OPBS — Open Pickle Backup System

kelper · Friday at 1:10 PM

E:\OPBS>e:\opbs\node.exe e:\opbs\winpe-entry.js wizard
================================================================
OPBS Recovery Wizard
Restore a backup image onto a disk, step by step.
================================================================

[1/4] Select the backup image
Scanning drives for backup images (.opbs/.mrimgx/.mrimg, this can take a moment)...

Found 1 image(s):
1) F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs 46.8 GB 2026-10-29 20:08

Enter a number, a path to an image file (.opbs/.mrimgx/.mrimg) or a backup folder,
(r) rescan, (q) quit.
Image > 1
[2026-10-31T00:58:07.973Z] [INFO] detectPartitionFilesystem: partition 0 size=314572800 OEM="MSDOS5.0"
[2026-10-31T00:58:07.983Z] [INFO] detectPartitionFilesystem: partition 1 size=16777216 OEM="PcFP"
[2026-10-31T00:58:07.995Z] [INFO] detectPartitionFilesystem: partition 2 size=139720654848 OEM="NTFS "
[2026-10-31T00:58:08.002Z] [INFO] detectPartitionFilesystem: partition 3 size=1153433600 OEM="NTFS "

Selected: F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs
Size : 132 GB
Partitions: 0 - 300 MB (FAT32), 1 - 16.0 MB (PcFP), 2 - 130 GB (NTFS), 3 - 1.1 GB (NTFS)
Source : G932EQM 1T / 0000_0000_0000_0000_0C82_D5

[2/4] Choose the target disk

# Size Model Serial
------------------------------------------------------------
0 954 GB G932EQM 1T 0000_0000_0000_0000_0C82_D594_0003_5620.
1 14.3 GB Ultra Fit 0501782fedd42ae719f8
2 119 GB N520 SDAPNUW-128 0000000000000000

WARNING: everything on the selected disk will be overwritten.
Disk > 0
Partitions currently on disk 0:
0) 300 MB Unknown "Partition 0"
1) 16.0 MB Unknown "Partition 1"
2) 130 GB Unknown "Partition 2"
3) 1.1 GB Unknown "Partition 3"
4) 822 GB Unknown "Partition 4"

Restore [w] whole disk (recommended), [p] specific partitions, or (q) quit.
Mode > w

[3/4] Options
Verify the image before writing? [Y/n] > n
Clear free space after restore? (zeroes blocks not in the image - much slower) [Y/n] > n

[4/4] Review and confirm

Image : F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs
Partitions: 0, 1, 2, 3 (all image partitions)
Target : disk 0 - G932EQM 1T (954 GB)
Overwrite : ALL current data on disk 0
Verify : no
Clear free: no

Validating the plan (preflight — nothing is written)...
[2026-10-31T00:58:47.276Z] [INFO] Restore chain resolved: F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs

Image: F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs
Verify before write: no
Target partitions: disk 0 part 0 @1.0 MB, disk 0 part 1 @301.0 MB, disk 0 part 2 @317.0 MB, disk 0 part 3 @130.4 GB
Partition table: keep existing (no layout change)

Type RESTORE to start the restore, anything else to cancel.
Confirm > RESTORE

Starting restore — do not power off this machine.
[2026-10-31T00:59:09.388Z] [INFO] Restore chain resolved: F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs

Restore FAILED: Cannot lock Partition 2 for writing — the volume is still in use in this environment (open files, chkdsk/autochk, or a mounted filesystem) or is BitLocker-encrypted and locked here. Nothing has been written to the disk. Close files on the volume and retry; check `manage-bde -status` and unlock or suspend BitLocker if the volume shows "Protection On".

bobeeire · Friday at 8:41 PM

Chrysalis said:
It works fine both images and file and folder, I have used it multiple times already on Windows 11 (with the driver blacklist enabled).

Its only the mount feature, which to be honest I have never used or found value in it.

You effectively get a soft mount when doing a restore, where you can choose to restore specific files. So if your intent is e.g. to restore 1 file, you can do that absolutely fine.

