Storagecraft Recovery Environment

Reference:
https://support.storagecraft.com/s/article/starting-recovery-environment?language=en_US

4 Creating and Starting the Recovery Environment

Requirements page for details.

There is no difference between the Recovery Environments created with ADK 8.0 or with ADK 8.1. The ADK v8.0 because is a significantly smaller download.

Important: RE Builder requires a clean install of Windows ADK v8.1. Although Windows does support "upgrading" an existing ADK v8.0 install to v8.1, this upgraded version does not support RE Builder. If necessary, uninstall an existing v8.0 install of the ADK, then install the v8.1 of the ADK before completing the RE Builder setup.


www.Storagecraft.com/iso.
  • Within the website, input your ShadowProtect product key, mark I accept, and click next.
  • Download the “StorageCraft Recovery Environment Builder to create StorageCraft Recovery Environment for Windows”
  • Install the Recovery Environment Builder (REBuilder) application to a windows system using Run as Administrator.
    • User-added image
    1. Move through the Installation wizard.
    User-added image  -   User-added image           
    1. To launch the application click Start => All Programs => StorageCraft => Recovery Environment Builder. 
    Launch Recovery Environment
    1. The software checks the system for a Windows 8.1 ADK installation. If the ADK is not found the following message is displayed:
    ADK Not Found
      
    Note ImageNote: Windows 8.0 ADK and Windows 10 (only version1607) ADK can also be used as the foundation when building the StorageCraft Recovery Environment for windows.
    1. Selecting the link routes you to Microsoft’s webpage so you can download the ADKsetup.exe for Windows 8.1:
    Download ADK v8.1
    1.  Run ADKsetup.exe as administrator.
    Run ADK Setup as Admin
    1. Move through the installation process. Use the default install path.
    1. On the “Select features you want to install” screen, select only Deployment Tools and Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) then click Install. 
    Select ADK features
    1. Allow the download and installation to complete and close the ADK setup.
    1. Launch REBuilder again and select the required Output Product Type. 
    Launch and Select Output type


      
    RE Builder Output Type Options:

    • Recovery Environment - Will create an ISO for use when restoring ShadowProtect Images.
    • IT Edition – For use when updating an IT edition purchased through StorageCraft.
    • IT Edition 3-Day ISO – For use when creating a temporary IT edition. Requires IT edition Serial Number.
    1. Choose the Architecture to be used within the ISO from the dropdown.  
    Select the 32-bit or 64-bit option based on the architecture of the restore-target hardware. In other words, a 64-bit ISO cannot boot on 32-bit hardware. However, a 32-bit ISO can boot on 64-bit hardware.  Important: The 32-bit option creates an ISO that boots only in BIOS/legacy mode. The 64-bit option works for both UEFI and BIOS modes.  
    1. If necessary, the "Additional Recovery Environment Drivers (64-bit only)" section at the bottom of the interface can be used to preload specific drivers into the environment. This includes Network or Storage Controller drivers.
     
    1. Click the Build Icon Icon in the top left of the Recovery Environment Builder dialog to create the StorageCraft Recovery Environment for Windows.
    A process status screen is then displayed. 
      Start the Build 
    1. When the ISO is complete, click OK.
    Build Complete
    The application will then prompt you to burn the ISO to USB/CD/DVD.
    1. Choose the drive letter that represents the removable media in which the ISO is to be written, then click Start.
    Warning: You will see an important warning (for everything except the IT Edition) that everything on the target will be erased when you build the Recovery Environment. However, if you build this for the IT Edition, you can ignore this warning.  

    Write to the selected media


    The RE Builder displays the following message when the process is finished. 
    Burn Finished


    You can now use the disc (or insert the USB key) to boot a PC and recover a system volume.


    Note: After creating the Recovery Environment, the ADK is not required. If conserving hard disk space is a priority, you can uninstall the ADK.

    support@storagecraft.comso StorageCraft can include these drivers in future releases of ShadowProtect.

