system restore: how many drives in a restore?

[beerismygas]

hi there, i have two HDs on my PC. from BIOS I can boot to either (both have
XP).

I keep the smaller HD for to install new drivers and beta software,
while the other HD is a stable XP system with only mature drivers &
software.

recently i mucked up the smaller HD to the point that it takes around
10min to logon. I was considering using system restore but then i
realized that system restore was configured to work on both HD. I
dont want the stable system to be restored to an earlier date as
well.

My question is apart from restoring the Windows Environment on the
current primary HD partition, what does system restore do with other
HDs visible to it ?

thanks

 

[Miss Perspicacia Tick]

hi there, i have two HDs on my PC. from BIOS I can boot to either
(both have XP).

And I hope each has a separate licence, or otherwise you're in violation of
the EULA, which states that you are licenced to install *ONE* copy on a
single system

I keep the smaller HD for to install new drivers and beta software,
while the other HD is a stable XP system with only mature drivers &
software.

recently i mucked up the smaller HD to the point that it takes around
10min to logon. I was considering using system restore but then i
realized that system restore was configured to work on both HD. I
dont want the stable system to be restored to an earlier date as
well.

My question is apart from restoring the Windows Environment on the
current primary HD partition, what does system restore do with other
HDs visible to it ?

thanks

I have read this three times and it still makes no sense. System Restore on
one disk/partition can no more affect an OS installed on another
disk/partition than system restore on my system can affect my parents system
upstairs, or vice versa.

 

[Tom]

hi there, i have two HDs on my PC. from BIOS I can boot to either (both
have
XP).

I keep the smaller HD for to install new drivers and beta software,
while the other HD is a stable XP system with only mature drivers &
software.

recently i mucked up the smaller HD to the point that it takes around
10min to logon. I was considering using system restore but then i
realized that system restore was configured to work on both HD. I
dont want the stable system to be restored to an earlier date as
well.

My question is apart from restoring the Windows Environment on the
current primary HD partition, what does system restore do with other
HDs visible to it ?

Noting you boot to either system from after the BIOS post, you seem to have
a dual-boot setup. In any case, each install has it's own restore system,
and one should not affect the other. If you want to be sure, look at the
time/dates of restore points in your primary setup, and (if you can still
get into the other), look at the ones in your testing setup (betas, drivers,
etc, as you say). You'll should see a difference in the times/dates. You can
try a SR from the mucked up drive to see if you can restore it, if the
mucked up system is not very old in that condition (2 weeks).

If you have to reload it, I would create a second primary partition, that
way, you are assured that one OS has no control over the other, but you'll
need a boot loader for that. If you reload using a dual-boot setup, I would
recommend getting a good imaging program to backup your secondary setup, as
well as your primary, if even for testing. That way, when it is good, you
create an image for backup, test away at your hearts content, then replace
the testing with the original setup, or backup as you go.

P.S.

Don't pay attention to the MS cop, Miss Premenstrual Sweat regarding her
unfounded EULA guard dog remark about faux-MS law; you can what you want.
Since you made no mention of what media you have in your possession for use
on your PC, it isn't any business of hers, or anyone else here.

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

beerismygas wrote:

And I hope each has a separate licence, or otherwise you're in violation of
the EULA, which states that you are licenced to install *ONE* copy on a
single system
Whatever.

A valid concern - best way to have prevented this mess was to ensure
that neither installation could see the other when running, e.g. by
hiding the inactive installation's partition using BING or similar.

http://www.bootit-ng.com

Splats it.

I have read this three times and it still makes no sense. System Restore on
one disk/partition can no more affect an OS installed on another
disk/partition than system restore on my system can affect my parents system
upstairs, or vice versa.

Alas, you are sooo wrong there.

System Restore monitors certain files wherever they are found, on all
HD volumes. It backs up any changes to these, to subtrees on each HD
volume (this is XP; WinME used to copy everything back to
C:\_RESTORE). When it makes a restore point, a list of the relevant
files is combined with snapshots of the installation's settings files.

The poster has two installations, each of which is going to watch all
monitored files across both installations. WinME would screw up
royally, by splatting each other's SR data, but XP's SR is smart
enough to use a GUID for each installation's backup stash. So
although both installations use the same base subtree directory, they
don't overwrite each other's backup data.

Changes made when one installation is running will not be seen by the
installation that is not running - but where these installations
overlap on shared files, the problems can arise. If these extend into
the installations themselves, e.g. via a shared "Program Files", then
it can get rough - as when one installation's SR is rolled back, only
that installation's registry and settings are rolled back to match.

In fact, it's likely this will invalidate the other installation's SR
data, assuming that unmonitored changes taking place when the
installation is "asleep" haven't done so already.

So yes, there's plenty of FUD around what will happen to his "good"
installation if he uses the SR broadsword to beat flat any undiagnosed
problems he may have in the "disposable" installation.

---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

Gone to bloggery: http://cquirke.blogspot.com

 

[beerismygas]

thanks for all your replies.

that of idea of hiding the partition might be an option. i could
invoke SR, it wond find the stable XP and theoretically wont update
it. or SR could fail to execute .

what i have done is untick the D drive in the SR settings on both XP
setups.
Neither XP shares files with the other so I dont need this setting.

thanks again.