Contents

  1. Critical Alerts
  2. Physical Drive Inventory
  3. Drive Usage & Hotspots
  4. Performance Benchmarks
  5. Macrium Backup Images (.mrimg)
  6. Folder-Based Backups
  7. Recovery Options for Unmountable .mrimg Files
  8. Deduplication & Organization Findings
  9. Action Plan
  10. Ready-to-Run Commands
1 — Critical Alerts
C: Drive (SK hynix BC711) — PREDICTIVE FAILURE Disk 3 (NVMe SK hynix BC711 HFM512GD3JX013N, 512GB, hosts the Windows system drive C:) has reported HealthStatus: Warning / OperationalStatus: Predictive Failure via SMART. This drive is likely to fail imminently. Clone or replace before any other action. C: is currently 374.8 GB used of 476.2 GB — everything on it is at risk.
5 of 7 Macrium .mrimg images are unmountable with current tooling ReflectBin.exe (shipped with current Macrium Reflect installation) returns Exit Code 2 on all pre-2025 images. These images were created with an older version of Macrium Reflect and cannot be mounted or restored without version-matched tooling. See Section 7 for recovery options.
Disk 4 (Kingston SNV2S 1TB NVMe) has no drive letter assigned A healthy 1TB NVMe drive is installed but not visible in Windows Explorer. It has no partition or drive letter. Either unpartitioned or a raw disk. Assign it if storage is needed — free capacity is not accessible right now.
OneDrive is being backed up inside every .mrimg — inflating backup sizes by ~550 GB per image OneDrive (612 GB on C:) is cloud-synced data and does not need to be captured in a local disk image. Excluding it from future Macrium backup jobs would cut each image's restore-size by ~550 GB and meaningfully reduce compressed image file sizes. This is the single highest-leverage backup hygiene fix.
2 — Physical Drive Inventory
Disk # Model Interface Capacity Drive Letter Role SMART Health
Disk 3 SK hynix BC711 HFM512GD3JX013N NVMe PCIe 512 GB C: Windows System Drive Predictive Failure
Disk 1 SOLIDIGM SSDPFKNU512GZH NVMe PCIe 512 GB None (NixOS) Linux / NixOS boot Healthy
Disk 2 WD Black WDS100T3X0C-00SJG0 NVMe PCIe 1 TB E: Performance Steam library Healthy
Disk 4 Kingston SNV2S1000G NVMe PCIe 1 TB None (unassigned) Unused — no partition/letter Healthy
Disk 0 Samsung 870 QVO 8TB SATA III 8 TB D: Primary storage / Library / Backup Healthy
Disk 5 Samsung 870 QVO 8TB SATA III 8 TB F: Secondary / bulk Steam / overflow Healthy

Note: Disk 1 (NixOS / SOLIDIGM) must be taken offline in Windows before WSL2 can attach it: Set-Disk -Number 1 -IsOffline $true before mounting, $false to restore.

3 — Drive Usage & Hotspots
C: — SK hynix (DYING)
78%
374.8 GB used / 476 GB total
D: — Samsung 8TB
42%
3.1 TB used / 7.45 TB total
E: — WD Black NVMe
88%
820.3 GB used / 931 GB total
F: — Samsung 8TB
16%
1.16 TB used / 7.45 TB total
NixOS (Disk 1)
Offline when Windows active
Disk 4 — Kingston
0%
1 TB unallocated / unused
DriveUsageUsedFreeTotal
C: FAILING
78%
374.8 GB101.4 GB476 GB
D:
42%
3.14 TB4.31 TB7.45 TB
E: Near Full
88%
820.3 GB111.2 GB931 GB
F:
16%
1.16 TB6.29 TB7.45 TB
C: Hotspots
C:\Users\Joseph Rosenbaum795 GB
OneDrive612 GB
Games255 GB
Applications171 GB
Console Modding~100 GB
C:\Windows~56 GB
C:\Program Files~20 GB
D: Hotspots
D:\Library1.9 TB
D:\Backup942 GB
E: Hotspots
E:\SteamLibrary681 GB
Performance/active titles on NVMe — correct placement.
F: Hotspots
F:\SteamLibrary949 GB
Bulk/backlog titles on SATA — correct placement.
NixOS (Disk 1) Hotspots
~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps198 GB
~/.factorio/script-output28 GB
~/Downloads (stale ISOs)12 GB
script-output is runtime-generated; safe to purge.
4 — Performance Benchmarks (fio 3.41, 4K random)
Drive Model Interface Read Speed Write Speed Read IOPS Write IOPS Notes
C: SK hynix BC711 NVMe Not tested Not tested Failing — avoid stress
D: Samsung 870 QVO 8TB SATA III 362 MiB/s 362 MiB/s 88,500 88,500 Good for SATA SSD; suitable for bulk storage & backups
E: WD Black NVMe NVMe PCIe 368 MiB/s 367 MiB/s 94,000 94,000 Best active drive; use for OS clone target & perf Steam games
F: Samsung 870 QVO 8TB SATA III ~362 MiB/s ~362 MiB/s ~88,500 ~88,500 Same model as D: — identical expected performance
Disk 4 Kingston SNV2S 1TB NVMe PCIe Not tested Not tested No partition assigned