My only warning though, and I dont know why this only happened on my desktop and not on my laptop, is when I restored some data inside the user profile location (backed up from 10 installation, restored to 11 installation so different internal user id), and had restore NTFS permissions selected, it actually changed the ownership of the entire user folder, ironically I used Macrium to restore the entire C: partition to get rid of the mess, although I know could have fixed it manually, its a fairly new install of 11, and I didnt want a scuffed permission ACL set on the folder.
So probably best to untick the ntfs permissions box if the backup was made on a different OS installation.

Its also trivial to disable the driver blacklist temporarily if you find yourself for some reason desperate to do a macrium mount.

Thanks for the detailed answer — especially the Ver 8 confirmation, that settles the question I asked.

The permissions warning is a really valuable catch, and worth spelling out for anyone reading: a Windows 10 installation and a Windows 11 installation don't share SIDs for the same account name. If a restore copies the NTFS descriptors along with the files, the destination folder ends up owned by a SID that doesn't exist on the target system — which is how an entire user profile can change hands from a single restore. It's a property of carrying ACLs between installations rather than a fault in one particular tool, so your advice to untick "restore NTFS permissions" for a cross-installation restore is the right call.

For what it's worth, here's how OPBS behaves in the three cases, since people will wonder:

Extracting individual files copies the contents and alternate data streams only — no security descriptors. The extracted files are new files that inherit the destination folder's permissions and owner, so that trap can't happen there. (The flip side: you don't get the original timestamps or permissions on the extracted copies.)
Restoring a partition writes raw blocks, so the filesystem's permissions travel exactly as captured — the same caveat you described applies to us and to any imaging tool.
Moving a profile to a new installation is what our migrate command is for: it maps the source account to the target one and rewrites the owner on the copied folders, precisely so no foreign SIDs are left behind.
Your "soft mount" point is right too — when you only want one file back, a file-level restore is exactly the tool for it. OPBS can list and extract files from an image without restoring anything first, which is the same idea with fewer steps.

And thanks for the blocklist tip. Since this thread is about mounts: OPBS mounts an image partition read-only through WinFsp rather than a kernel filter driver, so the driver blocklist doesn't come into it — that may be useful for anyone who wants an Explorer-visible mount here without touching the blocklist.

bobeeire · 2026-10-31T05:48:11-0400

kelper said:
E:\OPBS>e:\opbs\node.exe e:\opbs\winpe-entry.js wizard
================================================================
OPBS Recovery Wizard
Restore a backup image onto a disk, step by step.
================================================================

[1/4] Select the backup image
Scanning drives for backup images (.opbs/.mrimgx/.mrimg, this can take a moment)...

Found 1 image(s):
1) F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs 46.8 GB 2026-10-29 20:08

Enter a number, a path to an image file (.opbs/.mrimgx/.mrimg) or a backup folder,
(r) rescan, (q) quit.
Image > 1
[2026-10-31T00:58:07.973Z] [INFO] detectPartitionFilesystem: partition 0 size=314572800 OEM="MSDOS5.0"
[2026-10-31T00:58:07.983Z] [INFO] detectPartitionFilesystem: partition 1 size=16777216 OEM="PcFP"
[2026-10-31T00:58:07.995Z] [INFO] detectPartitionFilesystem: partition 2 size=139720654848 OEM="NTFS "
[2026-10-31T00:58:08.002Z] [INFO] detectPartitionFilesystem: partition 3 size=1153433600 OEM="NTFS "

Selected: F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs
Size : 132 GB
Partitions: 0 - 300 MB (FAT32), 1 - 16.0 MB (PcFP), 2 - 130 GB (NTFS), 3 - 1.1 GB (NTFS)
Source : G932EQM 1T / 0000_0000_0000_0000_0C82_D5

[2/4] Choose the target disk

# Size Model Serial
------------------------------------------------------------
0 954 GB G932EQM 1T 0000_0000_0000_0000_0C82_D594_0003_5620.
1 14.3 GB Ultra Fit 0501782fedd42ae719f8
2 119 GB N520 SDAPNUW-128 0000000000000000

