Steps to Restore Windows 10 from VD using BR 14?

I've been using BR 14 Free for several years, creating monthly a full VD backup and weekly incremental backups, and now finally have a chance to see if the effort was worthwhile. This posting is a request for validation (or correction) of my plan for restoring a Windows 10 system from the latest set of these backups.

For context: After accepting the latest Windows 10 update, the system successfully restarted and continued to operate until the next restart, after which it would not reboot. On boot, it reported a "BAD SYSTEM CONFIG INFO" error, then attempted an Automatic Repair which failed, and then launched the Windows Recovery Environment. All attempts to boot Windows 10 produce the same sequence, and multiple attempts to use several of the Advanced options in Windows RE have also failed. The remaining options appear to be: attempt a "Reset this PC" (in WinRE), or rebuild the system starting with a clean Windows 10 install.

My plan: For obvious reasons, I'd rather try first to restore the system from my BR 14 backups. But I've never done that before so would greatly appreciate validation or correction of my plan for doing that. Note that I've already successfully progressed through step #4 below:

1. Boot, progress to WinRE, and in that enviroment use the Advanced option to open a Command window.

2. Use the Command window to run the BR 14 Launcher program:

X:\windows\system32>c:
C:\>"Program Files\Paragon Software\Backup and Recovery 14 Free\program\launcher.exe"
(See question #1 below.)

3. On the BR 14 Launcher UI, select the the "Backup & Restore" tab and click the "Restore from VD" button. In the window that opens, navigate to the folder (on an external 3TB drive) where the backup files are stored.

4. Select the .pfi file corresponding to the most recent full VD backup, and then on the "What to Restore" page, select from the Disk Map the item to restore (See question #2).

Note: Below is a compilation of info about the partitions produced by DISKPART:
Partition Type Size Drive Ltr Label Fs Status Info
#1 Recovery 1500 MB D System NTFS Healthy Hidden
#2 Primary 451 GB C TI1... NTFS Healthy
#3 Recovery 875 GB NTFS Healthy Hidden
#4 Primary 11 GB (not mounted as a Volume)[/FONT]

5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 for each successive incremental backup.

Questions:
1. Should I perform the Restore operation while running BR 14 from the C: drive? If not, from where?

2. Should I restore the entire disk, or just one partition? If the latter, just Partition #2 (i.e., the C: drive)?

What is "#3 Recovery 875 GB"?
Where are your backups stored?
Why do not you use Recovery Media instead of the risky launch of the BR from partition C: with the subsequent intention to overwrite itself?

Restore only C: should be enough (if the "Update BCD" is checked in the Settings)

Thanks for your critique, and suggestion to restore only the C: partition. I was hoping that would be enough.

I suspect partition #3 contains Win 7, the original OS installed on the Toshiba, and is accessed by Toshiba’s recovery boot tool. I have used it before, but would rather not rebuild starting with Win 7.

The backups are stored on an external drive which typically mounts as drive G:, even in the system’s current state. I verified the backups are there and accessible to BR 14 run from the installation on the C: drive.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any Win 10 Recovery Media so am researching how to build it on a USB flash drive. I recall reading somewhere that it will fit on 1 GB, so started trying to do that. That’s when I discovered the Recovery Media Builder installed with BR 14 uses the Win ADK, and expects it in path “Windows Kits/8.1/“. Since my Toshiba can’t access the web, it appears I need to download the latest ADK on another machine, then transfer it via USB flash to the Toshiba’s C: drive.

What comes next is unclear because: 1) I don’t whether the ADK needs to be installed (vs. just copied), 2) and if so, where, and 3) how to redirect Recovery Media Builder there rather than Windows Kits/8.1/.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sj_hills

I suspect partition #3 contains Win 7, the original OS installed on the Toshiba, and is accessed by Toshiba’s recovery boot tool. I have used it before, but would rather not rebuild starting with Win 7.

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But why is it so big? the normal size of recovery partition (to factory condition) is fifty times less in than 875 GB.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sj_hills

Unfortunately, I don’t have any Win 10 Recovery Media so am researching how to build it on a USB flash drive...

