System Resore in Dual Boot System

[ralph]

I Have a dual boot Win XP Pro system (SR-2) with Win XP installed on both
the the C and D drives (other drives are used for data). I need to use
system restore to restore both systems to a recent restorepoint.
If I run system restore from one operating system, will it restore both
operating systems or do I need to run system restore from both partitions?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

It will only restore the installation it is run in. You should not run it on
partitions that do not house the system files.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Ralph,

In a dual boot scenario you do not want to let one OS monitor another
OS which has WinXP installed and System Restore enabled. And you do
not want to make changes to any files, particularly monitored file, on
a partition that contains WinXP. What happens is when changes are
made to a WinXP partition while System Restore is not running, an
inconsistency occurs between the SR log and the file monitored. In
turn this causes restore point corruption, and all restore points will
need to be purged on the partition where the corruption occurred.

So the first thing you need to do is stop each OS from monitoring any
other partition.
How to disable a monitored drive:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/drivedisable.html

I am not 100% sure what will happen when SR is run after the disabling
of the monitored partitions, in this case. So I would suggest creating
a new restore point on each OS to fall back on. Then try restoring
each OS.

Please let me know of the results.

 

[ralph]

Thanks for your reply. Just to make sure that I fully understand your
suggestions:
At this point I should:
1: Under each operating system I should discontinue monitoring all
partitions except the one the operating system is on. For example, after
booting up the OS on the C drive I will discontinue monitoring the D drive
that has the second compy of Win XP and also all partitions used for data.
Likewise, after bootong up the copy of Win XP in the D drive, I should
disable monitoring on all other drives.
2: Create a fresh restore point under both operating systems. (I thought
this happened automatically when doing a restore)
3: Run SR on each operating system
Fortunately, I am reasonable certain that I have not altered any files on
one OS from the other OS.
Please let me know if this is correct.
thanks...ralph

 

[Bert Kinney]

Thanks for your reply. Just to make sure that I fully
understand your suggestions:
At this point I should:
1: Under each operating system I should discontinue
monitoring all partitions except the one the operating system is on.
Correct.

For example, after booting up the OS on the
C drive I will discontinue monitoring the D drive that
has the second compy of Win XP and also all partitions used for
data.

That is correct.

Likewise, after bootong up the copy of Win
XP in the D drive, I should disable monitoring on all other drives.

Correct again.

2: Create a fresh restore point under both operating systems.
Yes.

(I thought this happened automatically when doing a restore)

Restoring a system does not create a restore point.
Description of System Restore:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/description.html

3: Run SR on each operating system Fortunately, I am reasonable
certain that I have not
altered any files on one OS from the other OS.

You very well may not have, however running SR would have, with your
current setup.

 

[ralph]

Bert:
Worked perfectly!!! Things are now back to normal on both partitions. Many
thanks.
As a follow-up:
In this system, the OS on Partition 1 is the "working" system. The OS on
Partition 2 has two purposes: (1) Acts as a back-up system. (2) Occasionally
is used to test out on new program. There is never a reason to access
Partition 2 (drive d) when running the OS on Partition 1.
My question is: Is there any way to "hide" or "disable" partition 2 during
normal use?
thanks again....ralph

 

[Bert Kinney]

Thanks for the feedback, Ralph. I am glad it worked out.

The only way I know of how to hide a partition from another is with
Bootit NG.
Bootit NG (BING) is a partition and multiboot manager with a powerful
and simple-to-use set of tools for partitioning, imaging, and
multi-booting your computer. It is defiantly worth checking out.
Bootit NG from TeraByte Unlimited
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html

 

[Bert Kinney]

Oh yes, and there is 30 free trial period.