diff --git a/demo/driver.py b/demo/driver.py
index 4df1bf2..60dde4f 100644
--- a/demo/driver.py
+++ b/demo/driver.py
@@ -16,6 +16,17 @@ CYAN, GREEN, RED, YEL, MAG = "\033[36m", "\033[32m", "\033[31m", "\033[33m", "\0
 SPEED = float(os.environ.get("DEMO_SPEED", "1.0"))
 
 
+
+def recovered_bytes(rec: dict) -> bytes:
+    """zerto_recover_file returns the content now, not a path on the MCP host.
+
+    The server may be on another machine, so a path there is of no use here.
+    """
+    import base64
+    if rec.get("encoding") == "base64":
+        return base64.b64decode(rec["content"])
+    return rec["content"].encode()
+
 def w(s=""):
     sys.stdout.write(s + "\n"); sys.stdout.flush()
 
@@ -212,8 +223,8 @@ async def main():
             if not rec.get("ok"):
                 w(f"{RED}  FLR failed{RST}"); return 1
             beat(1.5)
-            w(f"{YEL}  $ cat {rec['path']}{RST}")
-            body = Path(rec["path"]).read_text()
+            w(f"{YEL}  recovered {rec['bytes']} bytes, sha256 {rec['sha256'][:16]}...{RST}")
+            body = recovered_bytes(rec).decode()
             for line in body.splitlines():
                 w(f"{GREEN}{BOLD}  | {line}{RST}")
             beat(2.5)
@@ -222,11 +233,13 @@ async def main():
             step("Copy it back to the guest")
             note("This part is scp, not Zerto. Zerto got the bytes back.")
             target = f"{CFG['user']}@{CFG['host']}"
+            local_copy = SP / rec["name"]
+            local_copy.write_bytes(recovered_bytes(rec))
             scp = (["sshpass", "-p", CFG["password"]] if CFG.get("password") else []) + \
                   ["scp", "-o", "StrictHostKeyChecking=no", "-o", "UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null",
                    "-o", "LogLevel=ERROR"] + (["-i", CFG["key"]] if CFG.get("key") else []) + \
-                  [rec["path"], f"{target}:{CFG['guest_path']}"]
-            w(f"{YEL}  $ scp {Path(rec['path']).name} {target}:{CFG['guest_path']}{RST}")
+                  [str(local_copy), f"{target}:{CFG['guest_path']}"]
+            w(f"{YEL}  $ scp {rec['name']} {target}:{CFG['guest_path']}{RST}")
             subprocess.run(scp, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=60)
             guest(f"cat {CFG['guest_path']}")
             beat(1.5)
diff --git a/demo/windows_driver.py b/demo/windows_driver.py
index 2233b69..b89ae24 100644
--- a/demo/windows_driver.py
+++ b/demo/windows_driver.py
@@ -22,6 +22,17 @@ T0 = time.time()
 STEP = [0]
 
 
+
+def recovered_bytes(rec: dict) -> bytes:
+    """zerto_recover_file returns the content now, not a path on the MCP host.
+
+    The server may be on another machine, so a path there is of no use here.
+    """
+    import base64
+    if rec.get("encoding") == "base64":
+        return base64.b64decode(rec["content"])
+    return rec["content"].encode()
+
 def w(s=""):
     sys.stdout.write(s + "\n"); sys.stdout.flush()
 
@@ -155,7 +166,7 @@ async def main():
             show(rec, keep=["ok", "bytes", "flr_path", "unmount"])
             if not rec.get("ok"):
                 w(f"{RED}  FLR failed{RST}"); return 1
-            body = Path(rec["path"]).read_text()
+            body = recovered_bytes(rec).decode()
             w(f"{YEL}  recovered file:{RST}")
             for line in body.splitlines():
                 w(f"{GREEN}{BOLD}  | {line}{RST}")
@@ -166,7 +177,7 @@ async def main():
             # endings and appends one, which makes the restored file differ
             # from what Zerto handed back. WriteAllBytes does not.
             import base64
-            blob = Path(rec["path"]).read_bytes()
+            blob = recovered_bytes(rec)
             b64 = base64.b64encode(blob).decode()
             guest_ps(
                 f"[IO.File]::WriteAllBytes('{CFG['guest_path']}',"