Regarding Ethernet drivers, if you don't need network connectivity in Rescue because you're not trying to back up to or restore from a network location, then you can ignore that prompt.  Reflect by default will tell you if it's missing drivers for any devices you MIGHT need to use in the Rescue environment, but if you don't ACTUALLY need them, then don't worry about it.

Thrilled to have you assisting, esp. with such a thorough and immediate reply.
Got some sleep. Some feedback before I dive in.

> Did you have a secondary BCD entry for something like booting with the Hyper-V hypervisor disabled when needed, or perhaps for the Reflect Rescue boot menu recovery option? In any case, you would NEVER end up modifying the contents of the backup itself. Reflect backups are read-only
I'd prefer to look at data to confirm (best to be skeptical, not guess based upon recollections), but I'm guessing the 2nd BCD entry is (at least) a Reflect Rescue boot menu recovery option.
I would not give up on dual boot being in the mix because I KNOW I had functional (tested, operational) boot options menu with Win10, Win7, and recall that I had a Reflect Rescue boot option (3rd boot option, not tested - I assumed it was functional).
This brings up another interesting point (rather points): I recall thinking I had better update my Rescue CD, but hey this is great to see that MR allows the creation of a recovery boot start up option so let's not bother with another CD/DVD burn.
IIRC, I also thought (not sure if I implemented) to put the recovery boot information on my backup HDD (not on the boot SSD) to have an independent recovery from the boot SSD failure.
At this stage, I'm not sure if such a redirection of the MR Rescue boot file to be independent of boot C: SSD is possible (maybe I just went with a default save to C, but this scenario is why I was so astonished to find myself working with only an insufficient for recovery MR 7.2 DVD (not MR 7.24942 recovery option ).
I mention this because it may be possible to find that MR Rescue boot information on my operational backup HDD, but at this stage I have your instructions to proceed on a more obvious path.

Also, small point: the "clean" command to set up new partition(s) was what I was trying to effect (within MR) when I wanted to delete the m.2 SSD partitions -- to make certain (and clear to me)  that I was restoring a known good image to the m.2 SSD.

Thank you for the very clear discussion of my situation and the very clear instructions on how to proceed.

Happy to help!  If you're not sure what that second option is -- and you definitely don't have a completely unrelated disk installed in that system that ALSO has a Windows installation on it? -- then I'd have ReDeploy tackle the first boot option, since that is overwhelmingly likely to be the default boot entry on the restored image.  And of course worst case you can always restore the image again if ReDeploy and/or Fix Boot Problems send things sideways, and in that case if you do NOT clean the disk first, it wouldn't even take very long because Rapid Delta Restore would kick in and essentially just undo the ReDeploy/Fix Boot Problems changes rather than having to restore all the data.  But if you'll have that manually created EFI partition, you'll need to restore using the "drag and drop" method I described above in order to preserve that partition, otherwise the MSR partition from the image will be restored to the very beginning of the disk, which will blow that EFI partition away.

But I think once you create that EFI partition, run a new restore such that the EFI partition survives, and then run both ReDeploy and Fix Boot Problems, you should be good to go.  Good luck!

Ok, I just took a closer look at your ReDeploy screenshot showing two Windows options.  They're shown on different disks, one on Disk 1 and one on Disk 3.  So that would NOT be a secondary BCD entry for booting from the same disk.  If you want to see what Disk 1 and Disk 3 are, click over to the Create Backups tab.  The disks are numbered there, and the model of each disk is identified.  Hopefully that will help clarify why you've got two options there.  You do need to make sure you run ReDeploy and Fix Boot Problems against the Windows installation on the correct disk.

+x

 

g2021 - 23 October 2021 5:04 PM

This brings up another interesting point (rather points): I recall thinking I had better update my Rescue CD, but hey this is great to see that MR allows the creation of a recovery boot start up option so let's not bother with another CD/DVD burn.

I'm reacting ONLY to the quoted comment from @g2021.   The option to boot RESCUE MEDIA from the windows boot menu MUST NOT BE YOUR ONLY WAY TO ACCESS RESCUE MEDIA. It is for convenience only, and is not available when you must restore the very disk that contains the boot menu version.   You have to have a CD/DVD or a USB stick with rescue media installed on it.  Sorry, but you'll have to be bothered. 

Dan,

Point taken. I previously used to write MR to CD/DVDs, then saw the convenient menu option and lost track.
Thankfully, I have the redundant PC with MR also, and the good advice and help from the forum, so I was able to fabricate a current version rescue USB.