fio workload: 4K random read/write, queue depth 32, runtime 30s. Sequential throughput (not shown) will be higher for SATA drives (~550 MB/s) and significantly higher for NVMe drives (~3–7 GB/s depending on PCIe generation).

5 — Macrium Backup Images (.mrimg) — D:\Backup
Mount Results Summary: 2 of 7 images mounted successfully (both from May 2025, new Macrium v8 format). 5 images returned Exit Code 2 — format incompatibility with currently installed ReflectBin.exe. These older images cannot be browsed or restored without version-matched tooling. See Section 7 for recovery options.
CBC13828761E64A1-Joseph.Custom-Desktop.2024-04-07T22.48.01-00-00.mrimg
Joseph Desktop — April 2024
Unmountable (Exit 2) 171 GB Old format
Full disk image from April 2024. Old Macrium format (v7 or earlier). Cannot be mounted by current ReflectBin.exe. Contents unknown without recovery tools — likely similar to 2025 images (~550 GB OneDrive inside). Candidate for deletion — superseded by May 2025 chain.
9D51CE3D8819CC6D-R-DRAGONITE.2023-12-26T15.51.56-00-00.mrimg
R-DRAGONITE — December 2023
Unmountable (Exit 2) 140 GB Old format
Full image of a previous machine (R-DRAGONITE), backed up Dec 2023. Old Macrium format. Cannot mount with current tooling. Review: If this machine is retired, this image is archival-only.
33418D6BD408D6BC-2025.05.05-Joseph-Desktop-00-00.mrimg
Joseph Desktop — May 5, 2025 (Full)
Mountable 133 GB on disk 617 GB restore size
OneDrive528 GB
AppData48 GB
Documents24 GB
Downloads15 GB
Desktop172 MB
Windows56 GB
Program Files20 GB
Base of current backup chain. Pair with the May 6 incremental for a full restore.
79DA3277D8057E7B.Avery-Laptop-00-00.mrimg
Avery Laptop
Unmountable (Exit 2) 80 GB Old format
Image of another user's laptop. Old Macrium format. Contents inaccessible without recovery tooling. Keep only if Avery's data needs to be recoverable.
2DFC4D0E2E965044-2025.05.06-Joseph-Desktop-00-00.mrimg
Joseph Desktop — May 6, 2025 (Incremental)
Mountable 63 GB on disk 575 GB restore size
OneDrive551 GB
AppData21 GB
EFI / Boot partition~54 MB
Most recent Joseph Desktop backup. Incremental against May 5 base. Keep: this is the active restore point for C:.
8E1D641AF4DF9FBF-2024.11.18-R-RIPLEY-00-00.mrimg
R-RIPLEY — November 2024
Unmountable (Exit 2) 62 GB Old format
Image of machine R-RIPLEY from Nov 2024. Old Macrium format. Review: If R-RIPLEY is retired or data already migrated, safe to delete.
B65F2A846B3A485B-purple usb-00-00.mrimg
Purple USB Drive
Unmountable (Exit 2) 18 GB Old format
Image of an external USB drive. Old Macrium format. Contents unknown without recovery tooling. Low priority unless USB data is unique.
6 — Folder-Based Backups (D:\Backup)
Folder Size Machine / Source Age Estimate Notable Contents Recommendation
r-dragonite July '21 81 GB R-DRAGONITE ~4.5 years 34 GB Torrent downloads, 1.6 GB Books, misc installers Delete if machine retired
SmartSwitchBackup2 47 GB Samsung Galaxy S21 (SM-G991U) ~2024 Full phone backup — single folder 1731711436344 Keep if phone still active; verify against newer backup
Dell-Shenron 33 GB Dell-Shenron (old Dell) Old Joe's user data from a previous Dell machine Review — verify nothing unique
Seraph-Falcor 28 GB Seraph-Falcor Old 22 GB Rocksmith DLC (re-downloadable), 5.6 GB Joe user data Delete Rocksmith; review Joe data
Seraph-Mushu 22 GB Seraph-Mushu + Dell-Mushu Old Combined ~26 GB across both Mushu folders Review
Joe-Laptop 20 GB Joe's old laptop Old User data from previous laptop Review — likely superseded
r-falcor dec '21 10 GB R-FALCOR ~4 years Documents, saves, FL Studio, Factorio mods Review
JOE-AUX 7.5 GB Joe auxiliary machine Old 4.5 GB Desktop, 2.2 GB Downloads, 868 MB Documents Review Desktop contents
Seraph-Nest 5.9 GB Seraph-Nest (shared family machine) Old Multi-user data (Hubby + Wifey), game saves, Planet Coaster Low priority
r-dragonite January '22 5.4 GB R-DRAGONITE ~4 years Delete if DRAGONITE retired
Seraph-Fafnir 5.3 GB Seraph-Fafnir Old FL Studio, saves, RA3 maps Low priority
Sarah's Desktop / Sarah-Lenovo 2.1 GB Sarah Old Small — likely already migrated Verify with Sarah
Joe's Desktop 684 MB Joe old desktop Old Small snapshot Low priority
7 — Recovery Options for Unmountable .mrimg Files

