"E_UNEXPECTED 0x8000ffff" error when you try to restore a system by using System Recovery Options in Windows 7

Consider the following scenario:

• You create a system restore point by using the System Restore tool on a computer that is running Windows 7.
• You install the update 2572077, and then you install update 2446710 or update 2518869.
• You start the computer by using the Windows 7 Installation media, or you start the computer in Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE).
• You try to restore the system to the system restore point that you created by using System Recovery Options.

In this scenario, the System Restore tool fails. Additionally, you receive the following error message:

To avoid this problem, install the hotfix that is described in this Microsoft KB article on the Windows Imaging Format (WIM) file in your Windows RE environment. To do this, follow these steps.

Note If your computer is in an OEM product-based environment, contact the OEM vendor for more information.

1. Install Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7 on the computer. To download Windows AIK, go to the following Microsoft website:
   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5753
   (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5753)
2. Create the Windows RE image (Winre.wim). To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Windows AIK.
   2. Right-click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
   3. Copy the Install.wim file from Windows 7 installation media to a folder. To do this, run the following commands:
      md C:\OS_Image
      md C:\OS_Image\mount
      copy D:\sources\install.wim C:\OS_Image
   4. Mount the Install.wim file by using the ImageX tool. To do this, run the following command:
      ImageX /mountrw C:\OS_Image\install.wim 1 C:\OS_Image\mount
   5. Copy the Windows RE image (Winre.wim) from the mounted Windows 7 image to a folder. To do this, run the following commands:
      md C:\winre
      md C:\winre\mount
      copy C:\OS_image\mount\windows\system32\recovery\winre.wim C:\winre\
   6. Unmount the mounted Windows 7 image after you copy the Windows RE image (Winre.wim). To do this, run the following command:
      ImageX /unmount C:\OS_Image\mount
3. Install the hotfix on the Windows RE image (Winre.wim). To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Mount the Winre.wim file that you created in step 2. To do this, run the following command:
      ImageX /mountrw C:\winre\winre.wim 1 C:\winre\mount
   2. Install the hotfix on the mounted Windows RE image. To do this, run the following command:
      Dism /image:C:\winre\mount /Add-Package:c:\TEMP\Windows6.1-KB2709289-x64.msu
   3. Determine whether the hotfix is installed successfully. To do this, run the following command:
      Dism /image:C:\winre\mount /Get-Packages
   4. Commit the changes to the Winre.wim file. To do this, run the following command:
      ImageX.exe /unmount /commit C:\winre\mount
4. Create a customized Windows RE medium by using the Winre.wim file. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Create a file to make a Windows RE image. To do this, run the following command:
      copype.cmd amd64 C:\WinREx64
   2. Copy the Winre.wim file to the ISO\sources folder, and then rename the file as Boot.wim. To do this, run the following command:
      copy C:\winre\winre.wim C:\WinREx64\ISO\sources\boot.wim
   3. Deploy the customized Windows RE image to any media.

Update information

How to obtain this update

Microsoft Update

This update is available from the Microsoft Update website:

Microsoft Download Center

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must be running Windows 7 or Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1). For more information about how to obtain a Windows 7 service pack, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Registry information

To use the hotfix in this package, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace a previously released hotfix.

File information

The global version of this hotfix installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.

Windows 7 file information note

Important Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 updates are included in the same packages.

• The files that apply to a specific product, milestone (RTM,SPn), and service branch (LDR, GDR) can be identified by examining the file version numbers as shown in the following table:
  Collapse this tableExpand this table

  Version	Product	SR_Level	Service branch
  6.1.760 0 . 16xxx	Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2	RTM	GDR
  6.1.760 0 . 21xxx	Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2	RTM	LDR
  6.1.760 1 . 17xxx	Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2	SP1	GDR
  6.1.760 1 . 21xxx	Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2	SP1	LDR

• GDR service branches contain only those fixes that are widely released to address widespread, critical issues. LDR service branches contain hotfixes in addition to widely released fixes.
• The MANIFEST files (.manifest) that are installed for each environment are listed separately in the "Additional file information for Windows 7" section. MANIFEST files and the associated security catalog (.cat) files, are extremely important to maintain the state of the updated components. The security catalog files, for which the attributes are not listed, are signed with a Microsoft digital signature.

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows 7

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows 7

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about Windows RE, go to the following Microsoft website:For more information about how to create a bootable Windows PE RAM disk on a hard disk, go to the following Microsoft website:For more information about how to create a bootable Windows PE RAM disk on CD-ROM, go to the following Microsoft website:For more information about how to create a bootable Windows PE RAM disk on a USB flash disk, go to the following Microsoft website: For more information about the issue that is described in this article, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about security updates for the .NET Framework 3.5.1, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Additional file information for Windows 7

Additional files for all supported x86-based versions of Windows 7

Additional files for all supported x64-based versions of Windows 7