{"id":10086,"date":"2019-07-01T06:39:47","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T06:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=10086"},"modified":"2019-07-12T13:09:16","modified_gmt":"2019-07-12T13:09:16","slug":"what-is-portablebaselayer-in-disk-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/what-is-portablebaselayer-in-disk-management\/","title":{"rendered":"What is PortableBaseLayer Partition in Windows 10 Disk Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

After upgrading to Windows 10 version 1903 (Codenamed “19H1”), the Disk Management window may show an additional drive named PortableBaseLayer of size 8191<\/code> MB (8<\/code> GB)<\/p>\n

\"what<\/p>\n

When the PortableBaseLayer drive is right-clicked, all the options (except Properties<\/strong>) are grayed out.<\/p>\n

PortableBaseLayer also shows up in the defragmenter (“Optimize drives”) window as a virtual hard disk.<\/p>\n

\"what<\/p>\n

You may be wondering what exactly is PortableBaseLayer.<\/p>\n

What is PortableBaseLayer that shows up in Disk Management<\/h2>\n

PortableBaseLayer is not a malicious drive. It’s a mounted virtual drive (.vhdx) which is used by the Windows Sandbox<\/strong> feature.<\/p>\n

What is Windows Sandbox?<\/h4>\n

Windows Sandbox, a feature introduced in Windows 10 v1903, is a new lightweight desktop environment tailored for safely running applications in isolation.\u00a0Windows Sandbox: an isolated, temporary, desktop environment where you can run untrusted software without the fear of a lasting impact on your PC. Any software installed in Windows Sandbox stays only in the sandbox and cannot affect your host. Once Windows Sandbox is closed, all the software with all its files and state are permanently deleted.<\/p>\n

To enable or disable Windows Sandbox<\/a>, use the Windows Optional Features dialog.\u00a0Open Windows Features (optionalfeatures.exe<\/code>), and then select Windows Sandbox. Select OK to install Windows Sandbox. You might be asked to restart the computer.<\/p>\n

\"what<\/p>\n

This is how the Windows Sandbox looks like:<\/p>\n

\"what<\/p>\n

If you run the mountvol<\/code> command from Command Prompt, you can see its PortableBaseLayer volume GUID and the linked file\/folder (Windows\\Containers\\BaseImages<\/code>.)<\/p>\n

\"what<\/p>\n

From what it appears, the PortableBaseLayer drive is not supposed to be displayed in the Disk Management or Optimize Drives listing. And, in the Windows Insider build 18912, some users have reported that the drive is not listed in Disk Management.<\/p>\n

\n

Acronis True Image backup fails (as of 9\/July\/2019)<\/h4>\n

In Windows 10 v1903, if you select Entire PC as your backup source in Acronis True Image backup utility, you’ll see the following errors when backing up the system:<\/p>\n

16688 E000101F6: Error 0x101f6: Unable to create volume snapshot.
\n16688 E013C0005: Error 0x13c0005: Operation has completed with errors.<\/div>\n

This error is caused because of the Windows Sandbox’s PortableBaseLayer virtual disk. The disk prevents the VSS service from creating a snapshot of the data for that drive.<\/p>\n

Acronis True Image doesn’t support excluding disks as exclude rule, and you can’t change the backup source of Entire PC<\/strong> preset option. So, you need to recreate a new backup plan as below. Here are the instructions to exclude the PortableBaseLayer virtual disk of Windows Sandbox from the backup.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Delete existing backup task: open the backup menu and select Delete.<\/li>\n
  2. Create a new backup task, selecting “Disk and partitions” backup type (instead of Entire PC<\/strong>).
    \n\"acronis<\/li>\n
  3. Mark all the disks, except for the disk “MSFT VIRTUAL DISK 1.0” and disk volume “PortableBaseLayer”:<\/li>\n
  4. Click OK.<\/li>\n
  5. Set other backup options and finish recreating the backup plan.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Refer to Acronis True Image knowledgebase article #63012: Entire PC backup fails with “Unknown status” if Windows Sandbox is enabled for more information.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Note that the other popular image utility, Macrium Reflect<\/strong>, doesn’t show PortableBaseLayer anywhere in its user interface.<\/p>\n

    \"macrium-portablebaselayer\"<\/p>\n

    Macrium Reflect v7.2.4325 and higher ignore the PortableBaseLayer virtual disk used by the Sandbox feature in Windows 10 v1903. Hope the upcoming versions of Acronis True Image do the same.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    RELATED:<\/strong> What is the System Reserved Partition in Disk Management Console<\/a><\/div>\n

    Is PortableBaseLayer related to Reserved Storage?<\/h3>\n

    No!<\/strong> PortableBaseLayer has nothing to do<\/strong> with the Reserved Storage<\/strong> feature (also introduced in v1903).<\/p>\n

    Reserved Storage<\/strong> is a reserve drive (like a “scratch space”) created for storing Windows Update temporary files and updates, for a smooth installation experience. It has nothing to do with Windows Sandbox or PortableBaseLayer virtual drive.<\/p>\n