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Win 10 Recovery Media is not needed, Paragon Recovery Media is needed, ADK is not required, you can create a Linux-based Recovery Media (Program Files\Paragon Software\Backup and Recovery 14 Free\iso).

Do you have a PC with a working Windows and with USB port? (1G flash drive you have as far as I understand)

Guess I don’t know enough to be surprised by 875 GB. The Toshiba recovery tool restores the disk to its original state, with all sorts of Toshiba goodies and 3rd party apps. Maybe that accounts for the bloat? If not, I’m out of guesses.

More importantly, thanks very much for the tip that Linux-based Recovery Media will work. I ran RMB again, successfully built a recovery environment on the USB, then booted off the USB into Normal Mode, which launched the PSG Boot Manager. I’m now using BR 14 to check the integrity of the target .pfi file, which is estimated to take 3 hrs (!! ... thanks to the 1st gen USB ports on my antique Toshiba). Then onward to Restore!

Once I finally start to Restore the C: drive & BCD, it occurs to me that my incremental updates are incremental to the full backup, not to the previous backup, so I’ll only have to apply the latest incremental backup after the full backup (doh!).

Ok, I got to the point where the “Restore from VHD Wizard” presents check boxes to select which partitions to restore, and checked only the one corresponding to the C: drive. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice any Settings where I could verify that “Update BCD” is checked:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fireworker

What is "#3 Recovery 875 GB"?
Restore only C: should be enough (if the "Update BCD" is checked in the Settings)

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Or is this check box only available prior to backup rather than for restore? If so, is there any way that I can verify that it was checked prior to backup? If not, but it’s checked by default, then it was almost certainly checked because I didn’t uncheck it.

The checkbox "update BCD" refers to the recovery and not to the backup. By default, it is checked, you can forget about it for now.
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I'm only concerned about the fact that in BR14, support Win10 is not declared, (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1)

Thanks for all the coaching, fireworker. I thought I was headed to the goal. Unfortunately, right after I clicked “Next> to start restoring the C: drive, I got this error message: “Partitions structure differs from archive.”
Attachment 530

And indeed, the partitions in the archive do differ from the DISKPART report (initial posting), three by amounts that could result from different approaches to rounding (up vs. down). But partition #3 differs by a factor of ~2! Can a Win 10 Update change partition sizes???

More importantly, is my next option to restore the entire disk (all 4 partitions)?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sj_hills

And indeed, the partitions in the archive do differ from the DISKPART report (initial posting), three by amounts that could result from different approaches to rounding (up vs. down). But partition #3 differs by a factor of ~2! Can a Win 10 Update change partition sizes???

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The Win 10 Update can change partition sizes. But it seems that the Win 10 Update (or something else before or after) corrupt the partition table.
Have you changed the physical HDD of 500 GB to 1.5 TB? If not, then the diskpart shows the wrong size of the partition #3.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sj_hills

More importantly, is my next option to restore the entire disk (all 4 partitions)?

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recovery of the entire disk - should solve all the problems. But, perhaps it will be enough to "update the MBR" from Paragon, and / or compress and expand Partition #3 from the diskpart.

I think the partitions of your HDD have the following meanings:
# 1 1.5 GB - System reserved, Boot, from Win7
# 2 452 GB - Windows OS
# 3 450 MB - Boot, from Win10, WinRe
# 4 11.6 GB - Toshiba factory state
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It would be nice to look at SMART parameters of your HDD. It is possible that it is time to replace it with a new one.
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or, if there are a few bad sectors - to remap them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fireworker

Have you changed the physical HDD of 500 GB to 1.5 TB? If not, then the diskpart shows the wrong size of the partition #3.

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No, it’s the same HDD that came with the Toshiba.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fireworker

recovery of the entire disk - should solve all the problems. But, perhaps it will be enough to "update the MBR" from Paragon, and / or compress and expand Partition #3 from the diskpart.

