This article applies to Windows 7/Server 2008R2 and higher versions of Windows.
- Overview
- Restoring a Disk Image to the VHD(X)
- Selecting an Image to Restore
Overview
In some scenarios, it may be preferable to have the image data in a VHD(X) format. This can be achieved by creating a VHD in Windows Disk Management, mounting the VHD, and then restoring the disk image to the VHD.
Creating a VHD(X)
Launching Disk Management
First, launch Windows Disk Management. Disk Management can be launched by right-clicking on the Windows taskbar icon and then selecting 'Disk Management':
Alternatively, Disk Management can be launched by searching 'diskmgmt.msc' in the 'Run' dialog box, which can be launched with the key combination Windows Key + R.
Creating a VHD(X)
In Windows Disk Management, select the 'Create' menu, then select 'Create VHD'.
In the window that opens, specify the settings for the VHD that will be created. More information about these options is detailed in the Microsoft documentation here:
Select 'OK' to create the VHD.
Mounting the VHD(X)
Once the VHD has been created, it will be mounted in Windows automatically. Once the VHD has been mounted, it can be viewed in the Disk Management console:
If the VHD has not been mounted automatically, navigate to where the VHD file is located and select 'Mount':
Restoring a Disk Image to the VHD(X)
If Macrium Reflect was already open when the VHD was created, select 'Refresh' on the 'Local Disks' tab under the 'Create Backups' tab to rescan the disks:
The VHD will then be displayed on the 'Local Disks' tab:
Selecting an Image to Restore
First, select the image that will be restored on the 'Existing Backups' tab of Macrium Reflect. Macrium Reflect will search recent backup locations for image files and display them on the 'Existing Backups' tab. If the backup that will be restored is not visible, additional paths can be searched by using the 'Edit' button:
In the window that opens, enter the path to the image and then select 'Add to list'.
After selecting 'OK', any images found in the path will be displayed in the 'Existing Backups' tab.
Alternatively, image files can be found using Windows Explorer by selecting 'Browse for an image file...':
In the Explorer window that opens, navigate to where the image file(s) are located, select the image that will be restored, then select 'Open':
The image and any other images that are part of the same backup set will be loaded into the 'Existing Backups' tab.
Next, select the image that will be restored, then select 'Restore':
When restoring incremental and differential images, only the image that you want to restore needs to be selected. Macrium Reflect will automatically handle previous backups in the set, meaning that images can be restored in a single pass.
The Restore Wizard
In the window that opens, the currently selected source disk contained in the image and the currently selected destination disk will be displayed. If the VHD is not shown in the 'Destination' section of the wizard, click 'Select a different target disk...' then select the VHD:
The 'Copy Partitions' option can be used to move the selected partitions (indicated by the checkbox on each partition) to the destination disk. Alternatively, partitions can be dragged from the source to the destination, which enables partitions to be reordered on the destination.
The following options can be selected on this page of the wizard:
More information about modifying the destination partition properties can be found in this article.
Once you are happy with the layout and properties of the partitions on the destination disk, select 'Next'.
The final page of the restore wizard contains a summary of the restore that will be performed:
The 'Advanced Options' button can be used to specify advanced options for the restore. More information about the available options can be found here.
Selecting 'Finish' will start the restore.
Unmounting the VHD(X)
Once the restore to the VHD has been completed, it can be unmounted using Disk Management. To do this, right-click on the VHD and select 'Detach VHD':
