Can't start Win10 after restore

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Scott
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 11:17 am

Can't start Win10 after restore

Post by Scott »

I restored an image from TBWinRE and now Windows 10 will not start.

When I try to boot, I enter my BitLocker password, then a screen appears saying "Preparing Automatic Restore". Then it says it's diagnosing startup, which of course fails, and I'm presented with advanced options.

The backup includes the whole drive and had been created from a running Windows environment that uses BitLocker.

I had simply gone into TBWinRE, unlocked both source and destination (since both are encrypted with BitLocker) and restored only the Windows partition. The above issue occurred, so for no apparent reason other than general cluelessness, I then tried restoring all the partitions on the destination drive in the same general manner, and with the same result.

I've done this kind of restore before and not had any issue. One other time, I had to run chksk, but it worked after that.

I have no idea what to do at this point. Please advise.
TeraByte Support(PP)
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:51 am

Re: Can't start Win10 after restore

Post by TeraByte Support(PP) »

You could try booting to TBWinRE and running the TBOSDT "fixboot.tbs" script (in the TBLauncher Scripts menu it's the "TeraByte Configure Boot" item). If it's a boot file issue it may be able to correct it.

Otherwise, did you try restoring the entire drive image all in one operation?
Scott
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 11:17 am

Re: Can't start Win10 after restore

Post by Scott »

I did not try restoring the entire disk (I.e. I selected each partition one by one, and the top-level disk checkbox was still in semi-selected mode), because the Windows partition was unlocked when I backed it up, and was unlocked during the restore. I didn't want to have to deal with re-encrypting it. I don't understand why this process doesn't just "work."

I also don't see any TBOSDT functions at all in TBWinRE. I guess I didn't install that in the recovery environment.
TeraByte Support(PP)
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:51 am

Re: Can't start Win10 after restore

Post by TeraByte Support(PP) »

TBOSDT is normally included with a TBWinRE build. Maybe it wasn't installed along with IFW? You could create new TBWinRE or IFL boot media that includes it.

Yes, the entire drive restore would result in the partition needing to be re-encrypted. Something you could try first would be to restore the Windows partition again and make sure the "Update Boot Partition" option is enabled.
Scott
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 11:17 am

Re: Can't start Win10 after restore

Post by Scott »

I had started a full-disk restore before your last reply, so it was too late to try the other suggestion.

The full-disk restore enabled me to get into Windows, but of course, the windows partition was no longer encrypted.

Because the whole reason for doing a restore in the first place still wasn't resolved (i.e. a damnable Windows issue), I then performed another restore of just the Windows partition, using the "Update Boot Partition" setting, and that seems to work. Or maybe it only worked because BitLocker was no longer enabled.

In any case, is there any way to get back BitLocker encryption of the Windows partition using a restore at this point? I'm asking because when all is said and done, I may simply restore the backup I created today, before this whole charade began, and I'd really rather not re-encrypt the partition if I don't have to.
TeraByte Support(PP)
Posts: 1644
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:51 am

Re: Can't start Win10 after restore

Post by TeraByte Support(PP) »

I don't think there is. From what I've seen, if any change is made then it has to be re-encrypted. Most systems I've used encrypt rather quickly, but probably depends a lot on the drive speed.
Scott
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 11:17 am

Re: Can't start Win10 after restore

Post by Scott »

I didn't think so. By my reckoning, restoring as I did a single "Type A" BitLocker-enabled partition in TBWinRE works through the BitLocker driver, so the data is read in plaintext (because that's how the backup has been stored) but stored encrypted (because of the BitLocker driver).

Restoring a full disk (again, per my assumption) completely bypasses the BitLocker driver, so you're writing a plaintext backup in plaintext, and BitLocker has nothing at all to do with it at that point. The partition simply has to be re-encrypted.

On a separate note, I've wasted a big chunk of my weekend for nothing. I've restored back to where I was to begin with, sans encryption.

Thank you for the help. I appreciate it.

Using BitLocker with TeraByte's Imaging Programs:
https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=616
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