Quick Machine Recovery failed to connect to the network in Windows 11 Pro

Question

Quick Machine Recovery failed to connect to the network in Windows 11 Pro

amralaa-8729 695

Quick Machine Recovery Couldn't Connect to the Network in Windows 11 Pro

Hello, Technical Support Team,

I am having trouble using the Quick Machine Recovery (QMR) feature in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on my Windows 11 Pro device.

When I try to launch Quick Machine Recovery from the Advanced Startup menu, I get an error message that says "Couldn't connect to the network."

Important Notes:

Internet Connection Works: My Wi-Fi network is working perfectly within Windows, and I can browse the internet without any problems. The issue is limited to the WinRE environment only.

Connection Type: I am using a Wi-Fi connection on my laptop, and I cannot easily use an Ethernet cable.

Steps I tried:

I made sure the network name (

SSID

) and password were entered correctly and case-sensitive.

I performed a Network Reset within Windows and restarted the device.

Request:

I need help getting WinRE to properly recognize my device's Wi-Fi adapter and connect to the network, or clarification of possible solutions to enable Quick Machine Recovery over Wi-Fi to download fixes from the cloud.

Device Details:

Operating System: Windows 11 Pro

Model (if known): [Enter your device model, e.g., Dell g 15

Wi-Fi adapter model: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201]

Thank you for your time and assistance.

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Answer 1

Francisco Montilla 31,080 مشرف مستقل

Hello,

You are seeing that message because WinRE often does not load Wi-Fi drivers. Intel AX201 usually needs the full driver package, which WinRE does not have, so the network step fails even though Wi-Fi works fine inside Windows.

The quickest way to use Cloud download without Ethernet is to start the reset from within Windows so the image is downloaded before the PC reboots into WinRE. Do this while you are online on Wi-Fi:

Open Settings > System > Recovery > Reset this PC. Choose Keep my files if you want to preserve user data. Pick Cloud download. Let Windows finish downloading the recovery image first, then it will reboot and apply it without needing Wi-Fi in WinRE. Keep the laptop on AC power and make sure you have enough free space for the download.

If this still asks for network inside WinRE, tell me and I will give you the next option, which is to add the AX201 driver into WinRE so Wi-Fi works there.

amralaa-8729 695 نقاط السُمعة

2025-10-07T23:27:15.0633333+00:00

The first solution didn't work. I reset the device after everything, but it didn't work.

What's the second solution?
Francisco Montilla 31,080 نقاط السُمعة مشرف مستقل

2025-10-08T10:58:07.96+00:00
Got it. The second solution is to inject your working Intel AX201 Wi-Fi driver into WinRE so Cloud recovery can use Wi-Fi there. This uses only built-in tools and the driver that already works in Windows.

First, open PowerShell as Administrator. If BitLocker is on, run manage-bde -status. If Protection Status shows On, run manage-bde -protectors -disable C: and leave that window open. Now export your current third-party drivers to a folder so we can add them to WinRE. Run:

Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination C:\DriverBackup

Tell Windows to stage WinRE where we can edit it. Run:

reagentc /disable Create a mount folder and mount WinRE:

mkdir C:\Mount\WinRE dism /Mount-Image /ImageFile:"C:\Windows\System32\Recovery\Winre.wim" /Index:1 /MountDir:C:\Mount\WinRE

Add the exported drivers into WinRE. Run:

dism /Image:C:\Mount\WinRE /Add-Driver /Driver:C:\DriverBackup /Recurse

Save changes and put WinRE back:

dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:C:\Mount\WinRE /Commit reagentc /enable

If you suspended BitLocker earlier, re-enable it now:

manage-bde -protectors -enable C:

Restart, go to Advanced startup, open Quick Machine Recovery again and connect to Wi-Fi.

If any DISM step says it cannot find Winre.wim, repeat step 3 and try mounting again. If it says access denied, confirm the PowerShell window is running as Administrator. Tell me exactly which step fails if it still cannot see Wi-Fi and I will adjust the command for exporting only the Intel AX201 .inf and verify it was injected.

Answer 2

amralaa-8729 695

The first solution didn't work. I reset the device after everything, but it didn't work.

What's the second solution?

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