Win 10 Pro update KB5034441 (Windows RE update) fails with ERROR 0x80070643

[Bud Weiser]

Well, I got this message and tried everything I´ve found in the web according this Windows update failure and a fix,- but no change.

Win10 Pro 22H2 update error code 0x80070643 .jpg (187.93 KiB) Viewed 6938 times

Am I the only one ?

Error code: 0x80070643

Any idea?
Is it possibly Win Privacy or OOshutup10 related ?

It´s the 1st time Win10 security update doesn´t work here,- laptop and desktop machine.



Bud

[valis]

I had this on my win10 computers, there’s an update for the windows encryption layer that downloads a virtual image that doesn’t fit within your Windows Recovery partitions size (which is typically 512MB or ~812MB, depending on which version of Win10 was the starting point for that PC).

I’ll post the fix info below when I’m at my desktops (on phone right now). It’s MS’s fault, and the fix requires some command prompt and diskpart usage (from an elevated command prompt).

[valis]

I am moving this to the Tech Support forum and updating your title for your forum post to make this easy to identify for everyone, here's the relevant information.

The update that is failing is: KB5034441: Windows Recovery Environment update for Windows 10, version 21H2 and 22H2: January 9, 2024

This update was to address a bitlocker vulnerability, and so it downloads and deploys a new image into the WindowsRE or Windows Recovery partition (which is a hidden partition). Unfortunately MS is deploying an image that doesn't fit into even the 'newer updated' recovery image that is created if your Win10 is a more recent fresh install (the original size was 512MB, it was updated later to approx 800MB, at least 1GB is necessary and I used 1280MB to fix this, more info below). Here are the EXACT steps to fix this issue:

Open a Command Prompt window (cmd) as admin.

To check the WinRE status, run reagentc /info. If the WinRE is installed, there should be a “Windows RE location” with a path to the WinRE directory. An example is, “Windows RE location: [file://%3f/GLOBALROOT/device/harddisk0/partition4/Recovery/WindowsRE]\\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition4\Recovery\WindowsRE.” Here, the number after “harddisk” and “partition” is the index of the disk and partition WinRE is on.

To disable the WinRE, run reagentc /disable

Shrink the OS partition and prepare the disk for a new recovery partition.

To shrink the OS, run diskpart

Run list disk

To select the OS disk, run sel disk<OS disk index> This should be the same disk index as WinRE.

To check the partition under the OS disk and find the OS partition, run list part

To select the OS partition, run sel part<OS partition index>

Run shrink desired=768 minimum=768 (this is if your WinRE partition is 512MB, if it's closer to 800 you can use shrink/desired value 512, etc)

To select the WinRE partition, run sel part<WinRE partition index>

To delete the WinRE partition, run delete partition override

Create a new recovery partition.

First, check if the disk partition style is a GUID Partition Table (GPT) or a Master Boot Record (MBR). To do that, run list disk. Check if there is an asterisk character (*) in the “Gpt” column. If there is an asterisk character (*), then the drive is GPT. Otherwise, the drive is MBR.

If your disk is GPT, run create partition primary id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac followed by the command gpt attributes =0x8000000000000001

If your disk is MBR, run create partition primary id=27

To format the partition, run format quick fs=ntfs label=”WindowsRE” (or label="Windows RE tools")

To confirm that the WinRE partition is created, run list vol

To exit from diskpart, run exit

To re-enable WinRE, run reagentc /enable

To confirm where WinRE is installed, run reagentc /info

Note If creation failed or you did not want to extend the WinRE partition, run reagentc /enable to re-enable WinRE.

[Nestor]

I'm having the same problem right now, and many other people are suffering from the same. I have tried everything possible, nothing!

Nevertheless, a few months ago it did happen, and I could fix it, but did not find the same tutorial-guide to follow anymore, unfortunately.

I hope this guidelines can help me too, thank you so much!

[valis]

Worked on both machines here. Take careful note, I had to remove ALL existing recovery partitions and create one new one that was at least 1280MB (1.2GB) in size before it worked. The image MS has tagged for download is too large once expanded for their pre-existing recovery partitions, they screwed up.

If you're tech-literate, you can modify my above instructions (which were taken from an MS help article and slightly modified as they assume you have one existing recovery partition--sometimes there will be two!) and simply delete all but your boot and windows partition, EXPAND that (which makes the windows partition fill the entire drive) and then use 1280 for both values in the shrink command. This is what I actually did, but I didn't want to complicate the instructions above which should be good enough for most existing systems.

