CareDrive Bare Metal Recovery

Create the Recovery Media

Before you begin, you need to create an up-to-date recovery ISO from within the MSP Backups program installed on any computer. If you already have the program installed on a computer, you can skip the first few steps below regarding downloading and installing the program. 1. Login to mspbackups.com 2. Download the appropriate version of the backup program for your operating system (not the destination operating system) 3. Install the backup program, then open it and login with the account credentials for the account you're recovering 4. Create recovery media 5. Save the ISO

Run the Bare Metal Recovery software

Initial boot and network configuration

1. Boot the affected computer to the Recovery ISO, either via CD/DVD or USB
2. If the computer uses DHCP, no network configuration is necessary
3. If the computer uses a static IP, go to Settings -> Network Configuration and configure the static IP
   1. Note: If the device has two or more network adapters, it may not be immediately obvious which one to choose. Try each one in order, testing as you go. If you got the wrong one, clear out all the IP information you typed, click Apply, and then try the next adapter. The IP information will not save correctlyk for the next adapter if you don't clear out the IP information you tried for the previous adapter
4. Save the IP information, then go to Tools -> Command Prompt and try to ping both an IP address (8.8.8.8) and a domain (google.com) to make sure they're reachable

Running the recovery

Note: Somewhere in the below steps you will be prompted for the encryption key. The account I used to write these instructions did not have an encrypted backup, so I'm not sure where in the steps it should fall. If you're reading this it means I haven't done another restore with encryption in order to update these steps. If you're not reading this then you should be having an existential crisis right now.

1. Once you've confirmed the network is working, click on Bare Metal Recovery to begin
2. Login as the user for the affected computer
3. Click "Restore" to open the Restore Wizard
4. Click "Next" on the initial screen that appears
5. On the "Select Backup Storage" screen, confirm that the backup account is present and checked, then click "Next"
6. On the "Plan Name" screen, leave the default option "Run restore once" selected and click "Next"
7. On the "Select Computer to Restore", confirm that the correct computer is selected for restore. Realistically, there should only be one computer in this list - but check to make sure the name of the computer listed here matches the name of the computer you're trying to recover
8. On the "Type of Data" screen, choose "Restore Image-Based Backup" and click "Next"
9. On the "Select Backup to Restore" screen, choose the appropriate backup to restore - again, there should only be one
10. On the "Restore Point" choose Latest Version unless you have a reason to restore from a specific, older restore point
    1. You may get a popup asking to retrieve archive content - click "OK"
11. On the "Restore Type" screen, restore as physical disk
12. On the "Select Partitions" screen, select all fixed, internal disks
    1. There is no direct way to know which is internal and which isn't, unfortunately. It's generally safe to say that the C:\ drive is internal, as well as any very small system partitions (100MB, 500MB, etc). Consult with another technician if you're not sure
13. On the "Destination" screen, choose the physical disk on which to restore
    1. Pay careful attention here! If there's another physical disk on this machine, make sure you don't accidentally choose the wrong disk! This will cause data loss
14. On the "Pre / Post Actions" screen, click "Next"
15. Review the Summary, then click "Next" and click "Finish" on the final screen
16. The restore will begin immediately

Once the restore starts, click the "down double arrow" on the right of the plan in the main GUI to view details. Stick around long enough to confirm that the restore is actually in progress.

The restore may fail within the first minute or so because the encryption key is wrong. The plan status will turn red and you will see a clickable message in the plan details (click the "down double arrow" to the right of the plan in the main GUI) - click this and you will be prompted to re-enter the encryption key.

Encryption key not working

If the encryption key is not working for some reason, try several more times typing it in to make sure you're not making a typo. Have another technician confirm that you're not crazy - have them type it. If it's still not working, then for some reason we have the wrong encryption key saved and this backup will not be recoverable. There is no alternative way to recover in this scenario other than submitting the failed drive for professional data recovery.