Microsoft Did It Again! Beware Of Bugged Update KB5034441

[pressing on]

Can't download and install KB5034441, and of course MS wants me to increase the recovery partition in question which is already at 529mb ?!
Can i change the size using Disk Genius safely and is there a place to find written instructions ?

Or should i just hold tight and wait for this update to be sorted my MS..?

I see your Recovery Partition is reported as 529Mb in size. For me this update failed initially because the Windows Recovery Environment was missing. Having restored that, the update installed OK. My Recovery Partition - which for unknown reasons (past migration to larger drive?) is over 1GB - is now showing as using 532.21 MB. Really Microsoft, all this over 3Mb of drive space?

 

[Assimilator]

I finally decided to get this update installed this weekend; to preclude stupidity from future such updates I increased the WinRE partition size from 529MB to 1,024MB by doing the following (all the disk stuff was done with Easeus Partition Master and multiple reboots):

1. Disabled WinRE via reagentc /disable
2. Freed up 495MB (1024 - 529) via making my C:\ partition smaller by that size
3. Moved my C:\ partition up by 495MB, to the end of the drive
4. Moved the system partition up by 495MB, to start before the C:\ partition
5. Increased the WinRE partition at the front of the drive by the now free 495MB to give it a full 1,024MB
6. Ran reagentc /enable
7. Reran Windows Update check and KB5034441 has now succeeded

End result:

Microsoft commands will not help because your partition is a bit unusual.

When I installed Win10 it ordered the partitions the exact same way, as per above image, so IDK how unusual this case actually is.

 

[Shrek]

Here is what I have found so far:

• Aug 2023 version of Windows 10 22H2 makes a Recovery Partition of 530MB on format and KB5034441 does not install without extending the partition
• Jan 2024 version of Windows 10 22H2 makes a Recovery Partition of 546MB on format and KB5034441 installs without extending the partition

I also found that Disk Management says the partition is 100% free, but Speccy and MiniTool Partition Wizard show it has content.

 

[ThrashZone]

Thanks but i've chosen to hide the update..

Hi,
Yeah do what you feel is best ms will make a new one sooner or later with a large update if needed likely called 24h2 towards the end of the year.

I'm going to clean install my mbr disk on my z490 system with gpt/ efi with a partition for the RE in front of C and restore a system image of C into it so I won't have to reinstall activate/ apps and uninstall others I'll just have to run startup repair with the same macrium reflect winPE hehe

Then recreate maybe or redirect the existing RE from the clean install
If it fails like last time I'll just repeat the process that did work.

Here is what I have found so far:

• Aug 2023 version of Windows 10 22H2 makes a Recovery Partition of 530MB on format and KB5034441 does not install without extending the partition
• Jan 2024 version of Windows 10 22H2 makes a Recovery Partition of 546MB on format and KB5034441 installs without extending the partition

I also found that Disk Management says the partition is 100% free, but Speccy and MiniTool Partition Wizard show it has content.

Windows 11 both mine have been just less of 750mb of content.

Think the 11 clean install created a RE 1gb.

 

[P4-630]

likely called 24h2 towards the end of the year.

Nope..

Windows 10 will reach end of support on October 14, 2025. The current version, 22H2, will be the final version of Windows 10,
and all editions will remain in support with monthly security update releases through that date.

Windows client roadmap update: April 2023

Get the latest on Windows 10 and Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) releases.

techcommunity.microsoft.com

 

[ThrashZone]

My Windows 11 (23H2) has a Recovery Partition of 757MB

Hi,
About to find out what a clean install creates in about 20 minutes

P4-630 yep I was mistakenly referring to 11 my bad
But that is another way to get a larger RE just upgrade to 11 hehe

 

[Shrek]

Does upgrading change partition sizes? I thought that happened on install when formatting.

People who installed old Windows 10 have the Recovery Partition before the main partition and I believe this did not change on upgrade; while people who installed a later Windows 10 have the Recovery Partition after the main partition.

But I could be wrong.

 

[ThrashZone]

Does upgrading change partition sizes? I thought that happened on install when formatting.

People who installed old Windows 10 have the Recovery Partition before the main partion and I belive this did not change on upgrade; while people who installed a later Windows 10 have the Recovery Partition after the main partition.

But I could be wrong.

Hi,
Well an upgrade to 11 will auto create a new RE if it can't reuse it.

Forgot to mention the nuclear option to get a new RE
Refresh install keeping apps and personal files will work to
Saw a dude on 11f did it and he got a new after C.

Upgrade will resize the RE at the end of C
RE will be used if the partition it's on is big enough.

