I restored the original C: drive from back-up using this method, with a back-up from 9/10/2022.
How to Recover Server 2016 from a System Image Backup if Windows Fails to Boot Normally. (Offline Method)
The online method of restore took almost two hours to tell me that it had failed, and it would not restore EFI System along with the C: Partition. The offline method allowed me to restore the C: partition and the two hidden partitions (EFI System Partition, Recovery Partition)
My Windows 2016 Server menu has returned.
I only have to allow WS2016 to re-install the back-updates.
With Windows back-up, it doesn't save duplicates, but only one incarnation of a file then places markers where there were changes. In essence, the restoration of the C; drive should be as good as what is found on the installation disk.
I am using Windows 2016 Standard with The Essentials Experience installed. My prior server software experience was Windows Home Server 2011 (Modified Server 2008 R2). It does almost everything automatically.
I spent at least a week, looking up all of the permission requirements and correct settings I needed for Windows Server 2016 Standard. I could have gone with Windows Server Essentials 2016 but it has a limitation of 64GB of RAM. Windows 10's RAM limit is much higher than that.
Windows Server 2016 Standard was a rather steep learning curve, to say the least.