Five images (CBC Apr 2024, R-DRAGONITE, Avery Laptop, R-RIPLEY, Purple USB) fail with ReflectBin.exe Exit Code 2. This means the installed Macrium Reflect version does not recognize the image format — a version mismatch, not corruption. The images themselves may be intact; the tool simply refuses to open them. Below are six recovery approaches from easiest to most involved.

1
Install the Matching Macrium Reflect Version (Easiest)
Easy

Why it works: Macrium embeds a version identifier in the .mrimg header. Installing the version that created the image allows it to mount normally.

How to identify the version: The Backups.dupeguru folder (64 MB) and the reflect_setup_free_x64.exe installer (174 MB) are already in D:\Backup — the installer there may be the correct version. Check its version before downloading.

# Check the version of the installer already in D:\Backup
(Get-Item 'D:\Backup\reflect_setup_free_x64.exe').VersionInfo.FileVersion

# Or check header bytes of an mrimg to find version string
Format-Hex 'D:\Backup\CBC13828761E64A1-...-00-00.mrimg' | Select-Object -First 4

Install the matching free version from macrium.com/support/knowledgebase → Downloads → Previous Versions. Run the old installer alongside the current install (different install directories), then use the older ReflectBin.exe to mount.

Caution: Do not uninstall the current Macrium version — it is needed to mount the working 2025 images and run future backups.

2
Boot from Macrium Rescue Media (Most Reliable)
Easy–Medium

Why it works: Macrium Rescue media (WinPE boot ISO) bundles all supported format versions in a single environment. Images created by any Macrium version can be browsed and restored from the rescue boot environment regardless of what is installed on Windows.

How to use: Create a Macrium rescue USB from the current Reflect GUI (Other Tasks → Create Rescue Media), boot from it, then Browse Image → select the older .mrimg. From the browse interface you can copy specific files out rather than performing a full restore.

Best for: Recovering specific files from old images without a full restore. This is the recommended approach if you need to extract particular data from the CBC Apr 2024 image before deleting it.

