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Restore a Macrium Reflect system image from the installed app only when Windows is available and the restore will not overwrite partitions currently in use. If Windows will not start—or the restore must replace the running Windows partitions—boot from Macrium rescue media and restore from there. In either case, check the source image, destination disk, and partition layout carefully before confirming: the restore can erase data on the selected target partitions.
Choose the right restore environment
| Situation | Where to restore |
|---|---|
| Windows starts, and the restore will not overwrite in-use system partitions | Open Reflect in Windows and use the Restore Wizard. Macrium’s Reflect X Windows restore guide |
| Windows cannot boot, or the restore must overwrite currently running system partitions | Boot from Macrium rescue media and run the restore there. Macrium’s Reflect X rescue-media restore guide |
The deciding factor is not whether the image is a system image: it is whether Windows can run Reflect and whether the restore needs to replace partitions that Windows is using. A data-image restore, or a restore to partitions not in use, can run in Windows.
Restore an image while Windows is running
Use this route only if Reflect can run in Windows and the target does not include in-use system partitions. The steps below refer to Macrium Reflect X; labels and screens can differ in older versions.
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- Select the image and choose Restore. If you need a particular incremental or differential restore point, select that point directly. Reflect handles earlier images in the backup set during the same restore job; ensure the files needed for that chain are available.
- In the Restore Wizard, check which disk contains the image and which disk is selected as the destination. If the computer has multiple disks, explicitly choose the intended target.
- Use Copy Partitions or drag the required partitions into the destination layout. For a destination of a different size, choose whether to resize partitions to fit or fill the disk, or preserve their original sizes and offsets. Restore multiple source disks one at a time.
- Review the summary, including the destination disk and each selected partition, before choosing Finish.
Restore when Windows will not boot or system partitions must be replaced
Use Macrium rescue media when you cannot open Reflect in Windows or when the restore must overwrite the active Windows partitions. Macrium recommends preparing rescue media in advance; its builder can create a USB rescue drive, add a Windows boot-menu option, or create an ISO file. See Macrium’s guide to creating rescue media.
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- Boot the computer from the Macrium rescue media.
- On Existing Backups, choose a listed backup location, use Edit to add another path, or browse for the image file.
- If the image is on a network share, map the share in the rescue environment. Enter its UNC path and credentials for an account with at least read access, then browse to the image.
- Select the image and choose Restore. You can choose the required incremental or differential restore point directly; Reflect handles the earlier images in the set as part of the restore.
- Inspect the source and destination disks and select the intended target. Review the proposed partition layout. The controls allow you to copy partitions, fit them to a smaller disk or fill space on a larger disk, preserve offsets and lengths, and remove partitions from the proposed destination layout.
- Read the overwrite confirmation and check the listed partitions and destination disk. Macrium warns: “The restore is a destructive process; any data on the partitions shown in the window will be deleted.” Continue only if those are the partitions you intend to replace.
- Allow the restore to finish. The rescue-media guide says the computer reboots automatically by default when the restore completes.
How Full, Differential, and Incremental images affect a restore
A Full image contains the volume data. A Differential image records changes since its original Full; an Incremental image records changes in the backup set. To restore a Differential point, the original Full and selected Differential must be available. To restore an Incremental point, the original Full and subsequent Incrementals in that set must be available. Macrium’s Reflect X restore guides let you select the desired point directly: you do not launch a separate restore job for every file in the chain. See Macrium’s introduction to Reflect image backups.
Images may be stored on local, network, or removable drives. A network image may need its share mapped and credentials entered in rescue media before Reflect can browse to it.
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After restoring an image to dissimilar hardware, run ReDeploy from the rescue environment if Windows does not boot. Macrium says ReDeploy detects changes to critical system features and locates or injects drivers intended to make Windows boot on the new hardware. It does not install every driver: non-boot-critical devices such as network and graphics adapters may need their drivers installed after Windows starts.
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