Solutions to majority of problems related to Restore/ Recovery / MSI F3 factory Reset

Hi, I have all the partitions to recover the f3 option, but I'm still confused how to do it. Could someone help me do it by step please?
 

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Hey MSI Enthusiast. Greetings..
Today, i am going to share the working solutions to the common problems faced by MSI users when it comes to MSI Factory reset/ Recovery. Since this post tries to address multiple problems, this going to be a little long post. bear with me..
I have MSI Prestige 15 A10SC, it had chinese windows 10 Home edition when i bought it. But now i have win 11 pro. I have changed the msi recovery image to latest win 11 manually. And MSI Factory Reset is still working with latest recovery image of win 11. Follow this post to learn on how to do it.

If you have one of these common problems then this post might help you
  1. 1. Accidently deleted Recovery partition (BIOS_RVY)
  2. 2. Get error " The recovery procedure from RecoveryDVD has not been successfully finished..."
  3. 2. F3 MSI factory reset option missing.
  4. 3. Multiple recovery partitions present like 900MB, 500MB, 300MB...
  5. 3. Want to use F3 msi factory reset but afraid that recovery files are old windows
Even if you are one who prefers clean install by windows bootable USB, rather than MSI F3 Factory reset because you think that factory reset will take you to older bloated windows, then i believe this post will be also helpful to you, because i am going to show you on how to manually change the factory reset files to latest windows so that you can get the latest reset of windows 11 rather than old windows 10. I think its better to have recovery on the go rather than USB, because it fast, only takes 4 minutes to reset. USB is for last resort only.

Don't underestimate MSI recovery software, its really useful. It is like "the power of sun in palm of your hand".

I am going to give you probable explanations and logic, and show how to do it. This is going to be a little long post so bear with me please.

PROBABLE CAUSE
-If you have accidently deleted Bios_Rvy partition, then don't worry. you don't need old backup files because i will show you how to manually create recovery partition and add latest image of your current windows which can be restored by f3 msi factory reset.
-If you get 2nd error, even if your recovery partition is intact then the most probable cause is the location of BIOS_RVY partition on your ssd.
-If f3 recovery option is missing, and has multiple small recovery partitions, most probably this is because you probably have clean installed windows by old traditional DESTRUCTIVE method from USB by formatting C drive and installing. Never do that, Please understand the logic behind it.

LEARN LOGIC
A/C to Microsoft, for GPT disk partition, it should be in following order. ( i am talking about partitions, not volume)
-[system-MSR-windows-winre], and then you can have other partitions like D, E ,F... See UEFI/GPT-based hard drive partitions

When we first buy MSI laptop, its in the same order.[system-MSR-windows-Winre tools-BIOS_RVY] check the attached image.
View attachment 157856

But as most of us like to shrink single C drive and create other partitions, this mess up the order and now your new partitions order will be like [system-MSR-windows-D-E....-Winre tools-BIOS_RVY]
View attachment 157857

Now this causes problem, when there is a major feature update, windows will create new winre partition next to C drive and orphan the older "Winre tool", where older recovery file was that contains f3 MSI factory reset option, resulting in loosing the F3 factory reset option. why windows does that? check MICROSOFT GPT PARTITION
So make sure that winre/ winre tool partition is just next to C. if not then manually do that. google it and you can do it yourself.

If you get the error " The recovery procedure from RecoveryDVD has not been successfully finished...", then its probably because BIOS_RVY partition is not the last partition. I had this problem, i made my partitions in order [system-MSR-windows-Winre tools-BIOS_RVY- D-E-F] which resulted in that error. Later i realized that BIOS_RVY partition should be the last one for MSI recovery dvd software to detect it. later i manually changed it which made it work again.
View attachment 157858


MANUALLY CREATE BIOS_RVY IF DELETED (and update it to latest image)
If you already have BIOS_RVY partition, then you don't have to follow this step.
If you have deleted that partition then, no worries, you can create a partition yourself. And apply the latest image of current updated windows .SWM file. you don't need older bloated files.
you can use mini tool or other partition tool or CMD if you are comfortable with it.

