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Restore From Cloud At Ridgebrook

🔧 Bare Metal Recovery from MSP360 (Staging Backup)


1. Boot into BIOS Setup

Boot into the BIOS and make the following config changes:

1A. Disable Secure Boot - select Boot Configuration and turn the slider OFF to disable secure boot. Click Yes to confirm.

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1B. SATA/NVMe Operation - Select Storage and set SATA/NVMe Operation to AHCI/NVMe.

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1C. AC Behavior & Block Sleep - Select Power and set AC Behavior to Last Power State and Block Sleep to On.

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1D. Wake on LAN/WLAN - Select System Management and set Wake on LAN/WLAN to LAN or WLAN.

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1E. Click Apply Changes (at the bottom) & Exit to reboot.

2. Boot into MSP360 Recovery Image

Insert the USB and boot into the MSP360 Recovery Image on the target machine.

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3. Launch Bare Metal Recovery

From the Recovery Environment menu, choose “Bare Metal Recovery"

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3. Authenticate with MSP360

Enter your MSP360 account credentials (Username/Password)

Credentials for "staging@dtctoday.com" are stored in 1Password - https://start.1password.com/open/i?a=QF5SHHOLYVG5TMAI3PF2TQM5GA&v=wcqnpbfbjggdea6jruotfavnou&i=x6jk3ody2jemuok3ewcfnzajx4&h=team-dtc.1password.com

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4. Select the Storage Location

Choose “Staging Storage (Restore Only)” from the list of available locations.

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5. Troubleshooting: Missing Staging Storage

If the Staging Storage is not listed:

1. Exit the Bare Metal Recovery interface.

2. From the main menu, go to: Tools → Backup.

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3. Switch to the “Backup Storage” tab — confirm the Staging Storage appears here.

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4. Exit the Backup tool and return to Bare Metal Recovery — the Staging Storage should now be listed.

6. Select Backup Job

Choose the backup job named “Staging Job".

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7. Locate the Backup Image

Navigate to and select the appropriate backup set

Structure: Company > Location > ComputerName

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8. Select the Backup Version

Select the Latest version available as the restore point.

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Click Yes to Retrieve archive content from storage.

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9. Review Partition Layout

You should now see the partition layout from the backup image. Uncheck all disks except for the OS drive.

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From the partition screen you can change the target size of the drive to be smaller if it is bigger than the local systems drive by clicking on the underlined amount.

Please check that the Used amount isn't bigger than the local drive before making this change.

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10. Choose Local Disk

Ensure the correct physical disk on the local machine is selected as the destination.

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If you see the Backup Service is unavailable error instead of the local disk, we are currently resolving this by remaking the USB MSP360 Recovery Image. You may also be able to resolve this be restarting the MSP360 service from the command prompt. Please share or update document if we determine a better a fix for this.

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11. Configure Logging/Notifications

Proceed through the Notifications and Logging screen (default settings are fine). Click Next.

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12. Confirm & Restore

On the Summary page, review settings. Click Finish to start the restore process.

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13. Completion

Once you receive the message stating the restore has completed, close the Restore tool.

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14. Check OS Disk for MBR

If the restored source disk is MBR it should be converted to GPT on the target machine.

MBR is not supported for boot drives in Windows 11.

1. Check if OS disk is MBR

Close the restore window once it completes and select Tools and Command Prompt.

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Use the following steps to check if the OS disk is MBR and must be converted to GPT:

  • From Command Prompt, type diskpart > list disk.
    • An "*" (asterisk) in the Gpt column indicates that the disk is GPT.
    • An empty value in the Gpt column indicates the disk is MBR.
  • If you have multiple disks and are unsure which one is the boot disk, type list volume. In the screenshot below, Disk 0 is the C drive and Disk 1 is the USB drive. Disk 0 is MBR and must be converted to GPT
  • If you come across a data disk using MBR, it does not need to be converted for the purpose of the disk imaging process. MBR data disks are supported by Windows 11.

Verify that the OS volume is Healthy. If a different status is shown you may need to rerun the restore or take a new source backup.

Leave the command prompt window open if MBR to GPT conversion is needed.

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2. Optional Check for MBR in Ninja

Ninja can also be used to check if MBR is in use.

In Ninja, select the source device, then select the Custom tab and Default fields. The BIOS type, boot partition style and size can be viewed if they have been populated with the Windows Determine Boot Partition Specs script.

If the information is blank, this script can run on the device to populate the information (Run Automation > Run Script > enter Windows Determine Boot Partition Specs in the search field and click to select > leave defaults and click Run)

After the script run, the values below will be populated in Ninja for the device under Custom > Default fields.

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The Ninja activity log will also show additional details found by the script

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3. Skip to Step 16 if MBR to GPT conversion is not needed (i.e. Windows boot disk is GPT)

15. If Needed - OS Disk MBR to GPT Conversion

Follow this step if MBR to GPT conversion is needed.

In the command prompt window that is still open:

  • bcdboot $SYSTEM_DRIVE_LETTER:\Windows /s $EFI_DRIVE_LETTER (for example: "bcdboot C:\windows /s C:")
  • mbr2gpt /validate /disk:0 (substitute the disk # for the OS Disk if not 0)
  • mbr2gpt /convert /disk:0 (substitute the disk # for the OS Disk if not 0)

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Verify that all commands complete successfully before existing the command prompt.

Optional - use the list disk command to confirm that the OS Disk is now GPT.

Close the command prompt

16. For UEFI Based Systems: EFI Partition Creation

If the computer that has been restored is a UEFI based system and not BIOS, the EFI partition needs to be made.

After confirming that the disk is GPT or after converting it to GPT, you can go ahead and use the command

- bcdboot c:\windows /s C: /f UEFI

Then you need to go back into disk part - list disk - select the disk with the C drive

To create the EFI partition run the command - create partition efi size=xxx --> (xxx - between 1000-3000 is good)

After successful creation of the partition run the command - format quick fs=fat32

Then assign it a letter using command - assign letter=S - (S can be any letter, just make sure you adjust any command using the EFI partition to the letter you assign).

Once this is completed, list the volumes again and confirm that the new partition was made is showing the letter you assigned.

Exit from diskpart and run the command - bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI (Replace S with the EFI partitions letter).

Once confirmed, go back into BIOs and verify that you can boot into Windows.

Turn Secure boot back on

17. Boot Into Restored Image

Exit the Recovery Environment and boot into the restored system image.

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go to Dell Family Driver Packs and using those to update the missing drivers after the restoration is complete.

Upgrade to Windows 11 after drivers have been restored.


Troubleshooting

Issue - Unclear if same backup can be restored concurrently to two target machines.

Fix - Restore to one target machine at a time.

Update - Used the same image to restore 2 different machines and had no issues. You do need to make sure that you change the 1 of the system's name after doing this. - JT