WARNING: everything on the selected disk will be overwritten.
Disk > 0
Partitions currently on disk 0:
0) 300 MB Unknown "Partition 0"
1) 16.0 MB Unknown "Partition 1"
2) 130 GB Unknown "Partition 2"
3) 1.1 GB Unknown "Partition 3"
4) 822 GB Unknown "Partition 4"

Restore [w] whole disk (recommended), [p] specific partitions, or (q) quit.
Mode > w

[3/4] Options
Verify the image before writing? [Y/n] > n
Clear free space after restore? (zeroes blocks not in the image - much slower) [Y/n] > n

[4/4] Review and confirm

Image : F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs
Partitions: 0, 1, 2, 3 (all image partitions)
Target : disk 0 - G932EQM 1T (954 GB)
Overwrite : ALL current data on disk 0
Verify : no
Clear free: no

Validating the plan (preflight — nothing is written)...
[2026-10-31T00:58:47.276Z] [INFO] Restore chain resolved: F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs

Image: F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs
Verify before write: no
Target partitions: disk 0 part 0 @1.0 MB, disk 0 part 1 @301.0 MB, disk 0 part 2 @317.0 MB, disk 0 part 3 @130.4 GB
Partition table: keep existing (no layout change)

Type RESTORE to start the restore, anything else to cancel.
Confirm > RESTORE

Starting restore — do not power off this machine.
[2026-10-31T00:59:09.388Z] [INFO] Restore chain resolved: F:\opbs-disk0-2026-10-29T19-54-20.opbs

Restore FAILED: Cannot lock Partition 2 for writing — the volume is still in use in this environment (open files, chkdsk/autochk, or a mounted filesystem) or is BitLocker-encrypted and locked here. Nothing has been written to the disk. Close files on the volume and retry; check `manage-bde -status` and unlock or suspend BitLocker if the volume shows "Protection On".

OPBS 0.6.94 is out, and it contains fixes for both things you hit:

**1. "Image file does not exist: E:\…"** — the staged restore wrote down where the image was as a drive-letter path, and the recovery environment re-letters volumes (exactly what you noticed: E:there is what Windows callsG:`). The staged restore now records where the image lives on its volume (path + file size) and finds it again on whichever letter it has now — it only accepts a size-matched copy, so a same-named file elsewhere can't be picked up by accident.

2. "Cannot lock Partition 2 for writing" — the restore now waits longer for a busy volume, and if something still holds it, it forces the filesystem off the volume instead of refusing. A volume that is mounted read-only (the "Access is denied" writes you saw) can be taken too. And if it genuinely cannot, the error now says which step failed and the Windows error code instead of only "in use" — so a repeat report will be diagnostic rather than mysterious.

Also a small quality-of-life thing from your session: the recovery media used to drop to a black screen after the wizard finished (and Shift+F10 is a Windows Setup gesture that plain WinPE never had). It now leaves a command prompt open for manual work — test-vhd.cmd, diskpart, copying files out — and you type exit or wpeutil shutdown when done.

To pick this up: update OPBS (the updater will see 0.6.94, or grab it from the releases page), then re-stage the restore from the Restore page — that regenerates both the config and the rescue payload with the fixes. The wizard path (winpe-entry.js wizard) also works, and it now keeps a prompt behind afterwards.

One question that still interests us, since your failure was reproducible: when that run failed, had you booted from the USB stick, or through the OPBS "restore after reboot" entry? The second one boots Windows PE from a copy of winre.wim that lives on C:, and that keeps the volume busy for the whole session — which would explain your symptom exactly. If it recurs anyway, the new error line is all we'll need.

kelper · 2026-10-31T06:05:48-0400

The last 'log' is running from within Windows.

kelper · 2026-10-31T06:18:51-0400

I'm testing now. This dialogue could be rephrased as a choice. It's a bit ambiguous with the new option.

kelper · 2026-10-31T06:31:43-0400

It is restoring! At this stage some feedback would be good - a progress bar or estimated time to completion.

kelper · 2026-10-31T06:48:58-0400

The time stamp in my last screenshot is in the future?

kelper · 2026-10-31T07:23:26-0400

I made a two partition rescue USB SSD, but where is the 'Next' button?

bobeeire · 2026-10-31T08:54:23-0400

kelper said:
I made a two partition rescue USB SSD, but where is the 'Next' button?

