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NinjaOne Backup — Image Restore: Bare Metal & Different Hardware Recovery

Audience: T2 / T3 Use when: A server or workstation needs to be restored from an image backup — either bare metal recovery to the same hardware, or restore to different hardware.

⚠ Image restore is a significant operation. Always loop in T3 (Nate Smith) for server image restores at client sites before proceeding.

Image Restore vs. File/Folder Restore

Type Use When Requires
File/folder restore Specific files/folders are needed NinjaOne console access
Image restore Full OS + all data must be recovered Bootable media, maintenance window

Image restore overwrites the entire target volume with the backup image. It replaces everything on the disk.

Before Starting

  • Confirm backup health: verify the target revision shows a successful backup in NinjaOne
  • Confirm the partition type: GPT or MBR (affects boot configuration post-restore)
  • Notify the client — a maintenance window is required; machine will be offline
  • Have the NinjaOne console accessible during the restore
  • Have a USB drive (at least 8 GB) for bootable recovery media

Step 1 — Create Bootable Recovery Media

From a working machine with NinjaOne access:

  1. NinjaOne → Administration → Backup → Bootable Media
  2. Select the target organization
  3. Click Create Bootable USB — select your USB drive
  4. NinjaOne downloads a customized WinPE environment and writes it to the USB

The USB will be labeled as NinjaOne recovery media. Keep it — it can be reused for any device in the same org.

Step 2 — Boot the Target Machine from USB

  1. Insert the USB into the target machine
  2. Power on → enter BIOS/UEFI (usually F2, F10, F12, or Del)
  3. Set USB as the first boot device
  4. Save and reboot into the NinjaOne recovery environment

Boot mode must match the original disk:

  • GPT disk → UEFI boot mode
  • MBR disk → Legacy/BIOS boot mode
  • Mismatch will cause boot failures after restore

Step 3 — Connect and Select Backup Source

In the NinjaOne recovery environment:

  1. Connect to the network (the recovery media needs internet to reach NinjaOne)
  2. Sign in with NinjaOne credentials
  3. Select the organization and the device to restore
  4. Select the backup revision (timestamp) to restore from
  5. Choose the restore source: Cloud or Local (NAS)

For local NAS restore: enter the NAS path and dtcbackup credentials when prompted — significantly faster than cloud for large images.

Step 4 — Select Target Volume and Restore

  1. Select the target disk/volume to restore to
  2. Confirm the restore — this will overwrite all existing data on the target disk
  3. Restoration begins — progress is shown in the recovery UI
  4. For large images (>100 GB), expect 1–4 hours for cloud restore, 30–90 minutes for local NAS

NinjaOne supports checkpoint-based resume — if the restore is interrupted, it will resume from the last checkpoint rather than restarting.

Step 5 — Post-Restore: First Boot

After restore completes and the machine reboots:

  1. Remove the USB drive
  2. Confirm the machine boots into Windows normally
  3. Log in and verify:
    • Operating system launches correctly
    • Dental software launches and connects to the database
    • Network connectivity is functional (may need to re-join domain if restoring to new hardware)
    • User profiles are intact

Restoring to Different Hardware

When restoring to a different machine or after hardware replacement:

Expected issue: Windows may activate a "new hardware detected" reactivation requirement. For domain-joined machines, re-joining the domain may be needed.

WinRE recovery partition: If the restored machine can't find its recovery partition (common on new hardware), run from an elevated cmd after first boot:

reagentc /disable
reagentc /enable

If the recovery partition still doesn't link properly, escalate to T3.

Driver injection: The NinjaOne recovery environment supports driver injection during restore for hardware that differs significantly from the original. This is a T3-level decision.

Escalate to T3 If:

  • Machine doesn't boot after restore (check GPT/MBR and UEFI/Legacy mismatch first)
  • Restore to dissimilar hardware (different manufacturer, chipset, or storage controller)
  • Active Directory re-join fails after restore to new hardware
  • Dental application database appears corrupt after restore
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