Error 50, DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the online option

If you receive Error 50, DISM does not support Windows PE maintenance with / online option message in Windows 10; so this post can help you. Windows PE stands for Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) or Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE).

The DISM tool allows you to mount a Windows PE image and add or remove packages, drivers, and language packs in the same way as any Windows 10 or Windows 8 image to using the appropriate driver, package or international maintenance commands. However, the Windows PE feature has been removed, but DISM "thinks" that Windows PE is still present, so the error occurs.

So, when you run DISM in a Windows PE environment with the / online option i.e.

• Dism / Online / Cleanup-Image / CheckHealth
• Dism / Online / Cleanup-Image / ScanHealth
• Dism / Online / Cleanup-Image / RestoreHealth

This gives an error – The DISM tool does not support Windows PE maintenance with the online option..

DISM does not support the maintenance of Windows PE with the online option.

As we said, Windows PE is a preinstallation environment that is used to prepare an image and then deploy it to multiple computers. This image deploys Windows on computers, but it can not be used as a standard operating system. There are two ways to solve this problem:

1. Deleting the registry key associated with Windows PE
2. use return of pending actions with DISM

Do not forget that it will only work if you actually have Windows 10, but it is misunderstood as Windows PE.

1) Removing the registry key related to Windows PE

In Windows PE, there is a specific registry key that identifies Windows PE. When the DISM tool is run, it looks for that registry key. The key is located at

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Control MiniNT

To correct the error, we will have to delete the key if it is available in the registry.

1. Open the registry editor by typing regedit in the prompt, and then pressing the Enter key.
2. Navigate to one of the key paths mentioned above.
3. Right click on WinPE or MININT and delete it.
4. Now run the DISM tool with the online option and see if it works.

It will work, but only if your system is not really Windows PE. The error occurs on an operating system at full capacity due to the presence of the registry key. If you actually have Windows PE, you should consider installing a complete operating system.

2) Use back-to-back actions with DISM

• Create another local administrator user account.
• Start in advanced recovery mode and locate the command prompt option.
• Enter the following command: dism.exe / image: C: / cleanup-image / revertpending actions
• After that, restart your computer in safe mode.
• In safe mode, open a command prompt with elevated privileges and run the command CFS / scannow order
• Restart the computer again in normal mode and run the DISM program with / onlinee option.

The restore option will begin to undo the changes that any update was trying to apply. When you enable this command and restart the computer, a blue splash screen showing the canceled updates should be displayed.

We hope these steps have helped you solve Windows PE problem and you could run the DISM tool with the option online. problem.