  • Shrink the end partition, e.g. mine was F partition. shrink it and created 15GB partition. Name that partition "BIOS_RVY"
  • create a folder named "RecoveryImage"
View attachment 157859
  • Now you have to put the image of the system which you want to set as recovery image. Follow next chapter.
(I clean installed win 11 by mounting iso file, then running setup file and remove everything. This way i was able to retain my MSI factory reset option from that win 10. [ Non destructive method to clean install windows]
Installed drivers and few basic software. Ran ccleaner and windows default cleaner, deleted unwanted files. [ to make the captured image smaller as possible]
Now when i thought the best state of my pc. i did following ..)


REPLACE FACTORY IMAGE WITH LATEST ONE
If you already have BIOS_RVY partition, then follow this chapter to update the image to the latest one, or you can use the existing one if you like. You should assign a letter to access that partition from cmd, it will loose its letter when restarted, so its safe to assign a letter for temporary access.

Use "DISM++" software, its portable and small in size, to capture the image. ( you can use cmd if you want)
it will capture in .wim format (system backup)
convert that wim file into .SWM using same software. (SD/WIM Conversion)
View attachment 157861

when executing the conversion, it will ask for the size, select 4GB, it will break that .wim file into multiple .swm files.
The file should be named "install". you will get multiple files like install.swm, install1.swm, install2.swm..
Copy all those files to "RecoveryImage" folder in BIOS_RVY Partition.
View attachment 157860

If you already have BIOS_RVY, just assign a letter, it will be temporary, and delete/backup to another location all the install.swm files there and paste/replace the newly created files.
you don't have to follow next step. Next step are for those who are manually creating BIOS_RVY partition.

Now either use diskpart command or use partition software to change the partition to recovery partition.
if you use cmd, diskpart, use
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001

if you prefer partition software, google it on how to do it.
Thats it.

F3 RECOVERY OPTION
This step is very important, it will further save you from loosing the current f3 msi factory reset option, if you already have it, and prohibit windows from further creating useless smaller multiple recovery partitions for winre.
first check if your winre is in 4th partition or not by running command "reagentc /info" in cmd. If not then change it. How? Either google it or ask me in comments, i will try to assist you.
View attachment 157862

If you still have MSI factory reset option intact from windows 10, it will not work even if its there. you have to use F3_Recovery_USB by MSI once to update the current f3 option to make it workable in win 11.
If you don't have recovery option then you have to use that F3_Recovery_USB files from F3_Recovery_USB website to proceed with recovery option.

Aslo don't forget to rename C drive to "Windows".
THATS IT. IT will work..

But make sure that your partitions are in order. Check the image to see my partition order. it should be in order for it to work.
View attachment 157863

I have tried myself so i am sharing this experience here.

Please BACKUP YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM in case something goes wrong.
But i am sure it will work ,if your first four partitions i.e. [system-MSR-windows-winre] are together and last partition is BIOS_RVY.

I hope this will help you. If you find it helpful. Please share it with others in need. Sharing is caring.
In BIOS RVY, where can i download msi factory image , because in my msi gs65 was installed with clean os deleting all its setting and partitions.
can u help me, thanks.
 
Hi All, I had the same problem with MSI CREATOR Z16, after update it to Win11, I tried to recover it to factory defaults, more over, I do a 3passes wipe data (secure delete) of main partition, and deleted Windows partition. All of these, did that I had "lost" my recovery partition, after a lot of searches, and thanks (in part of this post) I found a solution, here I post my solution:

Quick Summary:

1. I tried "http://download.msi.com/uti_exe/nb/F3_Recovery_USB.zip" (https://storage-asset.msi.com/global/picture/faq/10018812@2021-1014-1144-033323@kb_05211_en.pdf) but I cannot recover my RecoveryPartition due to the program said me:

1) Please make sure the disk partition’s layout is factory default setting
2) please make sure current OS HDD is in the master HDD place”


Then my problem was that I had not partitions properly.

