Windows 10: Clean W10 Install, Can't Restore System Image

I created an image of my tower a week or two ago. I decided to restore to said image, but cancelled it. I went to boot it up later, and I received an error that there was no OS. I reasoned that it would be fine to reinstall and then restore. I got W10 through the free upgrade the first time, so I reinstalled W7, downloaded the media creation tool, then reupgraded to W10. I went to restore the system image, and I got an error message that an image of the tower couldn't be found. I did some digging around and found out about some things and tested them, listed below:

1. The system image having the same PC name. I renamed the root folder of the needed image so it wouldn't be overwritten, and started another image, to see if somehow the name was different, even though I named the PCs the same. Both images had the same name.
2. Location of the image. The image I need was in the WindowsBackupWhateverTheDefaultNameIs folder, but I read that sometimes it needs to be in the root of the external drive. I moved it, no dice (I moved it back now just to keep it as I started)
3. Replacing the files in a new backup. I created both an image of the drive and just the OS, then I did that, and success! My computer recognized it as having the image, and was able to restore! However, I must have chosen the wrong image, because nothing changed. I went to just try again, and even though I did nothing to either image in the interim, when I went into recovery mode, they were not recognized.

Minor details of different value:
-Hardware configuration didn't change at all
-Original W10 installation came from the update, second from the media creation tool
-W7 install was from the same disk
-When there isn't an image detected and I opt to select a driver (even though I don't need one), I can access the drive where the image is stored
-Ownership hasn't been changed, but I granted access to all files
-I can mount the VHD

:)

 

Win 10 Activation Error 0xC004C003

OK, problem solved for me...

I have done a disk image of my non activated and clean system, with the restoration tool of W10 (because i have reinstalled and configured too much things...). After, i have reinstalled my W8 system with my old DVD (by erasing all my partitions,...), activated
my W8, directly upgraded to W10... and W10 was activated.

Then, i have restored my disk image... And bam ! My clean system of W10 was activated. I think that my hardware ID was not on MS server or something like that (BTW, i was an Insider and i use the W10 Technical Preview since the begining...).

Now, it's OK.

Dacal

 

ox80070002 error with USB recovery drive

I don't understand what this tool is doing, but I am willing to try. Are you saying that for some reason the restore operation is finding something missing/wrong with my currently installed system (C), and that DISM is going to fix something within that
system? That would seem to defeat the purpose of an image restore. I would think that the restore operation would just load the image without doing any checking of the System drive (C) other than to make sure there is space available. To be clear the error
occurred before the restore operation even looked for the image I wanted to use, because the image was on a removable drive that was not even connected to the system. The system I am having difficulty with is W10 and it was installed as an upgrade. The
other 2 computers which I have used the Recovery Drive on were W10, but they were built via a clean install.

Thanks for your input.

 

This is the reason why I always recommend to use the free third party backup softwares such as:
AOMEI Backupper or Macrium Reflect Free

One thing I know is if you create a System Image using the built in Windows Backup, these files cannot be moved/copied to another drive once they had been stored. I think that this is a security issue, perhaps in moving/copying them some flag or security permission or owner was changed.

In your case, looking into a file: BackupSpecs.xml in WindowsImageBackup"YourComputerName""BackupDate" folder, there are patitions identified as unique 64 bit GUID Volume numbers so I guess the Windows Restore uses these GUID's to compare with the original partition GUID's and since you re-install W7, Upgrade to W10, the GUID's are no longer matched. And that might be the reason the second backup was found but not the original backup.

 

What would then cause it to not recognize the unaltered image from which it was restored after restoring?