3
Arsenal Image Mounter (Windows Driver-Level Mount)
Medium

Why it works: Arsenal Image Mounter is a Windows driver that can mount proprietary disk images — including Macrium .mrimg files — as virtual disks. It supports multiple image formats across vendors and does not depend on Macrium being installed at all.

How to use:

# 1. Download Arsenal Image Mounter (free for personal use)
#    https://arsenalrecon.com/downloads/

# 2. Launch as Administrator, click Mount Image
# 3. Select the .mrimg file
# 4. Choose Read-only for safety
# 5. The image partitions appear as drive letters

Limitations: Support for Macrium's specific compression/encryption varies by image version. Unencrypted images are more likely to mount successfully.

4
OSFMount (Free Disk Image Mounting)
Medium

Why it works: OSFMount by PassMark supports a wide range of disk image formats. While .mrimg is not listed as a first-class supported format, Macrium images before heavy compression are based on raw or VHD-like containers that OSFMount can interpret.

# Download: https://www.osforensics.com/tools/mount-disk-images.html
# File → Mount New... → select .mrimg → choose partition → assign letter

Success rate: Variable. Works better on older, less compressed images. Try after Arsenal Image Mounter fails.

5
7-Zip Raw Extraction (Last Resort for File Access)
Medium — partial results

Why it works: 7-Zip can sometimes open .mrimg files as generic archives, particularly older Macrium v6 and v7 images that used a less proprietary container format. It will not interpret the filesystem — you may get raw partition blobs — but those can then be mounted separately.

# Right-click the .mrimg in Explorer → 7-Zip → Open archive
# Or via CLI:
"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" l "D:\Backup\CBC13828761E64A1-...mrimg"

# If it lists contents, extract the partition image:
"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" e "D:\Backup\CBC13828761E64A1-...mrimg" -o"D:\extracted"

# Then mount the extracted .img with Disk Management or PowerShell:
Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath "D:\extracted\partition.img"

Limitations: This is a heuristic approach. Compressed or encrypted images will produce garbage output. Use only if all other methods fail.

6
Contact Macrium Support / Legacy Tool Request
Varies

Macrium provides a legacy restore utility for customers who need to recover data from images created with older product versions that are no longer commercially available. This is particularly relevant for the transition from Macrium Reflect 7 → 8.

Contact Macrium support at support.macrium.com with the image filename and the approximate date it was created. They can identify the exact version and either provide a download link for the matching ReflectBin.exe or a standalone restore utility.

Note: Macrium was acquired by Paramount Software Ltd. Support for legacy versions may have changed. Check their knowledge base first: https://knowledgebase.macrium.com