2. Understand GPT Partitions: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/w...rue&view=windows-10#-createpartitions-uefitxt

F3_Recovery_USB necesito que todas las particiones sean exactamente del mismo tamaño y posiciones que cuando compré mi laptop, después de investigar mucho, encontré los tamaños y posiciones correctos.
1. Partition 1: EFI (300MB)
2. Partition 2: MSR (128MB)
3. Partition 3: Windows
4. Partition 4: Recovery (MSI)


3. The easy way to recreate correctly these partitions, is using DISKPART, and here I give you all commands, but before to do this, you have to DELETE all partitions that you have before MSI recovery partition (this will delete ALL YOUR DATA). And once you have this done, I used a Windows Media Tool (used to install a clean Windows10) and once I have to create all partitions, we can presh "SHIFT+F10", and we will an MSDOS window, when we could create all partitions.

(all sizes explained here, are for MSI Creator Z16, I don't know if in other laptops the Sizes are the same or not)

c:\diskpart
select disk 0
create partition efi size=300
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
assign letter="S"
create partition msr size=128
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
assign letter="W"

exit
exit

4. Once created all partitions, we have to continue Installing the CLEAN WINDOWS 10.

5. Once Windows 10 has installed, we will use again "F3_Recovery_USB" and now it will works!!

6. Restart laptop and your recovery we will start!

7. Enjoy your Recoverted OS with ALL drivers and applications ;)
WhatsApp Image 2022-11-29 at 4.37.09 PM.jpeg

I have followed all the steps , but I'm getting this error , plz help
 
Factory reset is working , but it is installing clean windows 10 , without msi bloatwares.I need my laptop with the default msi apps. Can you plz send me msi gs65 recovery image files. Or is there any other solutions.
 
Factory reset is working , but it is installing clean windows 10 , without msi bloatwares.I need my laptop with the default msi apps. Can you plz send me msi gs65 recovery image files. Or is there any other solutions.
I think you are confused with factory reset and windows reset. if its factory reset then you will get the original apps with OS. But if its windows reset then its clean install.

About recovery image, MSI does not provide recovery image Thats why this post exists in the first place. If you want recovery image, then either you have to contact MSI customer center or get it from someone with the same laptop model.
 
I think you are confused with factory reset and windows reset. if its factory reset then you will get the original apps with OS. But if its windows reset then its clean install.

About recovery image, MSI does not provide recovery image Thats why this post exists in the first place. If you want recovery image, then either you have to contact MSI customer center or get it from someone with the same laptop model.
Thanks for the help , I will try to find another person using same model.
 
Hi all. I have got an Msi Raider GE77HX-12UGS laptop. This model come with Windows 11 Single Language.

I wanted to return to Windows 10. And i returned. But on Windows 10 installation screen i deleted original system partition, original MSR partition - original windows partition and original Winre tools partition.

I dont delete original BIOS_RVY partition. BIOS_RVY partition still original now.

Naturally i cant original recovery process. Dont work F3 function. F3_Recovery_USB if opening startin but completed 3 seconds. And nothing change. My installing Operation System is normal starting.

Please help guys. ı need recovery this laptop fully original. How can i back original system, MSR and Winre tools partitions?

Sorry for bad english lang and thanks all.

Adsız.jpg
 
Hi all. I have got an Msi Raider GE77HX-12UGS laptop. This model come with Windows 11 Single Language.

I wanted to return to Windows 10. And i returned. But on Windows 10 installation screen i deleted original system partition, original MSR partition - original windows partition and original Winre tools partition.

I dont delete original BIOS_RVY partition. BIOS_RVY partition still original now.

Naturally i cant original recovery process. Dont work F3 function. F3_Recovery_USB if opening startin but completed 3 seconds. And nothing change. My installing Operation System is normal starting.

Please help guys. ı need recovery this laptop fully original. How can i back original system, MSR and Winre tools partitions?

Sorry for bad english lang and thanks all.

View attachment 166478
First try this, then let me know.
 
Hello, I am having trouble factory resetting my MSI Katana GF66 12UGSOK that came with Windows 11 Home Pre-installed. I'm getting the following error when trying to restore:
IMG-6868.jpg


I formatted the laptop with Windows 11 Pro using a USB drive, deleted the original system/MSR/windows partitions but DID NOT touch the following partitions: WinRE tools and BIOS_RVY. It is to my knowledge that when you fresh install windows the destructive way via USB, it creates another recovery drive and deletes the files in the WinRE tools partition. I did re-format and put Windows 11 Home back on the system.