Well 23h2 installer iis acting weird as hell
Made a 2gb and 400gb to install os on
Silly thing put all partitions after C RE I expected but it also moved both efi's as well

Redoing with just the 2gb one up front to recreate the RE there and the rest unallocated see where the installer puts everything this time hehe

Yep looking better
Macrium reflect doing it magic of replacing C atm hehe

Edit
2nd attempt to get system image C to clean install C
Never occurred to me to drag it to the new install C lol but damn if it's not looking good so far lol

 

[Shrek]

End result:
View attachment 329678
View attachment 329679

When I installed Win10 it ordered the partitions the exact same way, as per above image, so IDK how unusual this case actually is.

Strange, for me Windows 10 always puts the Recovery Partition at the end, although this may not always have been the case.

KB5034441 Security Update for Windows 10 (21H2 and 22H2) - Jan. 9

KB5034441: Windows Recovery Environment update for Windows 10, version 21H2 and 22H2: January 9, 2024 Summary This update addresses a security vulnerability that could allow attackers to bypass BitLocker encryption by using Windows Recovery Environment (W

www.tenforums.com

"the Recovery partition should be AFTER the Windows partition. Normally one only sees a leftover Recovery partition from an old installation of Windows as the first partition, and also a newer Recovery partition after the Windows partition, created during a feature update (upgrade)"

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
In front of C is the way it should be other wise it's just in the way
Think someone already said having a partition between C and RE messes up RE being reused again because apparently MS can only shrink C and not D.. lol

MS is just to dysfunctional partition wise

At any rate new install RE is/ was +- 760mb
I got original C install on gpt/ uefi install when all else seems not to work drag the damn C partition where you want it hehe darn instructions never said that

Any how I making a system image where I'm at now and after I'm just going to drag the new RE where the partition is before C lol f'it
Resized 100mb efi already to 260mb
Only item left is RE position

 

[Shrek]

In front of C is the way it should be other wise it's just in the way

Then why do all my installs put the Recovery Partition after C?

I delete all partitions on install and let Windows figure out what it wants.

 

[cvaldes]

Then why do all my installs put the Recovery Partition after C?

I delete all partitions on install and let Windows figure out what it wants.

It's related to the performance characteristics of rotational media, specifically HDDs.

The disk sectors closer to the spindle have faster performance than the ones on the outer edge. So the operating system favors putting the most accessed bits toward the spindle: the EFI partition and the system software will be on those inside sectors. Defragmentation and regular disk maintenance operations will move the OS bits closer to the spindle for better performance.

With SSDs, physical location of the memory block is less important but Windows 10 is old enough that it will put the recovery partition at the end of the volume by default. Since the recovery partition is not normally accessed during regular operation, it really doesn't need to be super duper speedy.

On old UNIX filesystems (think Nineties), a separate swap partition would also precede the main partition.

 

[Shrek]

I'm confused, I thought further from the spindle ran faster (linear speed)

 

[cvaldes]

I'm confused, I thought further from the spindle ran faster (linear speed)

The rotational linear speed is faster. But data blocks aren't evenly spaced on the entire hard disk. The ones on the outside are farther apart.

There were attempts at making disk drives with variable rotational speed (spinning slower when the drive head was on the outside). Unsurprisingly it didn't work out. Variable speed motors were harder to control, more expensive; the data capacity increase was not worth the added complexity. Easier to just maintain a fixed rotational speed (5400 rpm, 7200 rpm, 10000 rpm, whatever).

So on today's HDDs, there is a greater concentration of data blocks toward the spindle.

Rewritable optical media follows the same principles. Drives will write data to the inside of the disc before proceeding toward the edge. For something like an audio CD, there's no performance gain but for a data disc there is.

 

[Shrek]

The rotational linear speed is faster. But data blocks aren't evenly spaced on the entire hard disk. The ones on the outside are farther apart.

The data is evenly spread so picked up faster from the outer edge.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Well didn't go as planned
I ended up doing a refresh install keeping apps and files instead just to see what it would do
And the refresh fixed the new RE I made
I resized C to fast and that broke the RE off C so it kept throwing errors trying to enable it

Got these files off my laptop no telling if they would of worked but I was ready to try but didn't need to in the end
I did use this in diskpart which helped the refresh install I'd bet reuse the RE

set id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac
GPT ATTRIBUTES=0x8000000000000001
format FS=NTFS quick label="Recovery Tools"

The newer updates were not part of the iso rufus downloaded so that's where I'm at atm installing them.

