How do I do a full system recovery with Rebit?

Note: Should you ever need the information in this section, you won’t have access to it because your computer will be non-functional. Therefore, it is recommended that you print this section and store it with the CD-ROM, DVD or USB drive containing the recovery disk.

Rebit Backup makes it possible to completely recover from a hard disk malfunction by restoring your fully backed-up computer to a new drive or drives. When you replace a malfunctioning hard disk with a new one, you must use a new hard disk that’s at least as large as the original hard disk.

Related: How to create a Rebit recovery disk

If your computer is rendered unusable through loss or damage, you may be able to recover to an identical replacement computer using the procedure described in Overview of the Recovery Procedure, below.

• The replacement computer must be identical the original in every respect, except the main disk drive which must be of equal or greater capacity than the original disk drive.
• In addition, certain security features, such as fingerprint readers, may prevent successful recovery.

Any other differences can cause recovery to fail because of inconsistencies between the hardware and restored software.

If you cannot replace the old computer with an identical one, or if security features interfere with recovery, it is recommended that you instead restore only your data files to the new computer without attempting to recover the entire system.

Overview of the Recovery Procedure

To perform a full system recovery, complete the following steps:

1. Creating a Recovery Disk
2. Recovering your Hard Disk

Recovering Your Hard Disk

Note that wireless connections are not supported during the recovery process.

To perform a full hard disk recovery using the Rebit recovery disk on the CD-ROM, DVD or USB drive, follow these steps:

1. Replace the malfunctioning hard disk with a new hard disk according to the hardware instructions.
2. Insert the full system recovery disk that you made in Creating a Recovery Disk.
   1. If you are using a recovery CD-ROM or DVD disk, turn on the power long enough to open the drive and insert the disk. Close the drive and turn off the power to the computer.
   2. If you are using a recovery USB drive, plug it into the USB drive on your computer.
3. Connect the backup drive to your computer.
   1. If you are using a USB drive, connect the Rebit Backup drive to the computer USB port.
   2. If you are using a network backup drive, connect it to the computer via a network cable.
      Note that wireless connections are not supported during the recovery process.
4. Turn on the power to your computer. The computer should start and boot from the Rebit CD-ROM recovery drive. If it does not, you may need to make changes to the system BIOS to permit booting the computer from the appropriate drive. See the documentation for your computer for detailed instructions on how to do this.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions provided by the recovery software. You must select a recovery point, which is typically the date of the most recent backup. Rebit restores your entire computer onto the new hard disk, exactly as it was at the selected backup time.
   Caution: Do not interrupt the recovery process. It is likely to take several hours. The software will prompt you when your system has been recovered.
6. Once Rebit has recovered your computer on the new hard drive, it will automatically resume continuous backup of your computer.

Restoring to a Larger Drive

During the Full System Recovery process, you have the option of restoring to a drive larger than your original drive.

If you choose to restore to a drive larger than the original drive, keep in mind:

• All NTFS sections with a drive letter assigned are increased proportionally to the size they were on the original drive.
• All non-NTFS sections are preserved in size and copied to the new drive.