Complete PC Backup of multiple OS - partial restore?

[Guest]

I have a multi-boot of XP and Vista on separate partitions and also have
several data partitions.

If I do a Complete PC Backup, will I be able to restore just my XP or just
my Vista if I want to leave one of them just the way it is and restore the
other? Or must everything get overwritten when I restore - both operating
systems AND my files on my data partition too!!!???

I would like to use the "Create backup copies of y our files and folders"
feature to maintain onging incremental copies of my data partitions and use
the "Create a Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore Image of your entire
computer..." option to back up my XP and Vista partitions in such a way that
I can restore one or the other and NOT have anything happen to the files in
my data partitions.

Do my questions betray a lack of understanding of how Vista Backup and
Restore work? How can I do what I want to do?

Thanks

 

[John Barnett MVP]

The Complete PC Backup option does just that, it images (or shadow copies)
your complete hard drive. When dual booting it images both XP and Vista,
this is by default and cannot be altered. The reason it does this is because
XP is usally the C drive anyway and Vista loads files to the C
drive/partition for it to be able to boot. Remove these files and Vista will
not boot.

So in answer to your question No you can't do a partial restore restoring
either XP or Vista, you must restore both at the same time.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

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reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
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[Guest]

Thank you for you clear and helpful reply. I have two related questions
remaining.

I have Vista on my first hard drive and XP on my second. Does your
explanation that it images "your complete hard drive" imply that it images
only the hard drive that contains Vista or does it image all of my hard
drives, thus both Vista and XP?

Does a complete PC backup also image each of my data partitions? If so, I
would lose all of my recent data when I do a restore. Is that true?

Thanks again,

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Mmmm that's a puzzler. To be honest i haven't tried that scenario. My XP and
Vista installations are on the same hard drive. I suppose the easiest way to
find out is to open Complete PC Backup as if you were going to make a backup
image and check to see if both the XP drive and Vista drive are ticked by
default.

As i sated in my last post Vista adds the bootloader files to the C: drive.
Now this is fine if you installed vista to the C partition, but as you have
XP onboard too you would have had to have installed XP first which would
make your second drive the C: partition (even though when you boot to vista,
vista says it is on the C partition - just a change of drive letters on
vista's behalf). From this perspective if anything went wrong with the XP
partition you would not be able to boot to Vista. So while the XP partition
is working okay you would be able to image the Vista drive and then, if
problems occurred, re-image the vista partition back. But if you lost the XP
drive then you would be unable to launch Vista. So, regardless i think it
will be important to image both the XP drive and the Vista drive, even if
Comple PC Backup doesn't already do it, i would select both.

From what i have seen of Complete PC Backup if you have partitions on the
same hard drive you have the option to select them to be included in the
image or you can simply select the operating system. The only time your data
would be imaged without your input would be if the data resided oin the
operating system drive or partition, but this is pretty well the same with
all imaging software.

Hope this helps


--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Guest]

I have a similar question about the Complete PC Backup. I lost my
motherboard and had to replace it. When I use the restore to copy the backup
I cannot start the PC it fails with a Blue screen crash saying remove the
last device and start again. Is it posible to use the backup to restore to a
new PC or does it only work with exisitng hardware?

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the excellent reply. It is now clear to me why all operating
systems are backed up as a unit and why all must be restored as a unit. Just
one question, and a vital one, remains. When I restore my operating systems
to their state at the time of the backup I get just what I want - registries,
programs, and OS files in their uncorrupted states. BUT, I would not want my
data partitions to be restored to their original state, losing all files
added since the backup. I understand that I do not need to include them when
I do a system backup. I just want assurance that a full system restore will
leave those purely data partitions alone.

Here is another question; I hope both can be answered. When I do a files
backup, it is required that the partition with the Vista operating system be
included. It appears that this is or can be an incremental backup (or a
differential one) in that only changes are added. Would that be changes since
the base backup or changes since the last incremental? Also, when a restore
is done, is it all-or-nothing as is the case for the system backup? In other
words, can I restore to the latest versions or any other of the versions
backed up since the base backup by choice or can I restore only to the latest
ones. And can I choose to do such a data file restore without affecting
anything on my operating system partition (which was required to be included
in the files backup).

It would be great if Microsoft would include such scenario guidance in the
software.

Thanks,
Edwin