PPDM: ReFS-Formatted VM Drive Shows No Data During Restore

Summary: Restoring a virtual machine (VM) drive formatted with Resilient File System (ReFS) in PowerProtect Data Manager may result in an empty File Level Recovery (FLR) browse window or a corrupted virtual disk. This occurs due to limitations in ReFS support during file-level restores. ...

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Symptoms

  • The FLR browse window appears blank when restoring a VM drive formatted with ReFS.
  • A full VMDK restore results in a RAW disk that prompts for formatting, indicating corruption.

Cause

  • Unsupported File System: PowerProtect Data Manager does not support file-level restores for Windows VMs using ReFS.
  • Mounting Conflicts: Target VMs may fail to mount ReFS drives due to duplicate GUIDs or other OS-level conflicts.

Resolution

Use the Instant Access restore method to mount the VM and manually copy the required data.

This approach bypasses FLR limitations and avoids corruption during VMDK restores. 

Affected Products

PowerProtect Data Manager
Article Properties
Article Number: 000354005
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 29 Oct 2025
Version:  1
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