View attachment 188411 View attachment 188411

Good news first: your 119 GB SSD is exactly the drive this feature exists for — the old single-partition build refuses anything over 32 GB ("too large for FAT32"), while the two-partition layout only puts a small FAT32 boot partition on it and uses the rest as NTFS. So it working on that SSD is the feature doing its job.

"Where is the Next button?" — there wasn't one, and that's on us: the screen ended in "Create USB Drive" with no indication of what to do next. It now ends properly — the success panel lists the next steps and the buttons become Rebuild the media / Done. For the stick you just built:

Unplug it and boot the machine you want to restore from it (firmware boot menu, or Boot from file → \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI).
In the recovery environment the stick is the volume labelled OPBS-BOOT (the other one, OPBS-DATA, is your images) — run the restore from the wizard it starts.
And a bug in that same screen: the drive picker — and the erase checkbox — said "TOO LARGE FOR FAT32 (>32 GB)" next to your SSD even with the two-partition layout selected. That warning only applies to the single-partition build; with the dual layout it's flatly wrong (as your successful build just proved). It's now dropped in dual mode.

From your previous message, all three points are also fixed:

The system-disk dialogue is now a choice: Restore after reboot into recovery… (recommended), Boot from recovery media instead (expands the three steps), or Choose a different target — instead of a statement with one button hanging off it.
Restore progress: worse than missing — when the restore runs from the recovery environment it runs in-process and its progress was going to internal plumbing rather than the screen, so the console sat blank for the whole write. It now prints [writing] 42% Partition 2 3.1 GB at 85 MB/s, refreshed in place. Time-remaining is deliberately not shown yet — I'd rather add it once the number is trustworthy than show one that jumps around.
The timestamp looked like the future: the log stamped lines with Z, claiming UTC, but the recovery environment has no clock sync — it logs whatever the machine's hardware clock says — so it came out shifted against the clock you were reading. Logs now use local wall-clock time, same as the app's own log.
Everything above is in the next build; the stick you just made works as it is.

kelper · 2026-10-31T09:10:29-0400

Why does the booted version not offer to do a backup. Why do I need the Bit locker stuff in a backup? Why is the default PE partition so big?

kelper · 2026-10-31T12:24:07-0400

Scott said:
Here's how: select Create Backups>Image selected disks on this computer.
By default it will select all disks. De-select disks you don't want to back up.
Select the disk you want to backup and select all partitions, or just the ones you want.
Type in your backup name and Finish.

View attachment 188434

I was discussing OPBS with its author, not Macrium Reflect!

bobeeire · 2026-10-31T14:06:19-0400

kelper said:
Why does the booted version not offer to do a backup. Why do I need the Bit locker stuff in a backup? Why is the default PE partition so big?

Three fair questions — here's each one, and all three are now changed.

1. "Why does the booted version not offer to do a backup?" Because it booted straight into the restore wizard — the command line could always back up from the media (that's how our own test harness writes an image from the stick), but nothing offered it to you. The media now opens with a menu:

What would you like to do?
[1] Restore this machine from a backup image
[2] Back up this machine (save an image before reinstalling)
[3] Command prompt
The backup side is deliberately hard to get wrong in a rescue situation: pick a disk (whole disk by default), pick a destination volume — it shows the free space on each — then compression, verify and used-blocks options, and it asks you to type BACKUP before anything is written. Nothing on the source disk is touched.

2. "Why do I need the BitLocker stuff in a backup?" You don't — and it shouldn't have been in your face. It's a safety net for one case only: if a volume you're backing up is BitLocker-encrypted, the image contains ciphertext, so without the recovery key you can be locked out of your own backup after a restore. OPBS can store that key with the backup (encrypted), which is what the option is for. On a machine with no BitLocker volumes it was pure noise — it now only appears when there's actually something to unlock or store, and the "no action needed" lines are gone.