I assigned the volume BIOS_Envy drive letter D: to see if files were still there and all the original files are intact.
File Explorer BIOS_RVY.png


Here are the contents of the BIOS_RVY partitionr:
BIOS_RVY Partition contents.png


Here is my Disk Management:
Disk Management.png


My diskpart:
diskpart.png


Last but not least, my Reagentc /info:
Reagent.png


I cannot figure out for the life of me on how to get this thing factory reset to how it was when it was delivered 2 days ago. Any help would be appreciated. My WinRE tools partition is also empty with no files in it.
 
Hello, I am having trouble factory resetting my MSI Katana GF66 12UGSOK that came with Windows 11 Home Pre-installed. I'm getting the following error when trying to restore:
View attachment 166658

I formatted the laptop with Windows 11 Pro using a USB drive, deleted the original system/MSR/windows partitions but DID NOT touch the following partitions: WinRE tools and BIOS_RVY. It is to my knowledge that when you fresh install windows the destructive way via USB, it creates another recovery drive and deletes the files in the WinRE tools partition. I did re-format and put Windows 11 Home back on the system.

I assigned the volume BIOS_Envy drive letter D: to see if files were still there and all the original files are intact.
View attachment 166652

Here are the contents of the BIOS_RVY partitionr:
View attachment 166653

Here is my Disk Management:
View attachment 166654

My diskpart:
View attachment 166655

Last but not least, my Reagentc /info:
View attachment 166656

I cannot figure out for the life of me on how to get this thing factory reset to how it was when it was delivered 2 days ago. Any help would be appreciated. My WinRE tools partition is also empty with no files in it.
First loose the bitlocker encryption, i am not sure if it works on bitlocked drive or not. never tried it.
2nd, how did you get that recovery options, did you use f3 recovery or use usb to get that recovery environment?
3rd, your drive is not in factory default, first partition should me 300MB, formatting destructive way will make first partition 100 mb and MSR partition only 16 MB, msr by default on oem is 128MB.
 
First loose the bitlocker encryption, i am not sure if it works on bitlocked drive or not. never tried it.
2nd, how did you get that recovery options, did you use f3 recovery or use usb to get that recovery environment?
3rd, your drive is not in factory default, first partition should me 300MB, formatting destructive way will make first partition 100 mb and MSR partition only 16 MB, msr by default on oem is 128MB.
1st Disabled bitlocker just now
2nd, First I used F3 as pictured in the photo, then last night I used the USB recovery environment, it ran for 5 hours and nothing
3rd, So I need to change the first partition to 300MB and MSR to 128MB or will I have to do a clean format real quick to get this done?
 
Last edited:
1st Disabled bitlocker just now
2nd, First I used F3 as pictured in the photo, then last night I used the USB recovery environment, it ran for 5 hours and nothing
3rd, So I need to change the first partition to 300MB and MSR to 128MB or will I have to do a clean format real quick to get this done?
There is something wrong with that f3 upgrade recovery by MSI. Many have complained about it. It should be finished by 3 4 minutes. After starting the process, one can see screen flicker after 4 5 minutes, and then rest is some kind of bug or something. Force restart should be done to get out of it.

Any ways, back to your question, well you can do that manually but the best option is to make UFDrecovery with help of msi center pro/ msi dragon center. Use backup option to create recovery usb..
Then factory reset your pc with that usb.
All your partitions will be formatted and will be restored to original settings.
Try that, if you need any further help then pm me..
 
Hey MSI Enthusiast. Greetings..
Today, i am going to share the working solutions to the common problems faced by MSI users when it comes to MSI Factory reset/ Recovery. Since this post tries to address multiple problems, this going to be a little long post. bear with me..
I have MSI Prestige 15 A10SC, it had chinese windows 10 Home edition when i bought it. But now i have win 11 pro. I have changed the msi recovery image to latest win 11 manually. And MSI Factory Reset is still working with latest recovery image of win 11. Follow this post to learn on how to do it.