Be sure to test booting the Rescue Media USB and, after Reflect loads, make sure it recognizes all internal and external storage and any networked drives.  Last thing you need is a case where you need Rescue Media, but it doesn't recognize the hardware you need to restore to.

JP,

Big revelation thanks to your explanations to educate me. I wasn't holding out (hiding information), but I left out a significant piece of the puzzle because of my recently amplified fear about Win7, and having that previously as a dual boot option.
That is the key point, and a picture tells the story that has been confusing you and me, and I CAUSED the confusion.


Recall, the history of this PC1 as originally a Win7 machine (full retail pro license), to which I added a second machine (full retail pro license) as a dual boot with the W10 being the primary/default boot option.
However (the big fat however), the BCD table resided on the Win7 drive denoted as an EVO850.
For all of our diagnostics, I had never plugged in this Win7 drive for fear of installing drivers etc. and being open and exposed with a network connection to viruses or other malicious actors, so we were not able to see the critical FAT32 partition which was on that drive.

In following your recommendation (Post 23)  to investigate the two drives offered for Redeploy and find out their manufacture/origin etc. via the restore menu; I thought, why not look at all the drives relevant drives? Even the Win7 drive.
Upon plugging in the Evo850 Win7 drive and rebooting, I was back to my standard (3) boot options menu: Win10, Win7, Rescue Media.

My sincere apologies for not thinking through (too cautious about Win7 is my excuse).
The obvious gaping hole (mistaken information) was my stating/thinking the W10 boot SSD was in fact a full-up valid W10 installation -- without the BCD FAT32 partition it isn't/wasn't.

I also went far enough in my investigations with the the Win7 drive active to see that I was running MR v7.3.5925.
So, if I had had the presence of mind to create an external Rescue Key on USB/CD/DVD I would have been in better shape at the start of this MOBO failure recovery campaign.

The only obvious problems with running my dual boot system as it stands now are: the vulnerability of Win7, and the network drivers for the new MOBO are not installed.
I do have some old software that is operable on the Win7 machine, and I likely need it too be able to look into some extensive archiving of business etc. that I did over the years.
You've got me convinced to drop the dual boot on my main Win10 PC -- and put the Win7 on another air-gapped PC build (use scraps of old PC, buy a used MOBO, cobble pieces together).
I could always go back to my dual boot backups as long as I preserve the files as archives somewhere (say independent of my new PC3 backups)
I say this, because there may been some usefulness to have retained the backup images of the dual boot Evo850 drive for the fab of the Win7 only machine.

That leads me to next steps for the Win10 machine we have been trying to recover.
If I've understood your recommendations correctly I can redeploy to the EVO970 m.2 drive which is drive 3 in the prior redeploy menu, or GPT disk 4 in the image above.
Correct me if I am wrong, Redeploy is smart enough to fill in the FAT 32 BCD on the EVO970 m.e on its own, it does not need BCD info off the EVO850 Win7 Dual Boot drive BCD.
So, I should:
       unplug the EVO850 Win drive,
      in the Redeploy menu select the SECOND item listed as Windows Pro (1) for the redeploy and start the redeploy
                (Note: do NOT select the 1st item which was the previous Win10 EVO 860 SSD install without the FAT32 BCD).
      Chose drivers (especially for the LAN from the MOBO CD (alternatively, may have to use this PC2 to get valid current drivers later).
      Run Fix Boot Problems if/as applicable with Fix Boot Menu
      Check UEFI settings. Suspect the EVO870 m.2 will still show NVME (not SATA). Not sure I want to fiddle with secure boot 'til I get myself backed up, updated MR v7 to v8 including Rescue Media.
      If/as required, deal with my MSFT account for my Retail Win10.

I'm taking a break (off to put some netting over our persimmon tree suffering from squirrel predations) before tackling this further.
Meanwhile, I'd be honored to have your advice on the above, but I do realize it is now off-hours on the weekend.

Thank you,
g

That does clarify things. I’m a dual boot scenario involving dual disks, there will only be one total EFI partition. But if you want the secondary disk to be independently bootable, it will need that EFI partition. If you create it as described, then Fix Boot Problems (not ReDeploy) will populate its contents as needed to support a single boot scenario of the Windows partition residing on the same disk. And ReDeploy should take care of any driver issues. They serve different purposes, and in your scenario you’ll need both. Good luck!