The topic Windows 11 will soon let you recover your PC from the cloud, and yes, it includes… is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
Whenever Windows suffers a big enough problem that it can’t even boot, there are tools available to you to get yourself back on track. However, most of them will require some sort of installation media, and when you do get back in, you may notice some drivers are missing. Fortunately, it appears that Microsoft is making the PC recovery process a lot easier with a new “Cloud Rebuild” tool that’s currently undergoing public testing.
As announced on Windows Blogs, there’s a new build available for the Experimental branch for Windows 11. If you’re unsure as to what that is, it’s where Microsoft first releases features for people to test. Once it’s proven to be stable enough, it makes its way through to the Beta branch, and then to release.
This time, the Experimental branch is getting a handy repair feature called Cloud Rebuild. This lets you recover Windows 11 to a last good configuration, even when it can’t boot. Windows experts will know that this sounds very familiar to Reset This PC, but as Microsoft explains, this new method has an ace up its sleeve:
Unlike Reset this PC, Cloud rebuild downloads both the target Windows image and the device’s drivers from Windows Update, so the device comes back fully functional without USB media, without a custom image, and without depending on the health of the currently installed OS.
Microsoft hasn’t confirmed when this handy new feature will arrive, but it should appear on the release branch in the coming months, if all goes well.