If you have one of these common problems then this post might help you
  1. 1. Accidently deleted Recovery partition (BIOS_RVY)
  2. 2. Get error " The recovery procedure from RecoveryDVD has not been successfully finished..."
  3. 2. F3 MSI factory reset option missing.
  4. 3. Multiple recovery partitions present like 900MB, 500MB, 300MB...
  5. 3. Want to use F3 msi factory reset but afraid that recovery files are old windows
Even if you are one who prefers clean install by windows bootable USB, rather than MSI F3 Factory reset because you think that factory reset will take you to older bloated windows, then i believe this post will be also helpful to you, because i am going to show you on how to manually change the factory reset files to latest windows so that you can get the latest reset of windows 11 rather than old windows 10. I think its better to have recovery on the go rather than USB, because it fast, only takes 4 minutes to reset. USB is for last resort only.

Don't underestimate MSI recovery software, its really useful. It is like "the power of sun in palm of your hand".

I am going to give you probable explanations and logic, and show how to do it. This is going to be a little long post so bear with me please.

PROBABLE CAUSE
-If you have accidently deleted Bios_Rvy partition, then don't worry. you don't need old backup files because i will show you how to manually create recovery partition and add latest image of your current windows which can be restored by f3 msi factory reset.
-If you get 2nd error, even if your recovery partition is intact then the most probable cause is the location of BIOS_RVY partition on your ssd.
-If f3 recovery option is missing, and has multiple small recovery partitions, most probably this is because you probably have clean installed windows by old traditional DESTRUCTIVE method from USB by formatting C drive and installing. Never do that, Please understand the logic behind it.

LEARN LOGIC
A/C to Microsoft, for GPT disk partition, it should be in following order. ( i am talking about partitions, not volume)
-[system-MSR-windows-winre], and then you can have other partitions like D, E ,F... See UEFI/GPT-based hard drive partitions

When we first buy MSI laptop, its in the same order.[system-MSR-windows-Winre tools-BIOS_RVY] check the attached image.
View attachment 157856

But as most of us like to shrink single C drive and create other partitions, this mess up the order and now your new partitions order will be like [system-MSR-windows-D-E....-Winre tools-BIOS_RVY]
View attachment 157857

Now this causes problem, when there is a major feature update, windows will create new winre partition next to C drive and orphan the older "Winre tool", where older recovery file was that contains f3 MSI factory reset option, resulting in loosing the F3 factory reset option. why windows does that? check MICROSOFT GPT PARTITION
So make sure that winre/ winre tool partition is just next to C. if not then manually do that. google it and you can do it yourself.

If you get the error " The recovery procedure from RecoveryDVD has not been successfully finished...", then its probably because BIOS_RVY partition is not the last partition. I had this problem, i made my partitions in order [system-MSR-windows-Winre tools-BIOS_RVY- D-E-F] which resulted in that error. Later i realized that BIOS_RVY partition should be the last one for MSI recovery dvd software to detect it. later i manually changed it which made it work again.
View attachment 157858


MANUALLY CREATE BIOS_RVY IF DELETED (and update it to latest image)
If you already have BIOS_RVY partition, then you don't have to follow this step.
If you have deleted that partition then, no worries, you can create a partition yourself. And apply the latest image of current updated windows .SWM file. you don't need older bloated files.
you can use mini tool or other partition tool or CMD if you are comfortable with it.

  • Shrink the end partition, e.g. mine was F partition. shrink it and created 15GB partition. Name that partition "BIOS_RVY"
  • create a folder named "RecoveryImage"
View attachment 157859
  • Now you have to put the image of the system which you want to set as recovery image. Follow next chapter.
(I clean installed win 11 by mounting iso file, then running setup file and remove everything. This way i was able to retain my MSI factory reset option from that win 10. [ Non destructive method to clean install windows]
Installed drivers and few basic software. Ran ccleaner and windows default cleaner, deleted unwanted files. [ to make the captured image smaller as possible]
Now when i thought the best state of my pc. i did following ..)


