Just had a new piece come out over at AskWoody. It’s entitled Reinstall now — Windows recovery’s secret sauce. As the title should lead you to expect, it’s about the new feature in Windows 11 that first appeared generally in 23H2, Build22631.3447. If you visit Settings > System > Recovery, you’ll find a “Reinstall now” button under the heading “Fix problems using Windows update.” Once that story went live, it immediately became obvious that numerous Windows 23H2 and 24H2 users had applied the updates that should have resulted in the button’s appearance. But, for a variety of reasons, it did not. Although I haven’t seen this happen personally, I have no trouble believing it, especially given my long history in chasing new Windows 11 features. Let me explain…
Gradual Rollouts and Chasing New Windows 11 Features
Apparently, this button has been part of what MS sometimes call a Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR). In the MS update blogs, it often refers to these as “gradual rollouts.” My special case for Murphy’s Law when it comes to the arrival of new stuff is “If it’s on gradual rollout, my PCs will be among the last to get it.” I’ve also seen this same phenomenon with regard to Quick Machine Recovery, where my older PCs and laptops didn’t get the feature, while my newer ones did. In fact, Intel 12th Gen (Alder Lake) and Ryzen 7 (Zen 4) is as old as such machines get that reliably offer QMR, and its test scenario.
That said, I just fired up a 2018 vintage ThinkPad X1 Extreme (8th Gen Intel CPU) and the “Reinstall now” button appears where it should. So either MS has pushed out this feature as far back as I can see (I don’t have any 7th Gen machines to check) and it really is generally out there, or my AskWoody readers are unlucky enough to own PCs or laptops that are still on compatibility holds for “Reinstall now” for some reason or another.
Note: MS has been busy, because the lead-in graphic from the 8th Gen X1Extreme also shows the QMR facility is now available there. It’s been a long time coming, but it just made it to the older machines recently. Good-oh!
Other Reasons Reinstall Now Might Be MIA
The other cool thing about the AskWoody forums is the weight of expertise that flows like honey from its knowledgable members. You’ll see this only display if you read the Comments on my article.
Among the useful possible obstacles that have emerged from discussion include:
- For “Reinstall now” to work, reagentc /info needs to show its status as enabled, so that the feature can contact Windows Update and then hand off control to the recovery image it downloads.
- Numerous GPOs can block or stymie the appearance of “Reinstall now” on Windows PCs and laptops. The threads mention a good handful of same, with the general observation that managed PCs in workplaces and schools are likely to fall under those policies. Also, at least one of AskWoody‘s own recommended end-user policies for Windows 11 could also get in the way.
- Patch Lady and AskWoody Editor-in-Chief Ssuan Bradley pointed to an MS Learn Q&A item Win 11 Doesn’t Show Reinstall Now, Fix Problems Using Windows Update Greyed Out. This includes useful tips and tricks for fixing the issue.
As always it’s fascinating to see how entirely predictable problems lead various communities to offer support, information, suggestions and fixes. Given that at least half-a-billion users run Windows 11, pretty much every feature is likely to hit a snag for some user(s) on some PCs and laptops. Here in Windows-World, I enjoy learning from such experiences. They’re often better experiened with sympathy second-hand, than with frustration and discomfort first-hand.
