Eight Ways to Use Windows Recovery Environment to Save Your PC
In a perfect world, nothing would ever go wrong with your Windows laptop or desktop, but as you know, the sun doesn’t always shine, your favorite sports team doesn’t always win, and you may run into problems with your PC from time to time. If that happens, Microsoft has provided a set of troubleshooting tools called the Windows Recovery Environment (or WinRE for short) to help you fix the problem yourself.
You may not be too familiar with WinRE, which is a good sign—it probably means your computing has been mostly trouble-free lately. Still, it’s worth knowing about the capabilities these utilities offer, whether you’re experiencing problems right now or want to be well-prepared for the future.
What is Windows Recovery Environment?
First of all, WinRE is a way to fix problems that prevent your PC from starting up properly. It can even pop up automatically if your PC won’t boot properly – it’s built right into Windows systems, so there’s nothing to download or install. You can also use WinRE to reset Windows and return it to its original state, in addition to the reset option in Windows settings.
If you can log into Windows normally, you can launch the Windows Recovery Environment by opening Settings and selecting System > Recovery > Restart now . If not, you may see WinRE appear automatically—most systems should be set to launch the utility after two or three failed boot attempts.
Alternatively, there will be a key you can press during boot to launch WinRE instead of Windows: If you’re not sure what this is, check the documentation that came with your PC or search online for your computer’s make and model. For some Asus computers, it’s F12 , for example, and for some Dell computers, it’s the Windows key .
All Windows Recovery Environment Options (and How They Work)
Use the device
The first option you’ll see allows you to boot from a USB drive or DVD instead of your hard drive, which you might want to do if you can’t start your PC normally. From there, you can troubleshoot further or reinstall Windows. If you need to create a USB drive or DVD to boot from, check out Microsoft’s guide .
Along with Use device and options to turn off the PC or go to Windows, there is a Troubleshoot item in the menu. Select it for more options.
Reset this PC
This is the first option under Troubleshoot . Selecting Reset will do just that: reset Windows to its original settings, hoping to fix any problems you were having. Along the way, you’ll be asked if you want to erase all your personal files and programs—the reset will be more thorough if you do this, but you’ll need to move all your data back, so make sure you have a reliable backup somewhere first.
If the Use a device or Reset this PC options don’t work for you, you can explore the Windows Recovery Environment further by selecting Advanced options .
Repair at startup
With this option, Windows will attempt to fix some of the most common startup issues without any further input from you. It will look at key files that control the boot process, registry files, and drivers. Hopefully, you’ll be back in the normal Windows environment in just a few minutes.
Launch options
This gives you some alternatives to booting Windows the normal way, including the classic Safe Mode, which boots the operating system with a minimum of configuration files and drivers. By running a stripped-down version of Windows instead of full Windows, you can bypass any problems and troubleshoot them in more detail — for example, by removing malware .
Command line
This opens a text-based command prompt window, a throwback to the days of MS-DOS. Because it’s so simple, you can get command prompts to work even if you can’t log into Windows — for example, file commands or further diagnostic checks. For more information on command prompts , see Microsoft’s guide .
Remove updates
Sometimes a Windows update can cause problems on your system (and possibly many others). This option allows you to view updates that have recently been applied to the operating system and remove them if necessary, which may then allow you to log into Windows as normal.
UEFI Firmware Settings
Here you can make changes to the core UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) software that runs Windows (and which has now replaced BIOS). You can check the health of your hard drives and peripherals, and make sure your PC is running at the most basic level – we ’ve written a more detailed guide to UEFI here .
System Restore
Essentially, System Restore rolls Windows back to an earlier point in time, ideally undoing any changes that are causing your PC’s current problems (it will remove recently added apps, for example). These restore points should have been automatically created by Windows, and you’ll be prompted to choose one from a list, depending on how far back you want to go.