DISM Does Not Support Servicing Windows PE with the /Online Option
DISM is a Windows inbuilt command-line tool that is designed for users to prepare, modify and repair system files that are used for Windows Setup, Windows PE, and Windows RE. In most cases, you can use this tool together with the SFC tool to scan & repair the computer and return it to a normal state without reinstalling the system from scratch.
However, some of you may receive an error message saying Error 50 DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /Online option when running the following commands in Windows RE:
- Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
- Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
- Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
The /Online option specifies that the action is taken on the operating system that is running currently. If the operating system is not running in Windows RE, the DISM does not support servicing Windows PE message will crop up.
In this post, we will show you 5 solutions to work out this issue step by step and you can try them one by one until the problem disappears.
How to Fix DISM Does Not Support Servicing Windows PE?
Fix 1: Delete the Associated Registry Key
There is a specific registry key that can identify Windows PE. When you start to run the DISM tools in Windows PE, it will check for that registry key. DISM does not support servicing Windows PE may occur due to the misplacement of the corresponding registry key. To address this issue, you can delete the associated registry key.
Warning: Editing the registry key incorrectly may damage your operating system severely. You had better back up the registry keys and your data before making any changes to them.
Step 1. Press Win + R altogether to launch the Run dialog.
Step 2. Type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
Step 3. Navigate to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MiniNT
Step 4. Right-click on the MiniNT folder and select Permissions in the context menu.
Step 5. Under Group or user names, find your user name and hit it. Tick Full Control and hit OK to save the changes.
Step 6. Right-click on the MiniNT folder again and choose Delete.
Step 7. Reboot your PC and run the DISM tool again.
Fix 2: Refresh DISM
Refreshing the DISM tool will help you to fix most minor software-related problems including DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the online option. Follow the guidelines below:
Step 1. Type run in the search bar and hit Enter to open the Run box.
Step 2. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run Command Prompt as an administrator.
Step 3. Copy & paste the following command in the command window and hit Enter.
dism.exe /image:C: /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions
Step 4. Then, type msconfig in the Run dialog and hit Enter to open System Configuration.
Step 5. Under the Boot tab, tick Safe boot > select Minimal > hit OK to save your settings. Reboot your PC and it will boot into Safe Mode.
Step 6. In Safe Mode, type cmd in the search bar to locate Command Prompt and right-click on it to choose Run as administrator.
Step 7. Type sfc /scannow > hit Enter and then the DISM tool will be refreshed.
Fix 3: Use Command Prompt
To cope with DISM does not support servicing Windows PE, you can choose to use some commands in Command Prompt.
Step 1. Boot your computer from the Windows 10 installation media and press Shift + F10 on the first installation screen to launch Command Prompt.
Step 2. In the Windows RE Command Prompt window, run wmic logicaldisk get name to see a list of all available system partitions.
Step 3. Type dir drive-letter: (replace drive-letter with your system drive letter) and hit Enter. For example, if you want to view the contents of the C: system partition, run the dir C: command.
Step 4. Then, type dism.exe /Image: C:\ /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth and hit Enter to repair the offline Windows image. (C: refers to the Windows system partition, you should replace it with yours.)
There is a chance that you might receive error code 0x800f081f in this step. If you suffer from it, you can find fixes in this guide - Fix: Error 0x800f081f Occurs When Installing .NET Framework 3.5.
Step 5. Run the SFC /SCANNOW /OFFBOOTDIR=C:\ /OFFWINDIR=C:\Windows command to complete the repair. Also, don’t forget to replace C: with the drive letter of the system partition containing the Windows folder.
Step 6. Reboot your computer to check for any improvements.
Fix 4: Reset BIOS
BIOS (Basic Input Output System) controls the startup process of a computer and resetting it can start the input & output system to the last saved configuration. Therefore, some Windows PC problems including error 50 DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /online option will be fixed. Here’s how to reset the BIOS:
Move 1: Enter BIOS
Step 1. Go to Windows Settings > Update & Security > Recovery.
Step 2. In the Recovery tab, click on Restart now under Advanced startup to reboot your computer into Windows Recovery Environment.