Decision Guide: Which Recovery Method to Use?
GoalBest Method
Verify image is intact before deletingMethod 2 (Boot rescue) or Method 1 (version-matched install)
Extract specific files from old imageMethod 2 (Boot rescue) — browse and copy files interactively
Full system restore from old imageMethod 2 (Boot rescue) — most reliable for full restores
Mount old image in Windows without rebootingMethod 1 (old ReflectBin.exe) or Method 3 (Arsenal)
Images are encryptedMethods 1 or 2 only — password needed; 3/4/5 cannot decrypt
8 — Deduplication & Organization Findings
OneDrive is being included in every disk image backup. Both mounted Joseph Desktop images show OneDrive as ~550 GB of the restore content. OneDrive is cloud-synced by Microsoft — local disk images of it are pure redundancy on top of redundancy. Every Macrium backup job is carrying this dead weight. Excluding it halves or better the effective backup burden going forward.
550 GB
Per backup cycle saved by excluding OneDrive from Macrium backup scope
Affects D:\Backup future images
171 GB
CBC Apr 2024 .mrimg — unmountable with current tooling, superseded by 2025 chain
D:\Backup — safe to delete after rescue-boot review
140 GB
R-DRAGONITE Dec 2023 .mrimg — if machine is retired
D:\Backup
81 GB
r-dragonite July '21 folder — 4-year-old data, 34 GB is torrent downloads
D:\Backup — delete if R-DRAGONITE retired
62 GB
R-RIPLEY Nov 2024 .mrimg — if machine is retired
D:\Backup
28 GB
Seraph-Falcor folder — 22 GB is Rocksmith DLC (re-downloadable from Steam)
D:\Backup
28 GB
~/.factorio/script-output — runtime-generated output files, not saves
NixOS drive (Disk 1)
12 GB
Stale Linux Downloads — Bazzite ISO (7.9 GB) + Factorio tarball (3.9 GB)
NixOS drive (Disk 1)
612 GB
C: freed by relocating OneDrive → D: (cloud-synced, no data loss)
Moves to D:\OneDrive
~100 GB
C: freed by relocating Console Modding → F:
Moves to F:\Console Modding
Total Recoverable Space Summary
CategorySpace RecoveredLocationRisk
Delete stale .mrimg images (3 confirmed obsolete)~373 GBD:Low — after rescue review
Delete old folder backups (DRAGONITE + Seraph-Falcor)~109 GBD:Medium — review first
Linux garbage (script-output + stale ISOs)~40 GBNixOSNone
Move OneDrive C: → D:612 GB freed on C:C: → D:None (cloud redundant)
Move Console Modding C: → F:~100 GB freed on C:C: → F:Low
Total D: reclaimed~480 GBD:
Total C: relieved~712 GB relocated→ D: / F:
9 — Action Plan
CRITICAL Do First — Before Anything Else
  • Clone C: (SK hynix BC711) to E: (WD Black NVMe) or Disk 4 (Kingston NVMe) using Macrium Reflect. The drive has issued a Predictive Failure SMART event — it can stop working at any time. E: is 88% full (111 GB free), so use Disk 4 (1TB, currently unallocated) as the clone target. Initialize Disk 4, clone C: to it, then swap the drive letter if needed. Saves your OS
TIER 1 Zero-Risk — Run Now
  • Delete Factorio script-output on NixOS drive (~/.factorio/script-output) +28 GB on NixOS
  • Delete stale Linux ISOs and tarballs (Bazzite ISO 7.9 GB + Factorio tarball 3.9 GB) +12 GB on NixOS
TIER 2 C: Drive Relief — High Priority Given Failing Drive
  • Move OneDrive sync folder C:\Users\Joseph Rosenbaum\OneDrive → D:\OneDrive via Windows Settings (do not robocopy manually — OneDrive must control the move) +612 GB on C:
  • Move C:\Users\Joseph Rosenbaum\Console Modding → F:\Console Modding via robocopy /MOVE +~100 GB on C:
  • Assign a drive letter and partition to Disk 4 (Kingston 1TB NVMe) — use as C: clone target and/or active overflow +1 TB usable
TIER 3 Backup Pruning — Review Before Running
  • Boot from Macrium rescue media → review CBC Apr 2024 image contents → extract any unique data → delete the .mrimg +171 GB on D:
  • If R-DRAGONITE is a retired machine: delete 9D51CE3D8819CC6D .mrimg + r-dragonite July '21 folder + r-dragonite January '22 folder +147 GB on D:
  • If R-RIPLEY is retired: delete 8E1D641AF4DF9FBF .mrimg +62 GB on D:
  • Delete D:\Backup\Seraph-Falcor (22 GB is Rocksmith DLC — re-downloadable via Steam; review Joe sub-folder first) +28 GB on D:
TIER 4 Fix Root Cause — Prevent Future Bloat
  • Exclude OneDrive from Macrium backup job scope: Reflect → Edit backup definition → Advanced → Excluded folders → add D:\OneDrive (after relocation). This is the single most impactful long-term change — cuts backup image sizes by ~550 GB each. -550 GB per future image
  • Consolidate Steam libraries: E: for active/performance titles (NVMe), F: for backlog/bulk (SATA). Already largely in place — verify any C: Steam installs and move them. Reduces C: pressure
TIER 5 Nice to Have
  • Review and prune D:\Backup\SmartSwitchBackup2 (47 GB Samsung phone backup) once confirmed a newer backup exists +47 GB
  • Review D:\Backup\Dell-Shenron (33 GB), JOE-AUX (7.5 GB) for any unique data, then archive or delete +40 GB
  • Install fio test on Disk 4 (Kingston) once partitioned to confirm it performs as expected for a clone target Verification
10 — Ready-to-Run Commands
Clone C: to Disk 4 (initialize + clone)
# Step 1: Initialize Disk 4 (run as Administrator in PowerShell)
Initialize-Disk -Number 4 -PartitionStyle GPT

