How do I access the files in my backup? : BinaryLane

Using Windows to access the files from within your backup, you will first need:

A local copy of the backup you want to extract files from: Access backups from your server(s)
- Either:
  - 7zip - decompresses the backup file.
- Or, for attaching the backup as an attached disk:
  - OSFMount - attaches a backup to a drive letter.
  - zstandard - decompresses the backup file.

For Linux-based backups, you'll need to use 7-Zip (v24.07 or higher) to access the files in the backup.

Backups from BinaryLane are compressed using zstandard.

The backups are a byte-for-byte copy of the drive (Windows) or ext3 partition (Linux).

After decompressing backups, you must use software such as OSFMount for Windows drives as well as Ext2Fsd for Linux partitions.

For more information on how backups work, see: Automated Backups

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Decompressing the backup to access individual files
Attaching the backup as an attached disk

Decompressing the backup to access individual files:

Open 7-Zip on your device:

Navigate to your backup file within the 7-Zip File Manager, and double-click on your backup file to open the ZSTD archive, then double-click the file within this archive to begin decompression:

After decompression, you can open any of the visible *.img files to see their contents (typically, your data will be stored in `0.img` as this was your `SYSTEM` drive:

Attaching the backup as an attached disk:

Create a backup folder

Create a folder on your system where you will work with the backup.

Move or copy your backup and zstandard into the backup folder you created

To make the next steps easier, it is best to have zstd extracted (all content) and the downloaded backup saved in the backup folder you created:

Open a PowerShell window in your backup folder

You can open a PowerShell window by right-clicking while holding down the Shift key, in an empty space within the folder, and selecting "Open PowerShell window here" (make sure no files are highlighted):

Extract the backup

Type ".\zstd.exe -d .\<backupfilename>" without the quotes and press Enter. Ensure you replace the <backupfilename> with the name of your backup file.

Hint: Pressing the Tab key while typing your backup file name will try and guess the filename for you. If it gets it wrong, just keep pressing Tab until it gets it right.

When the extraction is complete, close the command window or type "exit" and press Enter.

Install OSFMount

Download and launch the OSFMount installer. You shouldn't need to change any options.

Run the OSFMount tool

If you unselected 'Launch OSFMount', Find it in your start menu and run it. You should get the following screen:

Click "Mount new..."

Select the decompressed backup file

Click on the "..." next to the image file text box. In the file browser shown, find your decompressed backup which should be inside the "restored" folder.