[Bud Weiser]

Thanks a lot Valis !
I hope I´m able to follow your instructions and fix the problem.
Using "command line" isn´t what I´m usually doin´,- but I´ll try carefully.
I still have a bit of experience w/ diskpart ...

I wonder if I can use Minitool Partition Wizzard free for that purpose too and if it´s all about delete, shrink and/or expand partition jobs (?).
https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-pa ... nager.html

thx again,-



Bud

[valis]

No because you need to tag this partition with a specific GUID when making it, and the commands aren’t hard as given. Just make sure you don’t have two recovery partitions or it may still fail due to the smaller one.

[Bud Weiser]

No because you need to tag this partition with a specific GUID when making it, and the commands aren’t hard as given. Just make sure you don’t have two recovery partitions or it may still fail due to the smaller one.

Good to know !!!
Thank you !



Bud

[Bud Weiser]

Hi Valis !

Just only to be sure:

Which partition/volume to shrink ?

Win10 Pro x64_system drive.PNG (6.85 KiB) Viewed 6390 times

On my machine, "diskpart" lists the 529MB partition #1 on drive #1 as "WinRE" (recovery partition).
Partition #2 is the 99MB partition called "system" ... but then there is an additional one,--
Partition #3 (16MB "reserved") not visible in the pic above.
Partition #4 (418.56 GB) is what is shown as partition #3 in the pic above,- and in "diskpart", it´s NOT called "system",- but IMO, that´s the partition w/ the Windows OS,- no ?

The last (unallocated) partition in the pic above is not been listed in "diskpart" at all.
It´s "SSD overprovisioning"

So,- the 418.56 GB partition is the one to shrink and the 529MB partition is the one to be extended?

What about the 99MB and invisible 16MB partitions?
Do they move?
What happens to the data in all these partitions except the WinRE which has to be deleted and re-created?

And, when I followed your instructions, somewhere I got the message "no drive selected" (no partition selected).
Now I wonder if the commands "select disk n" and "select partition n" (n = number of disk/partition) are missing in your step-by-step advise above.
This,- because "run sel disk<OS disk index>" and "run sel part<OS partition index>" just only open the disk and partition indexes,- but doesn´t select the OS drive and desired partition.
The same might happen when you "run sel part<WinRE partition index>".
But I had to exit before not making a mistake, so for the latter I dunno.



Bud

[valis]

Yes it looks like your recovery partition is at the start of the drive. Let me respond later, on mobile now.

[valis]

I'm not really sure what to recommend here, all of my windows machines have a start partition that is actually the boot partition. Can you show me the output in DISKPART and not just the windows Disk Management utility?

Run CMD.exe and type: DISKPART (if your command prompt is not elevated, this will prompt you to start DISKPART in a new elevated prompt window).

SELECT DISK N (where N= the # of the drive with the windows partition, DISKPART and Disk Management (win utility app) generally use the same numbering scheme)

LIST PARTITION

This should also now show you the initial SYSTEM partition, as well as a "Reserved" partition right after that which likely comes before your "Recovery" partition.

Paste the screenshot here like this:

DISKPART.png (11.15 KiB) Viewed 5836 times

[Bud Weiser]

Hi Valis !

Thx for input,- here it is ...

Bud W_Diskpart drive1.jpg (57.55 KiB) Viewed 5832 times

On my office machine, "recovery" is partition #1
The "start/boot" partition called "system" is partition #2
"reserved" is partition #3
C: Windows is "primary" partition #4

IMO, the recovery partition (#1) should be extended and the only partition I´d be able to shrink would be #4 "primary".

But I´m unsure about how to move the #2, #3 and #4 partitions when making partition #1 larger.

I usually do with Minitool Prtition Wizzard, but in this case I fear damaging something.

I also wonder if it might be a better idea leaving all to a Microsoft fix.
They created the issue.



Bud

[valis]

You could of course wait.

If you have another SSD that you could use to try your own fix (without harming your existing install) you can try the following:

A fresh install of Windows (same release of V10) from a USB drive, allow this to create everything as it wants to. This will put your 100MB "System" aka boot partition at the start of the drive, followed by the Windows (Primary) and Recovery as the final partition. I would then just delete the Recovery partition, and then COPY your existing windows installation to the NEW Windows / Primary partition on the newly installed SSD. Then you can resize the Windows partition as needed, and make the Recovery partition. Test everything by replacing your boot drive with this one, and ensure all your existing licensed software works fine.