    Windows 10 and reserved storage – Microsoft Tech Community<\/a><\/p>\n

    With reserved storage, updates, apps, temporary files, and caches are less likely to take away from valuable free space and should continue to operate as expected. Reserved storage will be introduced automatically on devices that come with version 1903 pre-installed or those where 1903 was clean installed.<\/p>\n

    \"reserved
    Reserved Storage in Windows 10 v1903 and higher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    To make sure your device can successfully update and that it runs its best, Windows reserves a portion of storage space on your device for use by temporary files, caches, and other files. When your device is low on space, Windows will clear reserved storage so it can be used for other processes, like a Windows update. Reserving storage also helps keep disk space usage on your device more predictable and more stable.<\/p>\n

    Enable or Disable Reserved Storage<\/h4>\n

    The following registry setting enables\/disables the Reserved Storage feature in Windows 10 version 1903 and higher:<\/p>\n

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\ReserveManager\r\nValue name: ShippedWithReserves<\/strong> (REG_DWORD)\r\nData: 0 | 1 (0 disables Reserved Storage)<\/pre>\n
    Hope the above information helps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    After upgrading to Windows 10 version 1903 (Codenamed “19H1”), the Disk Management window may show an additional drive named PortableBaseLayer of size 8191 MB (8 GB) When the PortableBaseLayer drive is right-clicked, all the options (except Properties) are grayed out. PortableBaseLayer also shows up in the defragmenter (“Optimize drives”) window as a virtual hard disk. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-10"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6438,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/media-creation-tool-0x80004005-0xa001a-error-usb\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":0},"title":"[Fix] Media Creation Tool Error 0x80004005 – 0xA001A","author":"Ramesh","date":"August 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When you use the Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB Windows 10 setup disk, error 0x80004005 - 0xA001A\u00a0occurs during the process. Precisely, the error happens after the ISO download is complete, and during the 'creating media' stage when it nears 50%.\u00a0 Here is the full error message: There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Utilities"","block_context":{"text":"Utilities","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/utilities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"media creation tool error 0x80004005 - 0xA001A","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mct-error-0x80004005-0xA001A.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mct-error-0x80004005-0xA001A.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mct-error-0x80004005-0xA001A.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24037,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/delete-volume-greyed-usb-diskmgmt\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":1},"title":"“Delete Volume” Grayed Out for USB Drives in Disk Management","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In the Disk Management console, the \"Delete Volume\" option may be dimmed out in the right-click menu for USB flash drives. So, users may be wondering how to remove one or more partitions in the external USB drives. Cause The \"Delete Volume\" option may be missing if the page file\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"delete volume grayed out for usb drives - diskpart","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/usb-diskpart-partition-delete-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/usb-diskpart-partition-delete-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/usb-diskpart-partition-delete-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17918,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/we-couldnt-update-system-reserved-partition-error-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":2},"title":"[Fix] \u201cWe couldn\u2019t update system reserved partition\u201d Error updating Windows","author":"Ramesh","date":"August 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When upgrading to Windows 10 or 11 from Windows 7, 8, or 8.1, or updating Windows 10 or 11, you might encounter the error We couldn\u2019t update system reserved partition, or error 0xc1900104, or error code 0x800f0922. Update: If you're receiving the \"We couldn\u2019t update system reserved partition\u201d error or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"We couldn\u2019t update system reserved partition","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/system-reserved-partition-error-upgrade.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/system-reserved-partition-error-upgrade.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/system-reserved-partition-error-upgrade.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/system-reserved-partition-error-upgrade.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9795,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/what-is-system-reserved-partition-in-disk-management\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":3},"title":"What is the System Reserved Partition in Disk Management Console","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"You may have seen a volume named System Reserved when you open the Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) console and wondering what the partition is. This article explains what the System Reserved partition is and whether you can delete it. What is the \"System Reserved\" Partition? When you\u00a0perform a clean install of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"system reserved partition - bcd error","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/bcd-error-startup.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/bcd-error-startup.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/bcd-error-startup.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/bcd-error-startup.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":77737,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/diskmgmt-incorrect-volume-size\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":4},"title":"Disk Management Reports Incorrect Volume Size","author":"Ramesh","date":"January 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When you open Disk Management, the volume size (i.e., capacity) may be misreported in the top pane. The bottom pane, which shows the graphical view, may report the capacity correctly for each volume. Although the exact cause is not known, you can fix the issue using Diskpart. Note: Before using\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"disk management wrong volume size\/capacity","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/diskmgmt-wrong-volume-size-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/diskmgmt-wrong-volume-size-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/diskmgmt-wrong-volume-size-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/diskmgmt-wrong-volume-size-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74860,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/create-move-efi-partition-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":5},"title":"How to Move EFI System Partition to Another Drive in Windows 10 or 11","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The EFI partition is created automatically when you install Windows. However, after adding a second HDD\/SSD and installing Windows on that disk, you may realize that the EFI system partition remains on the old hard disk. You wonder how to move the EFI partition from the old hard drive to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"EFI boot partition on another disk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/move-efi-partition-os-drive.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/move-efi-partition-os-drive.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/move-efi-partition-os-drive.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/move-efi-partition-os-drive.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10086\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}