I recently restored an image to my Dell laptop.  Setting up the process, I checked the option "Verify before restore".  Worked my way through the rest of the wizard and started the restore process.  My expectation was that after the verification, the restore would pause and display the results of the verification.  Returning a few minutes later, I found that the restore itself had begun.

Can I assume that the verification was successful?  Would the restore not have started if the verification had failed?

Dave...

I've never actually had a Verify before a restore fail, but I would guess if there was a problem in the Verify process, the entire restore would cancel and the user would receive a dialog saying the Verify had failed.

@dbminter that's what happens, if you want to waste a ton of time, you could confirm it with a VM, all you need to do is "damage" the backup or a copy of it using a hex editor so verify fails, then try restoring with verify first set.. Not worth the time & effort though.

I was wondering when I posted the original response, if a way to "damage" the backup set is to start with a backup set that has been split into parts.  Then, after you load the image set and begin the restore process, change the name of one of the parts.  Reflect would, in theory, keep Verifying up until that "missing" part, at which point the Restore should never happen.

My expectation would be that if the verification failed, you’d see an error and then the restore wouldn’t run, and therefore if the restore completed, then the verify completed without issues as well. But the only real reason to verify before restore is if the current state of the target is valuable, at least more valuable then a broken system would be if a restore failed partway through due to corruption. But if the disk is empty or its contents are otherwise hosed, then you may as well skip that, since even if the restore does fail, you’re not necessarily any worse off.

Experience suggests, that indeed, if verification fails, restore does not start,.

Thanks to all for your insight.