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Restoring EFI Backup Image From BIOS Only Boot Disc

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Would this work?  If I have Acronis BIOS only boot media yet have an EFI backup image and an EFI+legacy BIOS PC, can I boot the PC in BIOS mode, restore the image, then toggle the PC to EFI mode on the boot following the restore?

If that doesn't work, I just have to use Universal Restore correct?

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Hello Allison,

All current Acronis rescue media is capable of booting in both Legacy (MBR/bios) and/or UEFI mode.  If your system is UEFI, you want to make sure you're booting the rescue media in UEFI mode to ensure it restores in UEFI mode.

Unfortunately, you can restore a legacy MBR OS to UEFI/GPT, but not the other way around.  So you won't want to recover with the rescue media booted in legacy mode if this was an image taken from a UEFI OS install.

That said, make sure your rescue media was built with the proper UEFI format.  UEFI booting is hardware specific.  If you have a 32-bit only UEFI bios (not very common, but some tablets and cheaper laptops that have less than 4GB of memory sometimes are only 32-bit UEFI capable), you need 32-bit rescue media for UEFI rescue media booting.  And if you have a 64-bit only UEFI machine (this covers most modern systems with more than 2GB of memory), then you need 64-bit rescue media. (FYI, all legacy booting is 32-bit so can work for booting on 64-bit UEFI systems if it supports legacy boot; however, it won't result in a bootable OS since you can't go backwards from UEFI to legacy).

Personally, I would make sure you're creating WinPE rescue media over the default Linux recovery media. You can do this with the rescue media builder in True Image 2019 using WinRE (your system recovery environment) or downloading and installing Windows 10 ADK to build WinPE.  Within the builder, there is an option to build 32-bit or 64-bit, so pick the correct one.

Alternatively, you can use the custom MVP WinPE media builder tool (linked below in my signature).  It can also build with your local system WinRE or WinPE (if you've installed Windows 10 ADK first) and you just follow the prompts, but it adds some really nice and useful extras like a file browser and web browser.

So, long story short... if restoring a UEFI image, you must boot rescue media in UEFI mode and the architecture (x86 or x64) of your UEFI bios will determine if you need 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) rescue media to boot it in UEFI mode.  

Also, your bios may prevent booting some third party media if secure boot is enabled.  You may need to refer to your bios manual for the exact bios settings to allow for booting an external UEFI DVD or USB.  Usually, it requires disabling secure boot, and sometimes allowing CSM/legacy booting - even though you will be booting UEFI mode.  Then, use your one boot menu (could be ESC, F1, F2 or F12 or even DEL depending on your bios) and specifically selecting the UEFI boot option for your rescue media.

 

Rescue media builder screenshots for reference...

And here is a sample UEFI vs Legacy bios menu from a Dell.  Dell's use F12 to get to this one-time boot menu.  Boot each system / bios has different methods of allowing UEFI booting and getting to the one time boot menu so you'll have to check the manufacturer documentation if you're not sure how to do this currently to ensure you are booting your rescue media in UEFI mode.  

 

@Bobbo_3C0X1  You really are a forum hero.  Thanks for such a well spoken explanation.  Totally things I needed to know.  Thank you!

Allison, you're very welcome and I hope all goes well!!