A process and system are provided for placing recovery markers on a bone, prior to surgery, at locations that permit the bone to be re-registered within a desired degree of accuracy. The process includes installing a first recovery marker on the bone, and digitizing a first position with a digitizer probe having a probe tip. Subsequently, a user navigates along a surface of the bone with the probe tip to place a second recovery marker on the bone. A processor calculates a distance between the first recovery marker and the probe tip, and notifies a user when the processor calculates that a probe tip position is at or beyond a pre-determined distance from the first recovery marker. A second recovery marker is installed on the bone at or beyond the pre-determined distance, and is digitized to permit bone re-registration using the first recovery marker and the second recovery marker.
