Exclude files and foldes from backup of physical machines

[Markus Obermeier]

It would be great if I backup a physical machine to exclude different files or folders (e.g. temp or downloads,...) which aren't necesary for a restore of the physical machine. If I do a file level backup I'm not sure if this can be used for disaster recovery.

I would like to create a disaster recovery flash or iso for the physical machine but without the mentioned files or folders, so that i can do a quicker restore (in case of disaster)

[The Official Moderator]

On 5/29/2026 at 4:00 PM, Markus Obermeier said:

It would be great if I backup a physical machine to exclude different files or folders (e.g. temp or downloads,...) which aren't necesary for a restore of the physical machine. If I do a file level backup I'm not sure if this can be used for disaster recovery.

I would like to create a disaster recovery flash or iso for the physical machine but without the mentioned files or folders, so that i can do a quicker restore (in case of disaster)

Hello @Markus Obermeier,

Physical backup is performed on a disk/partition level. It is not possible to exclude particular files and folders.
To minimize recovery time, disks/partitions that are not required to boot may be excluded.

[Markus Obermeier]

On 6/3/2026 at 10:07 AM, The Official Moderator said:

Hello @Markus Obermeier,

Physical backup is performed on a disk/partition level. It is not possible to exclude particular files and folders.
To minimize recovery time, disks/partitions that are not required to boot may be excluded.

thanx for the explanation - is it possible to create a file backup of physical machine where only necessary folders are included and create a disaster recovery for this ?
and if so - how can the system files (see screenshot) be included ?