I will guide you How to fix REAGENTC.EXE error The operation failed, an error has occurred

REAGENTC is a command used to enable and disable the Windows Recovery Environment. The Windows Recovery Environment is used to troubleshoot boot issues on a Windows PC. If it is disabled, your PC cannot be repaired or reset. Some users are unable to enable the Windows Recovery Environment using the Reagentc command and receive messages like REAGENTC.EXE: The operation failed or REAGENTC.EXE operation failed. An error has occurred.

How to fix REAGENTC.EXE error The operation failed, an error has occurred



REAGENTC is a command used to enable and disable the Windows Recovery Environment. The Windows Recovery Environment is used to troubleshoot boot issues on a Windows PC. If it is disabled, your PC cannot be repaired or reset. Some users are unable to enable the Windows Recovery Environment using the Reagentc command and receive messages like REAGENTC.EXE: The operation failed or REAGENTC.EXE operation failed. An error has occurred.


The full error message is:


REAGENTC.EXE: Operation failed:


REAGENTC.EXE: An error has occurred.


The error code in the above error message may be different for different users, such as 2, 3, 5, 70, 4c7, 3ee, b7, etc. Whatever the error code is, you can use the suggestions provided in this article to fix the problem.

REAGENTC.EXE operation failed. An error has occurred


If you encounter the message "REAGENTC.EXE operation failed" while enabling Windows Recovery Environment on your system with the following error codes: 2, 3, 5, 70, 4c7, 3ee, b7, etc., use the following suggestions:



All these fixes are explained below in detail.

1] Check the recovery folder


The Winre.wim file is the main file for the Windows Recovery Environment. If this file is missing or corrupted, you will not be able to use the Windows Recovery Environment. This is a file that Windows will continue to use when the Windows Recovery Environment is active. That way, you can't see it on your C drive even after the ability to view hidden files and folders is already enabled. It is only after disabling the Windows Recovery Environment that this becomes visible.


One possible cause of the “REAGENTC.EXE Operation Failed” error when enabling the Windows Recovery Environment is the missing Winre.wim file. Open the C drive and go to the following location:


C:\Windows\System32\Recovery


Enable hidden files and folders. See if the Winre.wim file is there. If the file is not there, you need to copy it from another healthy computer. Open another healthy computer (if available) and go to the same path as explained above to copy the Winre.wim file to your USB flash drive. Now, paste the file to the desired location on the affected computer.


If the file is already on the affected computer, you can try this way by all means, as the file may get corrupted. In this case, choose the replace option while copying the file to the affected computer.

How to Find Winre.wim File on the Installation Media


If you don't have another computer available, you can use the Windows installation media for that. Install the Windows Media Creation Tool and use it to download the Windows ISO file. Now, mount the ISO file and open it. Open the Sources folder and locate the install.wim or install.esd file. Copy that file to another location on your hard drive. Now, use a third-party tool such as 7 Zip to extract the file. This will take time.


After extraction, open the extracted folder and head to the WindowsSystem32Recovery location. You should see the Winre.wim file there. Copy that file to the desired location on your affected computer. Now, run the command to enable the recovery environment. This time, the command should run without any errors.

2] Repair System Image Files


A possible cause of this error is corrupted system image files. Use the built-in tools, System File Checker and DISM to repair corrupted system image files.

3] Disable Legacy BIOS and Enable Secure Boot (if applicable)


Go into your BIOS and check if the Legacy BIOS is enabled. If yes, disable it. The steps to disable the Legacy BIOS are different for computers of different brands. You should check your computer's user manual to know the correct way to disable the Legacy BIOS mode.


You can also check the BIOS mode directly in the System Information application.

4] Assign a new letter to the Recovery Partition


Assign a new letter to the Recovery Partition. Use the following instructions:


Click on Windows Search and type diskpart. Select the correct option from the search results to launch the Diskpart utility. Now, type the following commands and press Enter after entering each command.


list diskActual disk and volume number. Next type following command and press Enter:


reagentc /setreimage /path K:\Recovery\WindowsRE


The above command will update the ReAgent.xml file in the C:\Windows\System32\Recovery folder. Now, check the BIOS mode in the System Information application. If it is Legacy, change it to UEFI and also enable Secure Boot. Restart your computer. This time you should be able to enable Windows Recovery Environment.

5] Assign Correct ID to the System Partition


Another cause of this error is incorrect GUID of the System Partition. To check it, follow the steps below:


Start Command Prompt as administrator and type the following commands. Press Enter after typing each command:


diskpart list disk select disk # list partition select partition * detail partition


In the above commands, replace # with the correct disk number and * with the System Partition number. The Command Prompt should display the following GUID for the System Partition:


c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b


If you see another GUID instead of the one mentioned above, you need to set the correct GUID for the System Partition. Now, select the System Partition, which has the same partition number used in the above commands.


select partition #


set id=c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b


Now, exit the Diskpart utility. After that, run the command to enable the Windows Recovery Environment. The command should run without any error this time.

6] Perform an In-Place Upgrade or Clean Install of Windows


If nothing helped, perform an In-Place Upgrade. This process will install the Windows operating system without uninstalling the Windows operating system currently installed on your system. So, an In-Place Upgrade repairs your system without deleting data. However, from a security standpoint, please backup your data before proceeding.


The last resort is to perform a clean installation of Windows. Before proceeding, please backup your data on all hard drive partitions except the C partition, so that if you format the wrong hard drive partition, you will not lose your important files.




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