Windows Recovery Technical Reference
Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) is an extensible recovery platform based on Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE). When the computer fails to start, Windows automatically fails over into this environment, and the Startup Repair tool in Windows RE automates the diagnosis and repair of an unbootable Windows Vista installation. Furthermore, Windows RE is a starting point for various tools for manual system recovery. The primary audience of this technology includes original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), original device manufacturers (ODMs), and corporate IT professionals.