3. "Why is the default PE partition so big?" No good reason — you're right. The media is about 700 MB (the boot image plus the OPBS payload), and the default was 4 GiB, which wasted half of a small stick on a partition that couldn't use it. The default is now 2 GiB (still adjustable, 1–32 GiB), leaving the rest for your images.

All three are in the next build. The stick you already made works fine as it is — only a new dual-partition build gets the smaller default.

kelper · 2026-10-31T14:27:47-0400

Brilliant feedback as always - many thanks.

Ghot · 2026-10-31T14:49:35-0400

@kelper

The MR User Guides for... Reflect X (online), and MR version 8.0 (PDF), can be found here...

Macrium Reflect, AOMEI Backupper and Hasleo Backup Suite - GUIDES

How to use backup software... 1. When everything is working perfectly... make a full Windows backup. 2. Then, if something breaks... restore from the latest backup. 3. Then... try "whatever you were doing" a different way. If it still breaks Windows, then... go to step #2. 4. Repeat...

www.elevenforum.com

kelper · 2026-10-31T14:53:58-0400

Ghot said:
@kelper

The MR User Guides for Reflect X (online), and MR version 8.0 (PDF), can be found here...

Macrium Reflect, AOMEI Backupper and Hasleo Backup Suite - GUIDES

How to use backup software... 1. When everything is working perfectly... make a full Windows backup. 2. Then, if something breaks... restore from the latest backup. 3. Then... try "whatever you were doing" a different way. If it still breaks Windows, then... go to step #2. 4. Repeat...

www.elevenforum.com

I do not need it. I was talking about OPBS, not Macrium Reflect. But thanks anyway.

Ghot · 2026-10-31T14:54:50-0400

kelper said:
I do not need it. I was talking about OPBS, not Macrium Reflect. But thanks anyway.

Well, I guess the topic title, fooled me.

kelper · 2026-10-31T14:58:39-0400

Ghot said:
Well, I guess the topic title, fooled me.

Yeah, perhaps all my waffle should be in its own thread. We are a bit off topic.

Ghot · 2026-10-31T15:00:05-0400

kelper said:
Yeah, perhaps all my waffle should be in its own thread. We are a bit off topic.

No, I didn't mean that.
I didn't read all four pages of this topic, or I probably would have noticed that.

kelper · 2026-10-31T15:06:42-0400

Ghot said:
No, I didn't mean that.
I didn't read all four pages of this topic, or I probably would have noticed that.

You, sir, are a real gentleman.

kelper · 2026-11-01T03:02:11-0500

I have been testing 0.6.97. I successfully built two-partition rescue media on my 16GB UFD and on my 120GB USB SSD.
I booted into the PE on the USB SSD and started a backup. But it could not find the partition on my rescue media. Diskpart confirmed that the NTFS partition on the SSD was visible.

OPBS Recovery - back up this computer
================================================

Writes an image of a disk to another drive. Nothing on the source
disk is changed - use this to save a machine before reinstalling.

[1/3] What to back up
Disks:
0) 954 GB G932EQM 1T 0000_0000_0000_0000_0C82_D594_0003_5620.
1) 119 GB N520 SDAPNUW-128 0000000000000000

Source disk > 0
Partitions on disk 0:
0) 300 MB Unknown "Partition 0"
1) 16.0 MB Unknown "Partition 1"
2) 130 GB Unknown "Partition 2"
3) 1.1 GB Unknown "Partition 3"
4) 822 GB Unknown "Partition 4"

Back up [w] whole disk (recommended), [p] specific partitions, or (q) quit.
Mode > 0,1,2,3
Enter w or p.

Back up [w] whole disk (recommended), [p] specific partitions, or (q) quit.
Mode > p
Partitions > 0,1,2,3

[2/3] Where to write the image
[2026-11-01 07:34:48.931] [WARN] Drive enumeration failed: spawnSync powershell.exe ENOENT
No destination volume found (plug in a USB drive or another disk).

The wizard ended with code 1

OPBS — Open Pickle Backup System

OPBS — Open Pickle Backup System​

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