BMR Restore Failure for ReFS Volumes on Windows (2016 - 2025)
During a Bare Metal Restore (BMR) on Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, or 2025, ReFS volumes fail to restore and appear in an "Unformatted" state.
This occurs because no version of ADK/WinPE supports bare‑metal or block‑level restore of ReFS volumes, due to incompatibilities between ReFS versions.
Table:
Windows Version | ReFS Version |
|---|---|
Windows Server 2016 | 3.1 |
Windows Server 2019 | 3.4 |
Windows Server 2022 | 3.7 |
Windows Server2025 | 3.14 |
Table:
Environment | ReFS Version |
|---|---|
SRT / ADK WinPE | 3.9 |
The WinPE ReFS driver (3.9) cannot be downgraded or made backward compatible with OS‑specific ReFS versions (3.1, 3.4, 3.7, 3.14).
Microsoft provides no workaround for this downgrade limitation.
As a result:
Restored ReFS volumes appear Unformatted
The target OS cannot read WinPE‑created ReFS 3.9 metadata
The volume becomes unusable after BMR restore
ReFS versions are not backward compatible at the metadata level.
A lower ReFS driver cannot recreate or replay metadata from a higher version
WinPE's ReFS driver is read‑mostly, not designed for reconstruction
BMR restore requires metadata replay, allocation maps, and integrity stream handling - operations that fail on version mismatch
All combinations below fail due to version mismatch:
Table:
Source Volume (ReFS) | Target OS | WinPE ReFS (3.9) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
3.14 (Windows 2025) | Server 2025 | 3.9 | Fail |
3.7 (Winodws 2022) | Server 2022 | 3.9 | Fail |
3.4 (Winodws 2019) | Server 2019 | 3.9 | Fail |
3.4 (Windows 2016) | Server 2016 | 3.9 | Fail |
WinPE cannot create the required ReFS metadata structures
Version mismatch prevents metadata replay
Restore tools fall back to unsupported APIs
There is no direct solution.
Microsoft has not provided any method to upgrade or downgrade ReFS versions during BMR workflows.
To ensure ReFS volumes are restored with the correct 3.x version matching the original operating system, perform the following steps:
Right‑click the BMR configuration and create a copy using New Client Configuration.
Edit the copied configuration and exclude all ReFS volumes from volume mapping.
Run Prepare to Restore and proceed with the system restore.
After the machine boots into the restored operating system:
Create the ReFS volumes excluded in step 2
Format them using Disk Management or DISKPART
Windows will automatically create the ReFS volume using the correct version for that OS
Verify the ReFS version using: fsutil fsinfo refsinfo <DriveLetter:>
Restore the data for these volumes from Recovery tab in NetBackup Web UI.