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How to fix "reagentc" not working in command prompt? "'reagentc' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."

William Hernandez 0 Reputation points
2025-11-25T21:12:44.8833333+00:00

Hello!

Recently, I've made the mistake of downloading and attempting to run a malware. Luckily, Windows Security stopped the malware from taking more effect. However, a lot of features aren't working well. For example, when I try to open "Windows Update" in "Update and Security" from settings, this pops up:

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I also tried to reset my PC, and this pops up:

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After a bit of personal research, I believe that my Recovery Drive is disabled. So, I attempted to check my drive and enable it again. However, when I attempted it, this is what popped up:

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(Please note that, even when I ran these commands as an administrator, it didn't work)

How do I fix this issue? I'm confused on how it can't find it, did the malware manage to remove the Recovery Drive before stopped or is this something else? Thanks for reading.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Recovery and backup
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  1. JANSHER L 7,925 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-11-25T21:56:02.27+00:00

    Hi William,

    Thank you for posting, I am here to help. It seems that you are encountering an error when trying to enable the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) using the REAgentC tool. This tool is used to manage the Windows RE settings, but it appears to be failing in your case.

    This issue may be caused by a missing or corrupted Windows RE image file (Winre.wim) in the \Windows\System32\Recovery folder.

    Please try this steps see if this will help fix the problem:

    Check if the Winre.wim file exists in the \Windows\System32\Recovery folder. If not, you can copy it from another working computer with the same Windows version and architecture, or from the Windows installation media.

    Run the command reagentc /setreimage /path <path_to_Windows_RE_image> to set the location of the Windows RE image file. For example, if the file is in C:\Windows\System32\Recovery, run reagentc /setreimage /path C:\Windows\System32\Recovery.

    Run the command reagentc /enable to enable Windows RE. If you get an error message, try running reagentc /disable first and then reagentc /enable again.

    Run the command reagentc /info to verify that Windows RE is enabled and has a valid location.

    Let me know how this goes. Looking forward to helping you out.  If you need more help please feel free to let me know. If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer".

    Best regards,

    Jansher

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  2. Volume Z 1,055 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-11-25T23:39:33.28+00:00

    You cannot run reagentc in this context in the first place. Do not run command prompt as a standard user and then direct it to System32. Run it as an administrator from the start.

  3. JANSHER L 7,925 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-11-26T14:20:17.6233333+00:00

    Hi William,

    Thank you for update, If reagentc.exe is still not recognized, the file itself may be corrupted or missing.

    You may need to boot from a Windows installation media to access the command prompt and repair the installation.

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