# Step 2: Use Macrium Reflect GUI to clone Disk 3 (C:) → Disk 4
# Clone → Select source disk 3 → destination disk 4 → Clone
# This is safer than CLI for a full disk clone including EFI partition
Linux cleanup (run in WSL or on NixOS boot)
# Mount procedure (run in PowerShell as Admin first)
Set-Disk -Number 1 -IsOffline $true

# Then in WSL2 bash (run as root or with sudo)
wsl --mount \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1 --bare
wsl -u root -e sh -c "mkdir -p /mnt/solidigm && mount /dev/sde2 /mnt/solidigm"

# Delete Factorio script output (28 GB)
wsl -u root -e rm -rf "/mnt/solidigm/home/joseph/.factorio/script-output"

# Delete stale ISOs and tarballs — verify paths first
wsl -u root -e sh -c "find /mnt/solidigm/home/joseph -maxdepth 3 -name '*.iso' -o -name 'factorio*.tar.xz' 2>/dev/null"
# Review output, then delete confirmed stale files

# Cleanup — unmount and bring disk back online
wsl -u root -e sh -c "umount /mnt/solidigm"
wsl --unmount \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1
Set-Disk -Number 1 -IsOffline $false
Move Console Modding to F: (PowerShell)
# Run as Administrator. /E = all subdirs, /MOVE = delete source after verify, /LOG = record
robocopy "C:\Users\Joseph Rosenbaum\Console Modding" "F:\Console Modding" /E /MOVE /LOG:"D:\robocopy-consolemods.log"

# Verify log shows 0 errors before assuming success
Select-String -Path "D:\robocopy-consolemods.log" -Pattern "Errors|Failed"
Move OneDrive sync folder (do NOT use robocopy — use OneDrive client)
# OneDrive must manage its own folder move — do NOT robocopy OneDrive directly
# 1. Right-click the OneDrive system tray icon → Settings
# 2. Account tab → Change location
# 3. Select D:\ as the new root → OneDrive folder becomes D:\OneDrive
# 4. OneDrive client handles the move and re-syncs automatically

# After move completes, update Macrium exclusion:
# Reflect → Edit backup definition → Excluded folders → replace old path with D:\OneDrive
Delete obsolete .mrimg files after rescue-boot review
# Only run after reviewing images from Macrium rescue boot media

# Unmountable + superseded (Apr 2024 — 171 GB)
Remove-Item 'D:\Backup\CBC13828761E64A1-Joseph.Custom-Desktop.2024-04-07T22.48.01-00-00.mrimg'

# Retired machine (R-DRAGONITE — 140 GB + folder backups)
Remove-Item 'D:\Backup\9D51CE3D8819CC6D-R-DRAGONITE.2023-12-26T15.51.56-00-00.mrimg'
Remove-Item -Recurse "D:\Backup\r-dragonite July '21"
Remove-Item -Recurse "D:\Backup\r-dragonite January '22"

# Retired machine (R-RIPLEY — 62 GB)
Remove-Item 'D:\Backup\8E1D641AF4DF9FBF-2024.11.18-R-RIPLEY-00-00.mrimg'

# Seraph-Falcor (22 GB Rocksmith re-downloadable; review Joe subfolder first)
Remove-Item -Recurse 'D:\Backup\Seraph-Falcor'
Run SMART check after all cleanup (verify C: is still readable)
# Disk 3 (C: drive) health — watch for worsening attributes
& 'C:\Program Files\smartmontools\bin\smartctl.exe' -a /dev/pd3 2>&1 | Select-String 'Reallocated|Pending|Uncorrectable|Temperature|Power_On'

# Repeat weekly until drive is replaced

Report generated: 2026-03-08  |  Machine: joseph-desktop (Windows 11 Pro + WSL2 + NixOS)  |  Tools used: smartmontools 7.5, fio 3.41, dust (cargo), Macrium ReflectBin.exe, PowerShell WMI  |  All sizes measured live — not estimated