If we face an issue with Veeam Backup where the Windows recovery image file is not found, we can follow the steps explained in this article. Bobcares, as a part of our Windows Hosting Support offers solutions to every query that comes our way.

Overview

1. Fixing Veeam Backup Issue “Windows Recovery Image File is not Found”
2. Error Causes
3. Error Fixes
4. Troubleshooting Tips
5. Conclusion

Fixing Veeam Backup Issue “Windows Recovery Image File is not Found”

Veeam Backup is a complete data protection and disaster recovery solution for backing up, replicating, and restoring virtual machines (VMs), physical servers, and cloud workloads. It is often used in enterprises of all kinds to assure data availability and reduce downtime.

Veeam Backup Features

Some of the features of the Veeam Backup are as follows:

1. Full, Incremental, and Differential Backups: Veeam can perform different types of backups, including full backups (entire data set), incremental (only changes since the last backup), and differential (changes since the last full backup).

2. Fast Recovery: Veeam allows quick restoration of entire VMs, individual files, applications, and even specific data from backups.

3. VM Replication: Veeam replicates VMs from a production site to a backup site, enabling fast recovery of services in case of disaster.

4. Failover & Failback: It also supports failover to a backup site and failback to the original site when the primary system is restored.

5. Instant VM Recovery: Veeam enables the immediate recovery of a failed VM by running it directly from a backup file, reducing downtime significantly.

6. Backup to Cloud: Veeam supports backing up data to cloud storage (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).

7. Disaster Recovery in the Cloud: It facilitates disaster recovery plans involving cloud environments.

8. Application-Aware Processing: I also ensures consistent backups of applications like Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, Active Directory, and Oracle by understanding the internal structure of the applications.

9. Granular File and Item Recovery: The Backup allows recovery of individual files or items (like emails) from a backup without having to restore the entire VM or system.

10. Data Encryption: Veeam protects backups with encryption both at rest (on disk) and in transit (over the network) to ensure data security.

11. Monitoring & Reporting: Veeam provides detailed monitoring, alerting, and reporting capabilities to help manage backup operations and ensure compliance with SLAs (Service Level Agreements).

What does the Error means?

The “Windows recovery image file not found” error means that Veeam Backup can’t find the necessary recovery image during the restoration process. This can occur when using Veeam Backup in a variety of settings. This usually occurs during the backup, restore, or recovery operations when Veeam interacts with a Windows-based system.

Error Causes

1. Missing or Corrupted Recovery Partition: When the recovery partition was not backed up properly or was excluded from the backup job configuration.

2. Veeam backup job is set to back up only specific partitions and excludes the recovery partition, this error may occur during recovery.

3. The recovery image may have been destroyed, damaged, or transferred after the backup was produced, causing this error on restore.

4. Veeam may fail to locate the recovery image if the destination disk does not match the layout associated with the recovery image.

5. Incompatibility between Veeam Agent and Windows versions, or a Veeam Agent problem.

6. Backup data may have become damaged as a result of backup difficulties, storage problems, or transmission faults.

7. Users may mistakenly remove or edit the recovery partition, resulting in the loss of the recovery image during backup or recovery.

8. Veeam relies on the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), which itself is based on the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE).

9. If the system is missing the necessary Windows PE/RE files, the creation of Veeam Recovery Media will fail.

Error Fixes

1. Prepare the Image File

1. Mount the Windows Installation ISO or insert the installation media.

2. Look inside the “sources” folder on the media.

3. If we see install.wim, skip to next part. If we see install.esd, extract install.wim using the DISM tool.

2. Check for Recovery Partition

1. Open Command Prompt: Run it as an administrator.

2. Use Diskpart to Check:

List disks: list disk

Select the OS disk (usually Disk 0): select disk 0

List partitions: list part

3. Recovery Image Handling

Based on whether the Recovery Partition is present:

1. If the Recovery Partition exists, update it with the new recovery image.

2. If there’s no Recovery Partition, create a new one and store the recovery image there.

3. If we don’t want a Recovery Partition, place the recovery image on the OS volume.

Troubleshooting Tips

1. Check that the recovery partition is present in the backup and not corrupted. Ensure that the partition is appropriately recognized by the operating system.

2. Check the backup job parameters to make sure that all relevant partitions, including the recovery partition, are chosen for backup.

3. Check the backup files’ integrity and whether the recovery image is available. If the picture is missing, consider generating a backup.

4. Check that the target disk’s partition structure corresponds to the source disk from the original backup. Change the disk setup if necessary.

5. Update Veeam Agent to the most recent version and verify compatibility with the Windows OS version. Reconfigure the agent if needed.

6. Verify the integrity of backup files using Veeam’s built-in tools, or try to restore from a different source.

7. Educate users on the value of the recovery partition and make sure it is safe from mistaken revisions.

[Want to learn more? Click here to reach us.]

Conclusion

In summary, the “Veeam Backup Windows Recovery Image File Not Found” error occurs when Veeam cannot locate the required recovery image during restoration due to missing or inaccessible Windows Recovery Environment files. By preparing the necessary files and checking the system’s disk configuration, we can resolve the issue and successfully create or update the Veeam Recovery Media.

Here, our Experts went over the troubleshooting tips for the issue in detail.