I'm running Windows 7 x64. My Windows OS drive is bitlocker encrypted. I have a Complete PC Backup of the OS drive on a secondary drive also bitlocker encrypted. I want to replace the OS drive with a large one and then do a Complete PC Restore from the backup on the secondary bitlocker encrypted drive. What is the correct procedure to do this restore from the image on the bitlocker encrypted backup drive?

If you replace the hard drive, you may not be able to restore with the image. Because the hardware information is already changed. I suggest:1. Backup your user profile with Easy Transfer, then reinstall and restore the profile after installation with Easy Transfer.Explore the features: Windows Easy Transfer 2. Use USMT to backup and restore user profile.User State Migration Tool 4.0 User's Guide3. Refer the following article to deploy the system with the image you saved.Step-by-Step: Basic Windows Deployment for IT ProfessionalsArthur Xie - MSFT

If you replace the hard drive, you may not be able to restore with the image. Because the hardware information is already changed.Isn't the whole point of the 'Complete PC Backup' so that you can restore it in the case of hardware failure (such as the hard drive dying)? It seems odd that I would not be able to do the system restore on a new drive.

I am not sure if there is an easier way of doing this, however this is how I would acomplish it...Hmm... either you are the same person who replied to my cross post on SuperUser or you copied the answer from there. Either way I hope to try this in the next day or two. I'll post back if I was successful.

The image is for a hard drive, but not for Operation System. Therefore you cannot restore it to a different hard drive.Arthur Xie - MSFT