REPLACE FACTORY IMAGE WITH LATEST ONE
If you already have BIOS_RVY partition, then follow this chapter to update the image to the latest one, or you can use the existing one if you like. You should assign a letter to access that partition from cmd, it will loose its letter when restarted, so its safe to assign a letter for temporary access.

Use "DISM++" software, its portable and small in size, to capture the image. ( you can use cmd if you want)
it will capture in .wim format (system backup)
convert that wim file into .SWM using same software. (SD/WIM Conversion)
View attachment 157861

when executing the conversion, it will ask for the size, select 4GB, it will break that .wim file into multiple .swm files.
The file should be named "install". you will get multiple files like install.swm, install1.swm, install2.swm..
Copy all those files to "RecoveryImage" folder in BIOS_RVY Partition.
View attachment 157860

If you already have BIOS_RVY, just assign a letter, it will be temporary, and delete/backup to another location all the install.swm files there and paste/replace the newly created files.
you don't have to follow next step. Next step are for those who are manually creating BIOS_RVY partition.

Now either use diskpart command or use partition software to change the partition to recovery partition.
if you use cmd, diskpart, use
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001

if you prefer partition software, google it on how to do it.
Thats it.

F3 RECOVERY OPTION
This step is very important, it will further save you from loosing the current f3 msi factory reset option, if you already have it, and prohibit windows from further creating useless smaller multiple recovery partitions for winre.
first check if your winre is in 4th partition or not by running command "reagentc /info" in cmd. If not then change it. How? Either google it or ask me in comments, i will try to assist you.
View attachment 157862

If you still have MSI factory reset option intact from windows 10, it will not work even if its there. you have to use F3_Recovery_USB by MSI once to update the current f3 option to make it workable in win 11.
If you don't have recovery option then you have to use that F3_Recovery_USB files from F3_Recovery_USB website to proceed with recovery option.

Aslo don't forget to rename C drive to "Windows".
THATS IT. IT will work..

But make sure that your partitions are in order. Check the image to see my partition order. it should be in order for it to work.
View attachment 157863

I have tried myself so i am sharing this experience here.

Please BACKUP YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM in case something goes wrong.
But i am sure it will work ,if your first four partitions i.e. [system-MSR-windows-winre] are together and last partition is BIOS_RVY.

I hope this will help you. If you find it helpful. Please share it with others in need. Sharing is caring.
Btw bro do you have discord? I want to explain everything in discord.
 
you can pm me here.
Bro so my problem is about BIOS_RVY actually idk the problem either here is a picture of my disk management, also forget about the other partitions the black ones, and the last partition is the partition that i created the BIOS_RVY partition idk why it won't show the name, and also i tried the WinreTool with usb and it said 1. Please make sure the disk partition's layout is factory default setting 2. Please make sure current OS HDD is in the master HDD place, and I tried your tutorial and it was really confusing and i couldn't able to do anything, if it is fixable can tell me how to do it.
 

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Bro so my problem is about BIOS_RVY actually idk the problem either here is a picture of my disk management, also forget about the other partitions the black ones, and the last partition is the partition that i created the BIOS_RVY partition idk why it won't show the name, and also i tried the WinreTool with usb and it said 1. Please make sure the disk partition's layout is factory default setting 2. Please make sure current OS HDD is in the master HDD place, and I tried your tutorial and it was really confusing and i couldn't able to do anything, if it is fixable can tell me how to do it.
first of all, read the main tutorial, its not hard and your solution is already there,
2nd, your partition is not in factory layout, 1st partition should be 300MB, 2nd should be 128MB(reserved), 3rd should be C drive, 4th should be 900MB recovery partition(win re tool), 5th or so on can be other primary partition, but last one should be recovery partition(BIOS_RVY with system image in it) from where you can factory reset your windows.
3rd, is your bios_rvy partition origional or you just created it??

solution is that either you start from scratch and re partition your whole drive, but you will lose your files, so make backup first.
but if your bios_rvy partition is original and it has your original msi recovery image file then you can use burnrecovery or creater center/dragon center to make backup usb recovery.
 
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