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3.7 Acronis Universal Restore
3.7.1 Acronis Universal Restore purpose
A system disk image can be deployed easily on the hardware where it was created or to
identical hardware. However, if you change a motherboard or use another processor
version — a likely possibility in case of hardware failure — the restored system could be
unbootable. An attempt to transfer the system to a new, much more powerful computer
will usually produce the same unbootable result because the new hardware is
incompatible with the most critical drivers included in the image.
Using Microsoft System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) does not solve this problem, because
Sysprep permits replacing drivers only for Plug-and-Play devices (sound cards, network
adapters, video cards etc.). As for system Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and mass
storage device drivers, they must be identical on the source and the target computers
(see Microsoft Knowledge Base, articles 302577 and 216915).
Acronis Universal Restore technology provides an efficient solution for hardware-
independent system restoration by replacing the crucial Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)
and mass storage device drivers.
Acronis Universal Restore is applicable for:
1. Instant recovery of a failed system on different hardware
2. Hardware-independent cloning and deployment of operating systems
3. Real-to-virtual and virtual-to-real computer migration for system recovery, test and
other purposes.
3.7.2 Acronis Universal Restore general principles
1. Automatic HAL and mass storage drivers selection
Acronis Universal Restore searches the Windows default driver storage folders (in the
image being restored) for HAL and mass storage device drivers and installs drivers that
better fit the target hardware. You can specify a custom driver repository (a folder or
folders on a network drive or CD) which will also be used for drivers search.
The Windows default driver storage folder is determined in the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current version\DevicePath. This
storage folder is usually WINDOWS/inf.
2. Manual selection of mass storage device driver
If the target hardware has a specific mass storage controller (such as a SCSI, RAID, or
Fibre Channel adapter) for the hard disk, you can install the appropriate driver manually,
bypassing the automatic driver search-and-install procedure.
3. Installing drivers for plug and play devices
Acronis Universal Restore relies on built-in plug and play discovery and configuration
process to handle hardware differences in devices that are not critical for the system
start, such as video, audio and USB. Windows takes control over this process during the
logon phase, and if some of the new hardware is not detected, you will have a chance to
install drivers for it later manually.
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