Unable to Recover a System Image made with Win 8.1

[starvinmarvin]

We're unable to restore/recover a system image we created recently using Windows 8.1.


Would appreciate your help to get it working, please.


System details:


Windows 7 w/SP1 installed on a 240GB SSD. All available Critical/Important updates also


installed.


Windows 8 installed on 80GB SSD. Updated to 8.1 successfully.


In Windows 8.1, changed default OS to Windows 7 w/SP1.


Dual-boot works OK. Win 7 boots after 5 second delay unless Win 8.1 is selected manually.


PC also has 3 other internal HDDs used for various data storage.


Used Windows 8.1 to create System Image backup. Secondary internal 2TB HDD chosen as


backup location.


System Image backup dialog box had checkmarks in both Win 7 and Win 8.1 checkboxes. In


other words, it insisted on creating a System Image backup that included both OS's.


System Image backup was created successfully on chosen backup location.


Today i inserted the original Windows 8 install disc and selected Advanced Tools, then


opted to recover a system image.


Recovery located the system image on the secondary HDD and began recovery process.


A few minutes later an eror message appeared saying System Image recovery failed, and he


reason was (i think) that the recovery disc was different than the recovery System Image.


I'm guessing it meant it couldn't recover a Windows 8.1 System Image when using a Windows


8 install disc? Or did it mean it couldn't recover Windows 7 using a Windows 8 disc?


Re-booted in BIOS and changed the "1st hard disc" from the Win 7 SSD to the Win 8.1 SSD


and tried the Recover System Image process again. This time it said it couldn't find a


System Image to recover and when i tried to browse to the system image another error


meassage said that the drive is "locked", and to unlock the drive before trying again.


Finally, tried to re-boot back into Windows but error message says "No operating system


found".


So, now i'm totally stuck. How do i get out of this mess, please?

 

[Edwin]

I'm thinking that the recovery failed to choose an OS and/or failed to choose a target.
You might be facing a clean install!

 

[SIW2]

Have you tried restoring from the image using wbadmin command ?

If you are restoring to a different partition, you will need to correct the drive leter and bcd entry after restoring the image.

 

[theog]

Today i inserted the original Windows 8 install disc and selected Advanced Tools, then
opted to recover a system image.

You need to use a Windows 8.1 install disc.

 

[whs]

If nothing helps, you can rescue the VHD like this - works the same for 8.1.

System Image - Recover a Broken Windows 7 System Image - Windows 7 Help Forums

Just make sure you recover C and the EFI partition (unless you have an operational EFI).