How to restore from Windowsimagebackup folder created on external HDD?

You need to boot to an external recovery environment (RE). As that article said, there is one on a Win 10 Installation USB drive. When booted to the internal RE (Shift+Restart), the Recovery partition is considered in use & cannot be deleted/replaced.

Here are the Windows Image Backup & Restore screens I've seen (when doing a restore), but they are dynamic & may not show up unless applicable...

Screen 1: "Select a system image backup".

The latest image is the default. It shows drive name & letter, date & time, & computername. But you can choose to "select a system image" for screen 2.

Screen 2: "Select the location of the backup for the computer you want to restore".

Shows a list of external drives that hold an image (have a WindowsImageBackup folder). Each item in the list shows drive name & letter, date & time, & computername. All computername folders (if you've been renaming them) are listed per drive, like...

     Seagate 2TB Slim Red (F:)   11/27/2020 6:40:06 PM   PCRsComputer-19042.572

     Seagate 2TB Slim Red (F:)   11/27/2020 6:40:06 PM   PCRsComputer-19042.906

     Seagate 2TB Slim Blue (E:)   11/27/2020 7:56:25 PM   PCRsComputer

An Advanced button has two options:

    a. Search for a system image on a network.

    b. Install a driver.

Select an image, & click Next for screen 3.

Screen 3: "Select the date & time of the system image to restore.

                 If in doubt, select most recent.

                 Backups available for PCRsComputer Seagate 2T Slim Blue (E:)"

This screen shows the list of incrementals by date, & it names the partitions to be restored...

11/27/2020 07:56:25 PM  EFI System Partition, C:, \\?\Volume{457EF4FB-B253- etc.}

11/23/2020 10:22:25 PM  EFI System Partition, C:, \\?\Volume{457EF4FB-B253- etc.}

Incrementals happen when you put additional images into the default "computername" folder. I think it better to rename that folder after each image is made (I attach the OS Build to it) so that each image is separate & distinct. Otherwise, at some point, the incrementals would all be deleted automatically & replaced by a new base image.

Screen 4: "Choose additional restore options".

Has an option to "format & repartition disks" (greyed, if in the internal recovery environment). There is an "install drivers" & an "Advanced" button, which has two options preselected...

   (a) Automatically restart after restore.

   (b) Automatically check & update disk error information.

Screen 5: "Your computer will be restored from the following system image".

Shows date & time, computername, & names the partitions that would be restored. If running from the internal recovery environment (Shift+Restart), the Recovery partition isn't named because it is in use. I had selected the bottom one of screen 3, & screen 5 showed...

 Date & Time:                11/23/2020 10:22:25 PM (GMT -5:00)

 Computer:                    PCRsComputer

 Drives to be restored:  EFI System Partition, C:

thanks for your prompt response,

First thing I am on windows 11 and from external recovery environment, Once after screen 3 from your response and I get to choose

EFI system Partition.

11/27/2020 07:56:25 PM  EFI System Partition, C:, \\?\Volume{457EF4FB-B253- etc.}

At screen 4

I still get to see the below screenshot from choose additional restore options which is asking me to create disc which I don't have for windows 10 or 11.

https://ibb.co/f0NfCC3

I am unable to see these options, I wonder why?

(a) Automatically restart after restore.

(b) Automatically check & update disk error information.

(1) You may as well show a picture of each of your screens but especially Screen 3.

(a) Does yours actually name EFI, C:, & that "Volume" GUID (which is the Recovery partition)?

(b) You select it, then it goes directly to the error message?

If it is naming EFI, maybe it needs BIOS to be set to UEFI mode. Can you get into BIOS to see whether it is UEFI or Legacy?

(2) Let's see how many disks there are for Backup & Restore to choose among to receive the restored image. If you've got more than one, select each disk & show its partitions. At an Admin Command Prompt, enter the following...

Here we go:

Does yours actually name EFI, C:, & that "Volume" GUID (which is the Recovery partition)? -- the actual name is visible on the screen 4 and screen4 (extended full)

I have uploaded all the screens until the error which comes up

After the above screens it leads me to the below error message after the selection which I already told.

https://ibb.co/f0NfCC3

If it is naming EFI, maybe it needs BIOS to be set to UEFI mode. Can you get into BIOS to see whether it is UEFI or Legacy?

