Have a Windows 11 system, bitlocker off, hibernation off, fast startup off. Also have multiple simple partitions beyond the C drive system partition. Question is: if needed, can I restore and IFW image of just the C Drive to restore the OS? I have separate images of the other partitions. Hoping I don't need to image the entire drive for OS recovery.
Thank you.
Minimum IFW Image Needed to Restore OS
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TeraByte Support(PP)
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Re: Minimum IFW Image Needed to Restore OS
Restoring just the Windows partition is often sufficient. However, if restoring to a different drive or if the booting files are needed for some other reason, having the other Windows related partitions included in the "Windows" backup lets you restore them all at once.
For GPT you would want to include the EFI System partition and the WinRE partition (I usually include the MSR partition too since it may be next to or between the others). For MBR/EMBR you would want to include the System Reserved partition (if used) and the WinRE partition (if used). You can always restore just the Windows partition from the backup if that's all that's needed.
Alternatively, just include all the partitions that aren't OEM specific and aren't your data partitions when creating the "Windows" backup.
For GPT you would want to include the EFI System partition and the WinRE partition (I usually include the MSR partition too since it may be next to or between the others). For MBR/EMBR you would want to include the System Reserved partition (if used) and the WinRE partition (if used). You can always restore just the Windows partition from the backup if that's all that's needed.
Alternatively, just include all the partitions that aren't OEM specific and aren't your data partitions when creating the "Windows" backup.