11ed-850b-a8a1594c6c15}"/>

  <WinreLocation path="\Recovery\WindowsRE" id="0" offset="240123904" guid="{a7153d34-52e7-4173-87ae-1c01624ea161}"/>

  <ImageLocation path="\Recovery\WindowsRE" id="0" offset="497942528000" guid="{a7153d34-52e7-4173-87ae-1c01624ea161}"/>

  <PBRImageLocation path="" id="0" offset="0" guid="{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}" index="0"/>

  <PBRCustomImageLocation path="" id="0" offset="0" guid="{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}" index="0"/>

  <InstallState state="1"/>

  <OsInstallAvailable state="0"/>

  <CustomImageAvailable state="0"/>

  <IsAutoRepairOn state="1"/>

  <WinREStaged state="0"/>

  <OperationParam path=""/>

  <OperationPermanent state="0"/>

  <OsBuildVersion path="19041.1.amd64fre.vb_release.191206-1406"/>

  <OemTool state="0"/>

  <IsServer state="0"/>

  <DownlevelWinreLocation path="" id="0" offset="0" guid="{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}"/>

  <IsWimBoot state="0"/>

  <NarratorScheduled state="0"/>

  <ScheduledOperation state="4"/>

</WindowsRE>

=====================

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>



<Reset>

  <SystemDisk>

    <DiskpartScriptPath>$PBR_Diskpart.txt</DiskpartScriptPath>

    <MinSize>453093</MinSize>

    <WindowsREPartition>4</WindowsREPartition>

    <WindowsREPath>Recovery\WindowsRE</WindowsREPath>

    <OSPartition>3</OSPartition>

    <WIMBoot>0</WIMBoot>

    <SingleInstancePPKG>False</SingleInstancePPKG>

  </SystemDisk>

</Reset>
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