I have a 750GB drive that is failing, but still functional (I already backed up what can't simply be reinstalled), and I would like to reinstall Win10 on the SSD (I assume my key should still be valid, but this is not the problem here), probably in the 500GB gap, but I could add another HD if that's better.
- I know there were many problems installing Windows after Linux and I would like to avoid scrapping everything on the SSD, even if I could theoretically do it, as I have backups and the Z2 array, which I assume won't be touched; OTOH, I seem to understand these problems are (almost?) gone with modern UEFI boot.
I have a rather modern PC with:
- 1TB SSD containing Linux Mint 20.2 "Ulyssa", with ~500GB of free space for
sda2
/sda3
, and another ~350Gb of free space at end/dev/sda1 2048 264191 262144 128M EFI System /dev/sda4 975587328 983400447 7813120 3,7G Linux swap /dev/sda5 983400448 1283399679 299999232 143,1G Linux filesystem
- 4x identical 3TB drives in a ZFS Z2 array, providing space for
/home
and other data - 750GB disk where Win10 is installed with its normal partitioning:
/dev/sdb1 2048 1023999 1021952 499M Windows recovery environment /dev/sdb2 1024000 1228799 204800 100M EFI System /dev/sdb3 1228800 1261567 32768 16M Microsoft reserved /dev/sdb4 1261568 1465145343 1463883776 698G Microsoft basic data
What steps should I follow to maximize my success chances?
- A full guide would be best, but a list of possible pitfalls and how to steer clear would also be welcome; I am aware of this answer, but I'm unsure if it applies to Win10
WIP: I will update this section to reflect my attempts.
Following @JW0914 input I tried to create an "image" on my NAS (syno0).
I opened a PowerShell as Administrator and then:
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> New-SmbMapping -LocalPath 'X:' -RemotePath '\\syno0\Store'
Status Local Path Remote Path
------ ---------- -----------
OK X: \\syno0\Store
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Dism /Capture-Image /ImageFile:"X:\recover\Base.wim" /CaptureDir:"C:" /Name:"Windows Backup" /Description:"Base Image 2021.03.20 @ 16:20" /Compress:Max /CheckIntegrity /Verify /ScratchDir:"X:"
Strumento Gestione e manutenzione immagini distribuzione
Versione: 10.0.19041.1
Errore: 32
Impossibile accedere al file. Il file è utilizzato da un altro processo.
Il file di registro di Gestione e manutenzione immagini
distribuzione è disponibile in C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>
Sorry for the Italian text, it essentially says:
Error: 32
Impossible to access file. File is in use by another process.
I assume I should try to issue this command either from "Safe mode" or from "Preboot Environment", but I don't know how (I'm a Linux guy). Any pointer welcome.
Another problem I see with "instructions" is I assume I will have to make (at least) two images: one for my setup and one for WinPE, right?
If so I have no idea how to access WinPE partition from Win Dism
.
Another problem is I would like to add the partitons to my SSD, so I think using Diskpart ... clean
could be trouble; also here I would need some guidance, if possible.
bootrec
to fix any Windows boot issues (part of Step 5), instead use this answer to fix them from Linux, asBootRec
will destroy GRUB boot)ReAgentC
, however since it only takes ~10s to capture a WIM of it, it's more efficient since you're already doing the OS partition. You don't need to issueclean
, simply create the required partitions from the free space available [WinRE, EFI, MSR, and OS]