I think the partitions of your HDD have the following meanings:
# 1 1.5 GB - System reserved, Boot, from Win7
# 2 452 GB - Windows OS
# 3 450 MB - Boot, from Win10, WinRe
# 4 11.6 GB - Toshiba factory state

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Your suspicions about the partitions seem reasonable, and I liked your suggestion to try updating the MBR ... so I did. The operation completed successfully, but trying afterward to boot the Toshiba into Win 10 failed. After using WinRE to launch a Command window, I ran DISKPART and found the partition sizes unchanged.

Please let me know if you think I did something wrong. Otherwise, time to try restoring the entire disk?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fireworker

It would be nice to look at SMART parameters of your HDD. It is possible that it is time to replace it with a new one.
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or, if there are a few bad sectors - to remap them.

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Sorry, I didn’t notice your last comments. How can I look at the HDD’s SMART parameters? And how can I identify and remap any bad sectors?

run the diskpart and shrink the partition #3 a little
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2xjHrzrh58&t=45s
then see change
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Quote:

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Originally Posted by sj_hills

How can I look at the HDD’s SMART parameters? And how can I identify and remap any bad sectors?

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with the program from the manufacturer of HDD https://kb.paragon-software.com/article/47 or some universal program (MHDD, Victoria, etc)

there are three options:
1. Damage to the partition table is just case, logical bad, then simply fix it, overwrite it.
2. There are several physical bad sectors, new ones do not appear. Remap the bads and it will be possible to work quietly for a few more years.
3. The disc began to disintegrate, it can not be stopped, it is necessary to change it to a new one.

Sorry for the slow reply, fireworker. Work got in the way. First, thanks for the additional tips and thoughts.

Before running DISKPART to change the partition size, I decided to check for for bad sectors. The only Toshiba HD diagnostic tool I could find for my model (Satellite A660) wouldn't run in the WinRE Command window ("... not compatible with the version of Windows you're running ..."), so I ran chkdsk c: /b and got the report shown in the screenshot below.
Attachment 531

Since Stage 1 (scrolled off the top) reported "0 bad files processed ...", the only suspicious results were from Stage 5 ("Correcting errors in the volume bitmap.") and the final line ("Failed to transfer logged messages ..."). Unfortunately, whatever bitmap errors were corrected didn't solve my problem.

Guess that leaves running DISKPART as you suggested, increasing the size of partition #1 by 1 GB so it matches the size of that partition in the BR 14 backup (452 GB). After watching your YouTube video and reading the Help for DISKPART, it appears this is the correct sequence of commands:
DISKPART> select disk=0
DISKPART> select partition=2
DISKPART> extend size=1024

Does that look right?

Ahhh! Just realized I made a mistake above, because partition numbers in the BR 14 archive are 0-3, while those in the partition table are 1-4. So,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sj_hills

... increasing the size of partition #1 by 1 GB so it matches the size of that partition in the BR 14 backup (452 GB).

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... should have been:
"... increasing the size of partition #2 by 1 GB so it matches the size of partition #1 in the BR 14 backup"

No no. Don't increase anything, especially partition # 2 or 1, its size is normal. I suggested a bit on 10 MB try to shrink partition # 3 because strange to see a 800 GB partition on a 500 GB disk (this focus often helps https://kb.paragon-software.com/article/244). But
Let's assume that the HDD is OK, just restore the entire disk, all the partitions from the backup.

Success, fireworker!!! The BR 14 Free "Restore from VD Wizard" was a little flaky, but eventually worked and restored the full disk. The wizard presents three Restore types as options, the first of which, Restore to original location, complained that "Partitions structure differs from archive." So I <Backed out and tried the other two options, Selective restore and Restore single participation, both of which also failed. Suspecting that using <Back to get out of an option wasn't completely resetting the environment, I exited the Wizard, restarted it, then tried the Selective restore option again. That worked flawlessly, as did applying my latest incremental backup.

Thanks very much for hangin' in there with me, and for all the coaching. I owe you, and will be in touch via PM.