Reinstalling Windows 10 on Fusion 12.2.3 and recovery of ImageBackup

[PhilAussie]

Running MacBook Pro under Monterey 12.3.1 Had Windows 10 Pro successfully running under Fusion 12.2.3. I backed up all data on Windows to Onecloud and did a Image Backup of Windows.

Then had the original 500Gb hard disk, on the Mac, replaced with 4Tb.

Changeover of hard disk by Apple lost Fusion and Windows 10. Apple said if I had product key, to the lost Windows 10, I could use it to re-install Windows. But after 7 years, could find it, not likely!

So, re-purchased Windows 10. Successfully re-created Fusion 12.2.3. Successfully used new Windows 10 ISO file to create Windows 10. Successfully retrieved user data from Onecloud.

BUT - when trying to use the Windows 10 image Backup (to get programs I had under old Windows 10) there is a problem. Apparently Windows image backup is created using Legacy Bios. When Windows 10 is created under Fusion it uses UEFI Bios. When installing the Windows 10 ISO, there is an option to use an "Easy Install" or not. If you choose not to use "Easy Install", you can select the boot firmware, and I chose Legacy Bios instead of the other option which was UEFI. See attachment.

So I thought all would be good when I tried to recover the image backup.

But it wasn't. When Windows 10 runs under Fusion, it seems to run under UEFI still.

So further digging lead me to Fusion 12.2.3 HELP (at the top of screen) and it has the following:

"Configure a Firmware Type

You can select the firmware type of a virtual machine.

The following firmware types are available depending on the guest operating system.

Option

Description

UEFI	Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is an interface between the operating system and the platform firmware. UEFI has architectural advantages over Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) firmware.
Legacy BIOS	Standard BIOS firmware.

If you select UEFI, depending on the guest operating system, you might have the option of enabling UEFI Secure Boot. UEFI Secure Boot secures the boot process by preventing the loading of drivers and operating system loaders that are not signed with an acceptable digital signature.

Procedure

1	Select Window > Virtual Machine Library.
2	Select a virtual machine in the Virtual Machine Library window and click Settings.
3	Under Other in the Settings window, click Advanced.
4	Select an option from the Firmware type menu. If the firmware type is not selectable, look for an explanation and, possibly, instructions at the bottom of the dialog box. Note ■ Once a guest operating system is installed, changing the firmware type might cause the virtual machine boot process to fail. ■ If virtualization-based security (VBS) is enabled, the firmware type is set to UEFI and cannot be edited.

When you start the virtual machine, it boots with the selected firmware configuration."

but the Firmware menu described above is not displayed and I don't know whether it would have worked or not.

So can anyone help me with my problem or suggest a work around for a person with basic competence in computers?