In a scenario where a virtual machine has lost its volume or the data has been corrupted, the most optimal restore scenario is to recover the VHD or VHDX file that hosts the volume. System Center Data Protection Manager 2012 R2 makes that possible.

When you want to restore a virtual machine, open the DPM console and go to Recovery. In the Recovery section of the DPM console, choose your virtual machine in the Browse area. Expand the SCVMM "SERVERNAME" and scroll down to the very end, to find your virtual machine disks. On the right-hand side of the DPM console, choose the desired date in the calendar and desired time in the drop-down list next to Recovery time. Under Recoverable items, right click the VHD or VHDX file and choose Recover…; this will trigger the Recovery Wizard.

In the first step, called Review recovery selection, you are provided with the information...