Vista backup and restore center

[Troy McClure]

very frustrated...

MS says this:

Of course, backup is only as useful as the recovery experience, which has
been expanded in scope and usefulness in Windows Vista. A wizard helps you
select the files or folders to restore and prompts you for restore media.
Then it restores the files you select.

thats just not accurate! i just did a backup, which happens as an image, not
a file-level backup. then as a test i tried clicking "restore files" and was
told there are no backups to restore... anyone having issues with this "new
and improved" backup experience?

 

[Troy McClure]

ok so if you choose "backup files" there is no way to specify what files to
backup... only what file types (ridiculous)
then it creates a bunch of zip files in the destination... the restore
process does let you pick individual files to restore... which makes it even
stranger that you cant specify individual files to backup! this needs work!

 

[MICHAEL]

Troy,

If you want to save yourself some aggravation and use
a better product, I suggest Acronis True Image 10. It does
more than just make images. It is an excellent file backup
program... it is what you are wanting. I'm sure they have
a trial download. Test it and see. You'll like and it will be some
of the best money you have ever spent on software.
Without a doubt.

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

-Michael

 

[Troy McClure]

ive always used ghost... but v9 doesnt run on vista. i need the capability
of taking an image based backup, but then being able to "browse" the image
and selectively restore files from it.... why MS didnt include this
capability ill never understand

ill try ghost10 and see if it works for vista yet

 

[MICHAEL]

You can explore the images created by Acronis True Image.

-Michael

 

[MICHAEL]

There is an additional option you might want to look into.

Using VHDMount.

http://blogs.msdn.com/permanenttan/...ring-for-vista-backup-and-restore-part-2.aspx

 

[Troy McClure]

very cool. i wasnt aware of that....

There is an additional option you might want to look into.

Using VHDMount.

http://blogs.msdn.com/permanenttan/...ring-for-vista-backup-and-restore-part-2.aspx

 

[MICHAEL]

I'd be interested in your opinion on how well this works.
If I have time over the weekend, I'll try it, too.

Take care,

Michael

 

[Richard Urban]

Troy,

Everyone says "Microsoft should include this or that" and then, if Microsoft
does, they get the pants sued off of them.

They have to be very careful to leave "room for improvement" in any new
functionality that they include in the operating system. Therefore, any new
module will be useful, but not as much so as a third party program.

Just get TrueImage HOME 10.0 at $49.00

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

Symentec's public BETA of "Symantec 360" includes what is now called
Backup & Restore aka GHOST ......

 

[MICHAEL]

More info:

http://blogs.technet.com/daven/archive/2006/12/15/vhdmount-without-virtual-server.aspx
VHDMOUNT without Virtual Server
Just in case you quite fancy being able to mount (and unmount) a single file into your file
sytstem and use it as a disk drive, but do NOT want to install Virtual Server 2005 R2.

Download the setup file for Virtual Sevrer R2 SP1 Beta 2 and follow these instructions (from
the release notes):

Installing VHD Mount

VHD Mount components are installed as part of Virtual Server default installation at \Program
Files\Microsoft Virtual Server\VHDMount. To install only the VHD Mount components, use the
Custom option in the Virtual Server installer and clear all components except VHD Mount.

 

[MICHAEL]

Troy,

It was a bit tricky doing this, here's what I had to do.

VHDMount installed just fine.
I then merged this file into the registry;
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2006/09/01/734435.aspx

I rebooted, not sure if you have to.

I then found my vhd file and double clicked it,
hoping it would just mount up like it's suppose to.
You may have to right click and use "Open With".
The "installing new hardware" popped up. Said there
was a problem with the install. Went to Device Manager
had a look at Disk Drives. It was listed but with an
exclamation mark. Went to "Update Driver" and tried
this:
https://connect.microsoft.com/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=190827&SiteID=151&wa=wsignin1.0
This issue is because of the driver not being WHQL signed and because of the system doesn't
pick up the required driver.
The workaround is that after you plug in the VHD through vhdmount.exe, go to device manager and
update driver on the new device that shows up in the device manager. Update the driver with the
driver file stored at %program files%\microsoft virtual server\vhdmount\vhdstor.inf. After
successful installation you will see the drive in the disk manager.

Didn't work. Then went back to "Update Driver". Chose
"Browse for Driver", then "Let Me pick from a list"
You should see the one that says "Microsoft Virtual Device",
Install it.

Okay, that took away the exclamation on the device.

I probably should have rebooted at this point, but I did not.

So, I look at "My Computer" and don't see the device,
nor in Windows Explorer. I go ahead and try to mount the
vhd, a command window opens up and says it is plugged in,
press enter to continue. Well, I still don't see it.

I go into Administrative Tools>Computer Management
and I see it. I assign it a drive letter, and bingo, it's there.
You can easily explore all the files in the image backup.

Problem: I have to reinstall the driver for the Virtual Device
every single time I mount the vhd.

I think I'll stick with Acronis True Image 10.

YMMV. I hope it does.

So much for trying this out this weekend.

Perhaps, some knowledgeable person can throw
some enlightenment upon us.


-Michael

 

[Alexander Suhovey]

Thanks for the info, MICHAEL.

Just tried that on my CompletePC Backup and Virtual PC VHDs and it works
just fine mounting VHD as a standard hard drive.

Here's step-by-step instructions for anyone interested:
http://community.bartdesmet.net/blogs/bart/archive/2006/09/02/4385.aspx

And here's a reg file from "Virtual PC Guy" that adds Mount/Unmount commands
to VHD context menus:
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2006/09/01/734435.aspx

 

[Alexander Suhovey]

Problem: I have to reinstall the driver for the Virtual Device

every single time I mount the vhd.

Yes, that's annoying. I hope it will be fixed in RTM of Virtual Server.

 

[MICHAEL]

Alexander, for some reason the registry file is not
adding the commands to my VHDs context menu.
It does list VHDMount as option in "Open With",
but no Mount/Unmount commands.

-Michael

 

[MICHAEL]

Okay, changed the default program that VHDs are
opened with. It was set to VPC 2007. Now,
Mount/Unmount are in the right click context menu
of the VHDs.

-Michael

 

[MICHAEL]

Yes, that's annoying. I hope it will be fixed in RTM of Virtual Server.

Me, too. But, it does work, and provides a way to get to
those files in the VHD. I'm sure quite a few users are going to
ask how to get to those individual files contained in the VHD.
I've seen several ask that already. Just wait.

-Michael

 

[Guest]

First of all, I disagree that we should have to get a third party program to
cover a problem that did not exist in XP or 2000. They had the program just
right for these two versions, and whatever made them decide to make the
change is beyond me. What it looks like is that they are catering to the
uninformed and have left those of us who know what we want out in the cold,
and this is not good policy. My opinion: If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!
cause it will then BE broken.

Annette