    4.3 Starting the Recovery Environment

    Recovery Environment loads automatically when you boot from:

    • The ShadowProtect IT Edition USB key
    • A ShadowProtect Product CD which includes the Recovery Environment
    • A custom CD or USB key created using the downloadable Recovery Environment Builder (REBuilder)

    Before you run the Recovery Environment, make sure your system meets the minimum hardware and software requirements.
    Note:  NETGEAR-stored VHDX files are GPT format. However, they do not include two hidden volumes needed to attach the VHDX volume directly to a VM. Instead, follow the instructions in Step 12 to initialize a disk as a GPT System Disk, restore the NETGEAR VHDX to a volume on the VM.


    To load the StorageCraft Recovery Environment

    1. If the backup image chain to restore is located on a USB drive, attach that drive to the computer.
    2. Attach the IT Edition USB key into a USB port or Insert the Recovery Environment CD or USB key into the computer.
    3. Restart the computer.
      Note: You might need to modify the boot options to have the computer boot from a USB or a CD drive.
    4. Select which language to use. The default is English.
    5. (Optional) In the Network Support dialog box, click Yes to start networking. For example, Recovery Environment could use a network connection to access or save image files stored on another device on the network.
                 Note: For details, see Using the Network Configuation Utility.
    6. Select your time zone. Click  OK.
    If Recovery Environment detects no initialized disks, it displays the   Initialize Disks dialog with a list of available drives. Otherwise, skip to the finish.
    7. Select a disk(s) to initialize. You need to initialize at least one disk for the System/boot volume.
    8. Click  Initialize. Recovery Environment presents two options: MBR or GPT.
    9. To use MBR, click  Initialize as MBR disk. Recovery Environment displays a preconfigured signature for the drive:
    10. Click  OK.The Recovery Environment displays the Initialize dialog again.
    11. Click  Close. Recovery Environment displays its main screen. Skip to the finish.
    12. To use GPT, click  Initialize as GPT disk and Recovery Environment displays a preconfigured signature and disk layout options:

    The three GPT options are

    • Windows System Disk--Select this option to format the drive as a boot/system drive.
      Note: You must choose System Disk at this point if you plan to use a GPT drive as a system volume with a UEFI motherboard. This option installs the necessary hidden components to make it a boot volume. Without these components, the volume will not boot. These cannot be installed later using the Disk Map options for a GPT drive.
    • Windows Data Disk--Select this to format the drive for data volumes. You can use the partition options in the Disk Map tab or in the Restore Wizard to reconfigure a data volume later.
    • Empty Disk--Select this option to initialize the drive as GPT but without creating a partition on it. Use the Disk Map tab or Restore Wizard options to create partitions later. This may be useful when the actual size of the partition needed for the recovery is not clear. Again, you cannot use Disk Map options to make a GPT disk initialized as an Empty Disk to become a bootable drive.
    Note: The system must have UEFI firmware to boot a GPT system disk.13. Click  OK after selecting the disk layout type. Recovery Environment displays its main screen:
    This screen is similar to the installed version of ShadowProtect. To perform these ShadowProtect tasks, see Understanding the User Interface in the ShadowProtect Users Guide.)
    [/td]
    Windows Deduplication
    Recovery Environment for Windows does not support hot backups or restores from volumes with Windows Dedup enabled.
    iSCSI
    Recovery Environment for Windows also does not support iSCSI.


    >Hardware Independent Restore (HIR) Licensing

    Recovery Environment for Windows allows HIR to run in the following situations. In all other cases, REWIND users must have a valid activation code to use HIR. 

    • ShadowProtect is installed and activated in the selected image file. 
    • ShadowProtect is installed and activated but is expired. 
    • ShadowProtect MSP is installed and activated, and its license is still within the subscription period.


    Supported Sector Sizes

    Contemporary hard drives and SSDs ship with a 4096-byte  physical sector size. Most also support the 512-byte logical sector size. (These drives are often labeled 512e for "512 Byte Sector Size Emulation".) ShadowProtect supports backing up both 4096- and 512-byte logical sector sizes.

    In the unusual situation of restoring a partition/volume from one logical sector size to another:

    • 512 bytes per logical sector  -> 4096 bytes per logical sector (and the destination does not support 512e)
    • 4096 bytes per logical sector  ->   512 bytes per logical sector

    ShadowProtect will issue an error message during the restore if it encounters a mis-matched sector size.