 

[Shrek]

At the risk of repetition

Microsoft Did It Again! Beware Of Bugged Update KB5034441

Can't download and install KB5034441, and of course MS wants me to increase the recovery partition in question which is already at 529mb ?! Can i change the size using Disk Genius safely and is there a place to find written instructions ? Or should i just hold tight and wait for this update to...

www.techpowerup.com

If you want to avoid hassle, install Windows 10 22H2 built recently with MediaCreationTool22H2 and KB5034441 will install without issue (I tried it yesterday); let it format the drive and it will make a 546MB Recovery Partition.

I found an earlier build made a 530MB partition and KB5034441 did not install (unless one extended the partition).

 

[ThrashZone]

Thanks but i've chosen to hide the update..

Hi,
You might try downloading win-10 version you have installed and do the refresh install keeping apps and files
I just used it and damn thing works fixing the RE partition.

 

[P4-630]

Security update KB5034441 resolves the CVE-2024-20666 vulnerability that allows attackers to bypass BitLocker encryption on Windows 10 systems.
This may allow them to access encrypted user data, although this requires physical access to the PC.

MS said:

We are working on a fix and will provide an update in a future release.

KB5034441: Windows Recovery Environment-update voor Windows 10, versie 21H2 en 22H2: 9 januari 2024 - Microsoft Ondersteuning

support-microsoft-com.translate.goog

 

[Cheeseball]

Son of a b****. I thought my new ROG Flow X13 (7940HS-only) had a bad SSD (WD SN740 512GB) and got stuck in a "winload.efi" BSOD bootloop. I was about to return it.

Okay, to shed light on what happened. Apparently the SSD did go bad, as it sometimes did not appear initialized even in the BIOS (e.g. no bootable drive detected). I took it out and did attempt to hit it in an external M.2 NVMe enclosure and lo' and behold it sometimes gets detected and sometimes did not.

I also noticed that Windows 11 (or maybe ASUS's factory image) did not make the recovery partition big enough too (502 MB), so the update probably did try to enlarge it, but in the circumstances where it was trying to, the SSD did not get detected and possibly got corrupted in the process.

Solution: Dropped in a Crucial T500 2TB and ran ASUS' Cloud Recovery and restored the factory image. Then ran Windows Updates and installed all updates until today. Partition shows 608 MB (weird that its not consistent), but it should be good enough for now.

 

[remixedcat]

Yesterday Microsoft rolled a several new updates for its Windows OSes as part of its Tuesday monthly update cycle. One of those updates is KB5034441: Windows Recovery Environment update for Windows 10, version 21H2 and 22H2: January 9, 2024.

KB5034441: Windows Recovery Environment update for Windows 10, version 21H2 and 22H2: January 9, 2024 - Microsoft Support

support.microsoft.com

This update is most likely to fail as it attempts to make changes to the recovery partition. When you first install Windows, it automatically creates 500MB recovery partition on the OS drive for the Windows Recovery Environment. And now it appears that 500MB is not enough space to perform an update.

KB5028997: Instructions to manually resize your partition to install the WinRE update - Microsoft Support

support.microsoft.com

Microsoft advises users to manually resize the partition by 250MB.

A risky operation as the OS data needs to be moved around and it is never smart to make adjustments to the OS partition table.

so they tell you to dink around w something you shouldn't be.... this is like microsoft telling you to delete system32.

 

[pressing on]

so they tell you to dink around w something you shouldn't be.... this is like microsoft telling you to delete system32.

The advice Microsoft give is based on using DISKPART in a command window to shrink the OS partition by 250 Mb, delete the existing Recovery partition and then create a new one that should be 250Mb larger. Using a third-party disk tool that will shrink or grow partitions would probably be a better idea.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
The whole RE partition issue is just sweet justice
I had already asked a question how to recreate the RE in front of C on a larger partition because I left room for one already and I got a lot of lectures on why, ms knows best leave it alone blah......

So when this update failed because MS has been making the darn RE to small for decades it's just to damn funny and here's exactly why I wanted a larger one.

I also found out you can break the RE partition on the end of C just by decreasing the size of C lol

 

[DaemonForce]

The advice Microsoft give is based on using DISKPART in a command window to shrink the OS partition by 250 Mb, delete the existing Recovery partition and then create a new one that should be 250Mb larger.

ADHD-maxxing normies pulling up a command window sounds scary enough.
Before you know it: Diskpart format reinstall, doo dah! DOO DAH! ♫

 

[remixedcat]

The advice Microsoft give is based on using DISKPART in a command window to shrink the OS partition by 250 Mb, delete the existing Recovery partition and then create a new one that should be 250Mb larger. Using a third-party disk tool that will shrink or grow partitions would probably be a better idea.

yeah MS's partition tools aren't the best. One time I simply shrunk C to make room for a small Linux partition and it hosed the C parition. Had to end up reinstalling windows