Step 3. Press Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > UEFI Firmware Settings > Restart.
Move 2: Reset BIOS
Step 1. Select the Exit item and use the arrow keys to find Setup Defaults, Load Default, Load Setup Defaults, Load Default Settings, Load BIOS Defaults, or Load Optimal Defaults.
Step 2. Choose it and hit Enter.
Step 3. Press F10 to save the settings and exit BIOS.
If you are not familiar with the operating system structure, you can follow the guidelines in this tutorial - How to Reset BIOS/CMOS in Windows 10 - 3 Steps.
Fix 5: Create a New User Account
The occurrence of error 50 DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /online option Windows 10 is usually related to a certain user account, so you can create another account to avoid this issue.
Step 1. Press Win + R, type netplwiz and hit Enter to open User Accounts.
Step 2. In the User tab, hit Add and then tap on the Sign in without a Microsoft account (not recommended) option.
Step 3. Click on Local account > enter User name, Password, Confirm password, and Password hint > hit Next & Finish.
Suggestion: Back up Your Computer with MiniTool ShadowMaker
By now, you may probably solve the DISM does not support servicing Windows PE issue. As you can see, the repairing process is difficult and time-consuming. If you are not an expert in computers, it is easy to make some fatal mistakes and cause huge losses.
Therefore, if you are afraid that your computer will crash again, you can consider backing up your system in advance. Here, we sincerely advise you to use a piece of professional backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker to simplify the repairing process.
This free tool is easy to use especially for those who are not proficient in computer. It enables you to back up & restore your systems, partitions, disks, folders and files in Windows PCs. When the system is crashed, you can use the system backup image file to repair your system and restore it to a healthy state to secure your data.
MiniTool ShadowMaker provides you with a one-click system resolution. Here’s how to back up your computer with it:
Step 1. Download, install and launch MiniTool ShadowMaker.
MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 2. Tap on Keep Trial to get a 30-day free trial and then go to the Backup page.
Step 3. In this page, you can see that the operating system is selected by default in SOURCE. In DESTINATION, MiniTool ShadowMaker has chosen a default destination path for your backup files.
Here, it is advisable to choose an external drive as the destination path. You just need to connect your external drive > hit DESTINATION > choose this drive as the storage path > hit OK.
Step 4. Click on Back Up Now to start the backup task immediately.
After the backup process is complete, you can create a bootable USB disk with MiniTool ShadowMaker. When your system crashes or even fails to boot the next time, you can boot your computer from this drive to perform a system restore.
How to Create a Bootable USB Disk?
Step 1. Prepare a USB flash drive and connect it to your computer.
Step 2. Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker and go to the Tools page.
Step 3. Click on Media Builder and WinPE-based media with MiniTool plug-in.
Step 4. Select USB Flash Disk > choose your USB drive > hit Yes to confirm this action.
Step 5. After the boot file is generated successfully, hit Finish.
Wrapping Things up
To sum up, we have introduced 5 solutions to help you solve the DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /Online option error and a better way to provide all-round protection for your system – back up your computer with MiniTool ShadowMaker.
We sincerely hope that these workarounds can help you out. For more problems about computer or our product, don’t hesitate to leave your idea in the comment section below or send an email to our support team via [email protected]. Thanks a million!
DISM Does Not Support Servicing Windows PE FAQ
- Delete the associated registry key
- Refresh DISM
- Use Command Prompt
- Reset BIOS
- Create a new user account
Yes, you can. When you are in Windows PE, press Shift + F10 altogether to open Command Prompt and then you can run the DISM commands in the command window. However, you are likely to encounter an error message saying Error 50 DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /Online option.
In Windows Recovery Environment CMD window, you need run the following commands one after another (replace drive-letter with your Windows drive letter):
- wmic logicaldisk get name
- dir drive-letter:
- dism.exe /Image: drive-letter:\ /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth
- SFC /SCANNOW /OFFBOOTDIR= drive-letter:\ /OFFWINDIR= drive-letter:\Windows
Finally, don’t forget to reboot your computer.
Yes, you can use DISM to repair Windows. Usually, the DISM commands will use the Windows Update files to repair any corrupt or missing system files for you.