Windows Server 2008 reboots into WinRe recovery environment

bcdeditbootwindows-server-2008-r2windows-update

I have had an issue on a few Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Standard servers recently where when doing a standard reboot, it will reboot into the WinRE recovery environment. Going to the console of the machine and rebooting the device again will bring it back to the OS with no issue. These are all virtual machines and we have other machines with no issue. The most recent occured after automatic updates ran on a server.

  • Windows update logs don't indicate any failures
  • System logs don't indicate any errors or warnings
  • Checking bcedit /enum I don't see any issues with boot record
  • Checking msconfig->Boot tab no special boot options are selected

I'm at a loss on what else to check. Any ideas? Thanks

Best Answer

Apparently this is an intermittent issue with some 2008/2008 R2 environments after a heavy round of updates [insert favourite windows update débâcle anecdote here].

Try this solution on one of your 'less critical' servers, but it is relatively non-aggressive and shouldn't cause any more harm in the event that it doesn't help your particular issue.

let the system boot to windows recovery mode, and open a command prompt -- and type:

sfc /SCANNOW /OFFBOOTDIR=C:\  /OFFWINDIR=C:\Windows

change directory to:

C:\Windows\winsxs\

If pending.xml file exists, delete it...otherwise, reboot the system and select normal boot.

Try another reboot to test, but you should be ok going forward.

Here's some information on the 'sfc' command line utility: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa382541%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Hope this helps, and good luck!

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