I use Macrium Reflect and other free partition apps to do this jsut fine, Minitool Partition Wizard might work but I would defer to your experience on that.

Or yes, you could wait for MS to fix this issue.

[Bud Weiser]

Well, thx for reply/advise !
I understand a fresh Windows install might be the best solution,- but NOW I´d have to do this on 2 machines meanwhile.
the screenshot above isf rom my office desktop machine.

On my Lenovo laptop #1, running Win10 Pro x64 too, there are TWO recovery partitions.

One at the beginning of the system drive (Toshiba SATA3 SSD 240GB) and another one at the end.
The 1st one is 300MB,- followed by a 100MB "system/boot" partition,- then C: primary Windows followed by another 500MB recovery partition.

Now I wonder which recovery partition, wasting space on my drive I´d don´t need at all,- and why the Windows update failed on laptop #1 too.
I guess there´s a Win7 recovery partition left over, but I´m not sure.

Any way to find out ???

On my Win11 Pro Lenovo laptop #2, everything is in right order:
disk 0 = system disk
partition 1 = system/boot (UEFI) 100MB (offset 1024 KB)
partition 2 = reserved 16 MB (offset 101 MB)
partition 3 = primary 237 GB (117 MB)
partition 4 = recovery 619 MB (237GB)

What does all the "offset" mean ?
Is that as it should or bad aigned ?



Bud

[valis]

Alignment isn’t a concern like it was in the XP era. It means that’s where the partition starts.

Keep in mind OEM systems will have a partition supported by BIOS operations to wipe and reinstall Windows, this is separate from the MS Recovery image and will take you back to the state the machine shipped in. The MS Recovery image is updated to the current version of Windows—which is why this new update is once again larger than previously allocated recovery space sizes.

This whole thread assumes you built your machines, or can handle a USB windows installer without the need for OEM operations.

[Bud Weiser]

Alignment isn’t a concern like it was in the XP era. It means that’s where the partition starts.

Keep in mind OEM systems will have a partition supported by BIOS operations to wipe and reinstall Windows, this is separate from the MS Recovery image and will take you back to the state the machine shipped in. The MS Recovery image is updated to the current version of Windows—which is why this new update is once again larger than previously allocated recovery space sizes.

This whole thread assumes you built your machines, or can handle a USB windows installer without the need for OEM operations.

Yes, to the latter.
I built the office- and DAW machines myself and modded one of the laptops.
The laptops I bought used in excellent conditions,- threw out the optical drive, put into external case and added a caddy for a 2nd SSD.
One of the laptops came w/ a 2nd (Crucial MX500) SSD already.
So, they came w/ these Toshiba 240 GB (Win10 Pro) and Samsung 256GB(Win11) system disks.
I just only tweaked using Win10Privacy and installed my applications and plugins.

I know, the Win10 laptop was originally delivered w/ Win7 Ultimate 64Bit.
I got that original DVD from the seller even Win10 Pro (using a different product key) was already installed.

Now it would be all about identifying the Win7/OEM recovery partition and delete,- if possible.
Frees 300, possibly 500MB of disk space and could be used to enlarge the desired partition fixing the update issue w/o the need to shrink the C: Windows (primary) partition,- no ?

I´d prefer to set up new ONLY WHEN i´ll replace the small ~250GB OS drives by larger ones (500GB-1TB) one day.

When I delete recovery partitions,- does that affect the "UEFI"(system), C: Windows (primary) partitions in a negative way or at all ?

Is it really essential to have a recovery partition when using backup programs like Acronis, Macrium Reflect (free) etc. ?
I wonder if it´s just only a lot of crap wasting space on disks,- no ?



Bud

[valis]

Deleting the recovery partitions doesn't impact your Windows partition, but since they're at the start of the drive I would gather they also are used as the boot volume. That plus I don't know how the EXPAND and SHRINK commands in Diskpart react to space BEFORE the volume (rather than after) is why I recommended what I did.

Well, that and of course you wouldn't be committed to the changes if you build up a new volume and copy your Windows volume over, as suggested, as the original drive remains intact until you trust the move enough to commit to it.