While creating a system image on Windows 11/10 PC, if you get Windows Backup failed to get an exclusive lock on the EFI system partition error, here is how to fix it.

It takes three steps to mirror Windows Boot drive, which is on a UEFI system. You need first to mirror the recovery partition, then the EFI system partition, and then the operating system partition.

It seems difficult using the built-in system tools on either Windows 10 or Ubuntu to initialize a disk as GPT with an EFI system partition.

In fact you may have more than one EFI boot partition on a disk, so you might choose to create a new (additional) EFI boot partition, and use that for your Linux installation.

Get Macrium Reflect and use that for system imaging. If you have to skip the EFI partition, then you can do so and at least restore the partition where your C drive rests.

Tech Computing Can't install EFI Firmware Update? Check partition scheme; disconnect peripherals Some Intel Mac users are finding that their drive is partitioned using the wrong scheme.