Backup to CD-RW not allowed in Vista RC1?

[Guest]

I attempted to do a full system backup for the first time with Vista's
built-in Backup and Recovery Wizard. Upon starting, the wizard correctly
found my backup device (a Lite-On combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive at E but
insisted that I back up to DVDs--which this drive cannot write! When I
attempted to use a CD-RW anyway, the wizard refused to continue, citing "too
little space on selected disc".

Also, I can't find the "Change settings" link in the Backup and Recovery
Wizard; what I see is "Change system protection settings", which AFAIK has
nothing to do with backups as such.

My only other backup alternative is the usual: use Retrospect Client (in
Windows 2000--it won't work in Vista yet; I've tried) to back up, via home
network, to my Mac's DVD-RW drive. The problem with this is that, in order to
do a full restore (e.g., when reformatting a hard drive to lock out bad
sectors), one must physically remove the hard drive and connect it directly
to the Mac, then reinstall it in the PC after restoring. Grrrrrr.....

 

[AJR]

You are trying to "back up" approximately 2-3 gigs on CDs?

 

[Guest]

You are trying to "back up" approximately 2-3 gigs on CDs?

Yes I am. I have plenty of 12X CD-RW discs around (enough to hold about
12-15 GB, depending on compression), since I don't need them for my Mac
anymore. And, as I've stated previously, the host PC's Combo Drive only
writes CDs, not DVDs.

Does the Backup and Restore Wizard not allow backups to span multiple media?
If that's the case, I'd recommend Microsoft fix this in the release version!

 

[AJR]

Alexander750 - The "Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore" utility included
with Vista does permit backup to multiple CDs and DVDs (at least RC2).
However the utility is not included with the Home or Premium versions of
Vista.

 

[Jill Zoeller [MSFT]]

Hi alexander750,

Here's a registry key that will enable you to do your backup to CD. It's an
unsupported, undocumented workaround (use at your own risk). However, this
should enable you to use your CDs as media.


Under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Backup\Client

add
AllowCDMedia

of type REG_DWORD and set it to 1.

The "Change settings" link you refer to is (I believe) related to the File
Backup application. Once you perform your first backup, this link will
appear in the Backup and Restore Center.

 

[Jeff]

Oh Jill,
That'de be great for me too!
Can ya clarify the steps for a noob like me?
I know how to get to the reg key;
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\,
but from there;I don't see \Backup\Client???

Hmmm?
Any help?

That would be GREAT to be able to have cd backup!!!!

Jeff

 

[Jill Zoeller [MSFT]]

Looks like you'll need to actually add a key named Backup and then a subkey
called Client yourself. This is easy--just right-click Windows and then
click New =>Key to create Backup. Then do the same by right-clicking Backup
and then creating a new key called Client. Then, right-click Client, point
to New, and then click DWORD. Here you can type AllowCDMedia. Then,
right-click this and then click Modify. In Value data, type 1.

After you've done this, you *might* want to reboot. This might not be
necessary, but as part of my testing this I rebooted and so I'm not sure if
it works without rebooting (no harm trying though). When you run Complete PC
Backup, you'll be prompted to insert a disk bigger than 1 GB. Just insert
your CD. It'll be formatted, and then the Complete PC Backup will begin.
It'll do some things behind the scenes (just watch the green bar) and
eventually you'll be prompted for another CD. I expect this could take long
time given the number of CDs you need. I'm going to cancel out of it now
because I don't have enough CDs to finish this.

Good luck!


--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies? Visit
our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.

 

[Jeff]

Jill,
Having reinstalled; is it because I have'nt run a backup yet;that the
keys not there?
Thanks for the instructions though!!!

Jeff

 

[Jill Zoeller [MSFT]]

I'm not sure...mine is a fairly new installation as well. But, it's not at
all unusual to have to add keys to enable certain behaviors.

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies? Visit
our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.

 

[Jeff]

Jill,
Great,
Works great; not that I'm neccesarily going to use cd's all the time but;
but nice to know I can now;if I want.

Setup just perfect; YEAY!!!!!

Jeff