Yes I have got into the system information of my computer which says UEFI.

One question - I have many other files and folders on external HDD where the backup WindowsImagebackup resides.

Here is it how it looks.-> https://ibb.co/60K2w49

So should it be the only folder residing on the external HDD before I get to system image recovery ? so that way I could proceed like how he does on this video(at 11:30 timestamp)? Please help.

(1) No, the WindowsImageBackup folder need not be the only folder on the HDD. The only requirement is that it be at the root (letter) of the drive. Yours is at Elements (E:) which is fine. If it weren't at the root, it would be invisible to Backup & Restore. And it looks like you are fine regarding UEFI as well.

(2) Your screens look good to me up to the "Select date & time..." screen. One image is there that would restore the four system partitions: EFI, MSR (doesn't show up in the screens but is there), Windows (C:), & Recovery -- plus three extra partitions: D, E, & F. But when you select it, you go directly to that error message. It should, instead, go to "Choose additional restore options".

Your current Disk 0 is 953 GB...

Was the image made of an HDD that was larger than that?

(3) If we can't get that image to restore, you might instead do a clean install. Then mount the old C:, D:, E:, & F: partitions to rescue any files you need from them. Here is how to mount the partitions. Your C: partition may not be the largest, however. You need to drill down to the Backup folder, & do this...

The Windows partition (C:) that is in the image can be mounted & individual files copied off it. I did that once to recover just my Downloads folder which I had inadvertently wiped. To do so, double-click the largest .vhdx in the backup folder in File Explorer...

That will be the image of the C: partition. It will get a letter (say, E:) & open in a 2nd instance of File Explorer. You may put it side by side with the 1st instance. Then browse to your files & copy them from E: to C:. (But I wouldn't try the reverse.) When done, right-click E:, & select "Eject". [But I must add, the first time you double-click a .vhdx, it may give an error message. So, just OK the error, & open Disk Management. The mounted image will have the same name C: had at the time the image was made, but no letter. Put a letter on it, & it will show up in File Explorer.]

Thats manual route to copy all the files.

Please let me know what will happen if I click "Create Disc" option?

(1) That looks like it's asking that you make a system repair disc -- which is the same DVD suggested after making each image (but you'd only need one). And you've seen it at "START, Settings, Update & Security, Backup, Go to Backup & Restore (Win 7)"...

It is an external recovery environment that can be used to restore an image. I used to make one (upon each new Windows version), but one day it started chewing up my DVDs. You can get it onto a USB drive instead by typing "Recovery" into Search. These are alternatives to using a Win 10 Installation USB drive for an external RE. I make the USB drive after each new version of Windows comes in. Also, I make a new Win 10 Installation drive.

(2) It shouldn't be asking that you create a repair disc -- if indeed you started the restore process properly from a Win 10 Installation USB drive. Did you plug in the USB drive & boot directly to it using the F-Key that gets to the one-time BIOS Boot Menu Options? If you don't know it...

https://www.sysnative.com/forums/threads/get-access-to-bios-settings-boot-menu-f-keys-hotkeys-by-system-manufacturer-oem.23010/

Get access to BIOS settings & Boot Menu: F-keys/Hotkeys by System Manufacturer (OEM)

Note: That is an informative 3rd-party site. But I know nothing (bad or good) of any downloads or links that are there.

(a) Insert the DVD or plug in the USB Installation media.

(b) Boot or reboot the computer.

(c) Press & hold the F-key at the manufacturer's logo (or at the black screen just before the logo).

     If the key was pressed in time, mine shows activity at the bottom of the screen,

     & the BIOS Boot menu soon shows up.

(d) From the BIOS Boot Menu, choose the "UEFI" option for the media, if offered.

     Mine names the device brand & precedes it with "UEFI:".

(e) If it were a DVD inserted, you get a message to "Press any key" to boot it.

     If not pressed in time, the DVD will be bypassed & Windows will try to boot.

(f) When the Installation media boots, select "Repair your computer" instead of to install.

     The computer will reboot to the Recovery Environment at the "Choose an Option" screen.

Then "Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > System Image Recovery" should work.