Restoring Disk Images
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      1. Macrium Reflect LTSC
      2. Restoring Data and Disaster Recovery
      3. Restoring Disk Images

      Restoring to Dissimilar Hardware with Macrium ReDeploy

      - Overview

      - How does ReDeploy work?

      - Using Macrium ReDeploy

      Overview

      Macrium ReDeploy is designed to overcome issues with the Windows boot process that can occur when attempting to boot the Windows operating system on dissimilar hardware. There are a variety of scenarios where a Windows operating system may need to be moved to new hardware, for example:

      - Physical to virtual migration.

      - Planned storage upgrades, e.g., SATA to NVMe.

      - Changing from a non-RAID configuration to RAID.

      How does ReDeploy work?

      Discovering hardware and association with matching device drivers is time-consuming and must be undertaken while Windows is installed. It is skipped during a normal Windows boot, making the boot delay acceptable.

      Early in the boot process, the boot loader loads the Windows kernel (the core of the operating system) and the critical drivers required to get Windows up and running. If the new hardware configuration requires a new driver to read the disk containing the operating system, then Windows will fail to boot.

      When the kernel and critical drivers are loaded, the kernel starts. The kernel and its associated hardware abstraction layer (HAL) must match the motherboard for best enabling. Drivers are optionally loaded to handle specific central processing unit (CPU) features. For a stable system, the driver must match the hardware, in this example, the CPU model.

      ReDeploy detects changes to critical system features, locates relevant drivers, and injects them into your Windows operating system so it boots.

      ReDeploy makes the complex process of getting an offline Windows operating system running as easy and intuitive as possible. It does not, however, install the complete driver set for the new hardware. You can complete the non-boot critical driver installation for devices such as network and graphics adapters when your Windows operating system boots on your new hardware. 

      Using Macrium ReDeploy

      Macrium ReDeploy modifies an existing offline operating system to ensure that it will boot on new hardware. As a result, the first step is to restore the operating system image to new hardware. This article contains more information about performing a bare metal recovery using the Macrium Reflect rescue media. Macrium ReDeploy can only be run from within the rescue media. Following the restore, remain booted using the rescue media.

       Macrium ReDeploy can then be launched from the 'Existing Backup Tasks' menu on the 'Existing Backups' page of the rescue media:

      If multiple operating systems are detected, an initial page will be displayed in the 'Macrium ReDeploy' wizard, prompting for selection of which operating system Macrium ReDeploy will be run on.

      On the next page of the wizard, locations can be specified that will be searched for matching driver files using the 'Add' button. If the driver files are located on a network share, the share can be accessed using the 'Map Drive' button.

      ReDeploy will search through the user-specified driver locations. If none are specified or no matching drivers can be found, then ReDeploy will search removable devices like CD drives and USB drives. ReDeploy will also search through the Windows in-box driver database.

      ReDeploy searches for drivers for all discovered mass storage devices and displays a list summarising the results:

      image2021-5-6_14-58-15.png

      For each mass storage device, there are three possible outcomes:

      1. The driver is already installed. The driver may still need to be enabled at boot, which is done automatically.
      2. A matching driver has been located, either from removable storage, a user-specified path, or from the Windows driver database. The driver will be installed on completion of Macrium ReDeploy.
      3. No matching driver has been located.

      If no driver has been located, or the found driver needs to be overridden with a user-selected driver,  the 'Locate Driver' button can be used to manually specify a driver .inf file. If there are multiple mass storage devices, drivers only need to be located for the device that contains the Windows operating system and active partitions.

      The final page of the Macrium ReDeploy wizard contains additional options that can be used to troubleshoot specific boot problems. 

      For the majority of use cases, we recommend proceeding with the default selection, unless directed otherwise by Macrium support.

      Option Description
      Disable reboot on system stop Set this option to stop automatic rebooting if a blue screen of death (BSOD) occurs while Windows is loading or running. If this option is not set and Windows generates a BSOD, there may not be enough time to note the error code and message.
      Display boot drivers as they load Set this option to show which drivers are being loaded as Windows loads. Once Windows is loaded and running without issues, this option can be reverted using the Windows MSCONFIG utility. The Pause/Break key can be used to pause the list as it scrolls past, and use space to unpause.
      Enable boot logging Set this option to log drivers being loaded by Windows as it loads. The resulting log file 'ntblog.txt' can be found in the Windows folder. Once Windows is loaded and running without issues, this option can be reverted using the Windows MSCONFIG utility.
      Disable CPU Driver Set this option to disable CPU drivers. This option may be useful if BSOD's are being caused by the selected HAL drivers or if the system locks up when entering standby or shutdown.
      Set Hardware Abstraction Layer Set this option to choose which Hardware Abstraction Layer is to be used in the selected Windows operating system. The recommended HAL for this machine is the one initially selected. If an incorrect HAL is configured, the Windows installation may be unstable and may experience random BSODs or lockups after Windows boots. In particular, if you are redeploying from or to VirtualBox with an advanced programmable interrupt controller (APIC) unchecked (the default) or very old physical hardware, set a new HAL.
      Allow Windows to detect Hardware Abstraction Layer Set this option to enable support for generic SATA AHCI hardware. You will typically also need to enable an option in your BIOS for your mass storage hardware to operate in this mode. This is a Vista and later only option.
      Enable SATA ACHI Set this option to enable support for generic SATA AHCI hardware. Typically, this option also needs to be enabled in the system firmware for the mass storage hardware to operate in this mode. This is a Vista and later only option.

      The final page of the wizard contains a summary of the actions that Macrium ReDeploy will perform. Once the summary has been reviewed, select 'Finish':

      Macrium ReDeploy will then inject the relevant drivers into the restore operating system. Following this, remove the rescue media and attempt to boot into the restored operating system, which should now be compatible with the new hardware.

      A 'ReDeploy.log' will be created on the drive containing the redeployed operating system for troubleshooting purposes.