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When I try to recover my data from a system image backup I made from an external hard drive in Windows Recovery, it says I need to create a disk. However, the issue is that I am doing this on a laptop that doesn't have a CD/DVD-ROM drive. Aside from purchasing a portable one, how do I go about this? I'd rather just make Windows restore only the files from the C drive rather than the other partitions, even though the backup contains all of them. Perhaps the other partitions could be "removed" from the system image?
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
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Hello, I’m Virginia, a fellow user like yourself.
Sorry to hear you’re experiencing problems.
When you created the image were you asked to create a recovery drive on DVD or USB? This is required in order to restore an image.
You can create Windows installation media on a USB drive then boot the laptop with this & when you reach Install options you need to choose Repair My Computer which should then show you options to recover via image.
Once you mount the image you should be able to copy from the image as though it is an external drive then paste the files in the correct folder on the laptop. Is this not possible for you?
If you’re planning to move program files then this isn’t possible as programs would require installing in order to add the relevant registry entries.
Other than this I’m out of options.
This answer doesn't adequately answer the question/doesn't provide enough detail. I believe I was asked to create a recovery drive, but I didn't do it. I just want to restore the files from the C drive from the image, not everything else. (Although I don't mind restoring everything else in the image if necessary.)
Can you go into more detail about this?
I’m sorry to see that you’ve marked my reply as not helpful. Your question seemed to suggest that you wished to restore a full image & not just files, I apologise if I misread your question.
A recovery drive is required to restore an image created with Windows backup feature, if you chose to skip that part then there’s only two ways to restore that image, the first I’ve mentioned while the other is to clean install Windows & then restore from within Windows or via the inbuilt recovery options.
As you wish to just restore files then this should work - good for Windows 11.
https://askleo.com/restore-individual-files-win...
Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products).
Please do not download any repair tool which may be offered by this site other than the ones I mention/recommend.
Thoroughly research any product which is mentioned here before you decide to download and install it.
