Quick machine recovery

Available on Windows 11, version 24H2 build 26100.4700 or later, quick machine recovery is a feature that enables the recovery of Windows devices when they encounter critical errors that prevent them from booting. This feature can automatically search for remediations in the cloud and recover from widespread boot failures, significantly reducing the burden on IT administrators when multiple devices are affected.

Building on the foundation of Startup Repair, quick machine recovery uses a secure and connected Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to scan Windows Update for remediation options. This allows devices to be recovered without requiring manual intervention.

How it works

There are two main settings of quick machine recovery: cloud remediation and auto remediation.

Cloud remediation

Auto remediation

Quick machine recovery process

Here are the phases of the quick machine recovery process:

1. Device crash: When the device fails to boot repeatedly, the system automatically detects the issue and initiates the recovery process.
2. Boot to recovery: The device boots into the recovery environment to initiate the quick machine recovery process.
3. Network connection: After a network connection is established, the device scans Windows Update for remediations.
4. Remediation
   • If no solution is found and the system is configured with the default one-time scan setting, the user is guided to other recovery options.
   • If no solution is found and the system is configured with retry scanning intervals, the system retries the process based on the configured retry scanning intervals and timeouts.
   • If a solution is found, the system downloads and applies it.
5. Restart: After a remediation is applied, the device restarts:
   • If the solution is successful, the device boots into Windows.
   • If the solution fails, the device restarts into the recovery environment again and the process repeats from step 2.

Configuration

Default configuration

Cloud remediation is enabled by default with one-time scan auto remediation on systems that are not under enterprise management:

• Windows Home edition devices
• Windows Pro edition devices that are not domain joined and not enrolled in enterprise endpoint management

Cloud remediation is disabled by default on enterprise-managed systems, allowing organizations to choose the configuration that best meets their needs:

• Windows Enterprise and Education edition devices
• Windows Pro edition devices that are domain joined or managed by an organization

If you don't modify the cloud remediation setting, the default behavior automatically updates when a system transitions between unmanaged and enterprise-managed states. If you explicitly configure cloud remediation settings, those administrator-defined settings continue to apply regardless of whether the system transitions between unmanaged and enterprise-managed states.

Configuration options

The configuration options consist of:

• Enable or disable cloud remediation.
• Enable or disable auto remediation.
• Configure auto remediation to one-time scan or looped scanning intervals to optimize remediation triggers.
• Configure network connections to ensure smooth recovery workflows.

  Important

  Currently, only wired and WPA/WPA2 password-based Wi-Fi networks are supported. Ensure that your network uses this configuration for compatibility.

The following instructions provide details about how to configure your devices. Select the option that best suits your needs.

reagentc.exe /setrecoverysettings /path settings.xml

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

<WindowsRE>
    <WifiCredential>
        <Wifi ssid="ContosoWiFi" password="ContosoWiFiPassword" />
    </WifiCredential>
    <CloudRemediation state="1" />
    <AutoRemediation state="1" totalwaittime="2400" waitinterval="120"/>
</WindowsRE>

reagentc.exe /clearrecoverysettings

Verify recovery settings

To check the configured recovery settings, run the following command from an elevated command prompt:

reagentc.exe /getrecoverysettings

Output example:

C:\>reagentc.exe /getrecoverysettings
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

<WindowsRE>
    <WifiCredential>
        <Wifi ssid="ContosoWiFi" password="ContosoWiFiPassword" />
    </WifiCredential>
    <CloudRemediation state="1" />
    <AutoRemediation state="1" totalwaittime="2400" waitinterval="120"/>
</WindowsRE>

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.

Test mode

To simulate the quick machine recovery experience, use the following commands from an elevated command prompt:

1. Enable test mode:

   reagentc.exe /SetRecoveryTestmode
   

2. Configure Windows to boot to WinRE on the next boot:

   reagentc.exe /BootToRe
   

3. Restart your device. The system goes through auto remediation of a simulated crash and restarts back to Windows. During the recovery process, quick machine recovery test mode might require network connectivity to retrieve remediation content. If a supported Wi‑Fi profile is configured to connect automatically or device is connected to Ethernet, WinRE attempts to connect to the network automatically. Otherwise, follow the prompts in "Let's connect you to a network" to establish connectivity before remediation continues. To learn more about supported Wi-Fi profiles for automatic connection in WinRE and how to manage this feature, see Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE).

   Note

   If after restart the device goes into WinRE instead of starting test mode, follow these steps:

   1. In WinRE, select Continue to boot Windows normally.

   2. In Windows, execute the two commands:

      • reagentc.exe /Disable
      • reagentc.exe /Enable

   3. Retry the quick machine recovery simulation starting from step 1.

4. Once your device boots back to Windows, verify whether the test remediation is successfully applied.

Verify remediation

If a relevant remediation is applied to the device, it appears under Settings > Windows Update > Update history, listed within the Quality updates section.

Provide feedback

To provide feedback for quick machine recovery, open Feedback Hub and use the category Recovery and Uninstall > Quick Machine Recovery.