Restore BIOS Based System Recovery Points to UEFI Based Computer
About UEFI and BIOS
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) mode and BIOS based Legacy mode are two different firmware that computers now use. By default, recent hardware boot using Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) mode, which will prevent BIOS based system being installed.
Using UEFI mode, the system must be installed on a disk with GUID partition table (GPT) partition style, while in BIOS the master boot record (MBR) partition style is required. For those who want to restore system to another computer besides the original computer being backed up, these two boot modes must not be mixed.
Well, some UEFI based PCs has the ability to run Windows in legacy BIOS-compatibility mode, which makes it possible to restore BIOS based system recovery points to UEFI based computer.
Regular way to restore BIOS based backup to a UEFI computer
If your UEFI based computer is able to boot into legacy mode, you can follow the steps below to restore or move Windows installation from BIOS to UEFI computer.
1. Create a bare metal backup of the BIOS based computer, and prepare a Windows installation disc or recovery drive.
2. Convert GPT disk to MBR disk.
3. Enable Legacy boot mode. You can consult the manufacturer’s support about how to boot the system into a legacy mode.
4. Insert an installation disc or recovery drive to perform a bare metal system restore.
This will successfully move Windows installation to another computer, but you will lose the advantages of UEFI boot and GPT disk. The destination disk space beyond 2TB will become unusable. If you think this method is too cumbersome or you don’t want give up the benefits of UEFI, you can try another simpler way.
Advanced way to restore computer with UEFI from a BIOS based backup
Qiling Disk Master Professional is specialized backup software designed for Windows 10/8.1/8/7 that can easily restore system from MBR disk to GPT disk and vice verses while ensuring that the destination disk receiving the backup remains bootable. It is convenient, because you don’t have to convert the partition style or change boot mode.
What’s more, you can keep the benifits of UEFI, such as faster boot, Secure Boot, and multicast deployment. Before you start the restore, make sure your system is supported in a UEFI boot computer.
To restore BIOS based system backup to UEFI computer:
1. Download Qiling Disk Master, and use it to create a system backup and a bootable rescue bootable media.
2. Use the bootable media to boot the UEFI computer. In the meantime, make sure the system backup you created is accessible to the target computer. Click Backup and recovery > Browse for recovery.
3. Click to select the image backup file. You can add network location (NAS or shared path) first when necessary.
4. Make sure the Universal Restore option is checked, and click Next to .
5. Select a partition to receive the backup. Note that all the data on the selected partition will be deleted when the restore begins.
6. Preview the restore partitions, and click Proceed to begin the restore.
With Qiling Disk Master, you don’t have to restore BIOS based system recovery points to UEFI based computer to move system to another computer with different firmware, because you can also use System Clone. What's more, Qiling Disk Master allows you to create a recovery environment in which you can perform backup and restore operations without loading Windows.
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