If you have a Windows 11 system image backup, you are protected against data loss and PC failure by allowing you to recover your PC if things go wrong.
This could be a devastating malware attack, unforeseen hardware failures, or just general system instability – a system image allows you to restore your PC to the state before the problem (assuming the hardware is working).
If you are not sure how to recover Windows 11 using a previously created system image backup, you can quickly do it by following these steps.
How to Restore Windows 11 Using a System Image Backup
Before you start restoring Windows 11 from the system image, you will need to create a bootable Windows 11 USB installation drive or have a Windows 11 USB recovery drive ready to go.
Booting system recovery
If you are using a Windows 11 installation drive, wait until the setup screen appears. windows settings. Once you get to the screen Windows setup, click on Repair equipment in the lower left corner.
If you are using a Windows 11 USB recovery drive, skip this step – it will boot directly into the next menu.
Note: If your PC does not boot to this screen, you will have to access the BIOS / UEFI menu and change the boot order. Getting to the BIOS / UEFI menu varies by machine. If you’re not sure how to do this, check the manufacturer’s support documentation.
You should see the menu of Advanced Options and then click Solve problems.
In the menu Advanced Options, press the option System Image Recovery.
If you have BitLocker enabled, you will have to enter your security key. You can find the key by logging into your Microsoft account. For more information on this, see this Microsoft support page.
Restoring Windows with a system backup
You should now be able to start the Windows 11 restore process using the system image backup. To do this, select the Windows 11 option in the section Choose a target operating system.
On the menu Team re-image, select the option Use the latest available system image and click Next.
If you prefer to use an older system image, choose the option Select a system image.
On the next screen, you can select the option Format and redistribute disks before continuing. This is an optional step, and you will want to exclude any secondary drives to avoid data loss.
Typically, you will only use this optional step on new drives. It is also optional to check the option Only restore system drivers.
Once you’ve worked with the wizard and are comfortable with your selections, click the button Finalize.
You will be warned about data loss – click Yes to confirm and proceed.
Then the recovery process will start. The time it takes varies depending on the amount of data and system resources.
After recovering Windows 11 from a system backup
The steps above should help you recover Windows 11 using a system image backup. Your PC will restart a few times during the process, so allow enough time for this to complete. Once this is done, you will want to install any recent updates that the backup does not include.
To do this, press Beginning and then, Setting > Windows update to manually check for updates.
also can create a restore point in Windows 11, which you can use as a faster alternative to restoring a previous version of your Windows installation. If you’re selling or giving away your Windows 11 PC, or just want to start over after a troublesome update, you may consider doing a factory reset of Windows 11.
