Dual boot image
I am using a dual boot sistem with Win xP and Win 7 in two diferent partitions of the same physical disc.- I usually make incremental backup system images of both partitions with Acronis True Image Home 2010.- Want to know if I can recover both partitions in dual booting without problems in case of a system or disc failure.-
Thanks
I have a triple boot of OS's on my PC.
I never was a fan of incremental backups.
For me, a dedicated LARGE external HD is the way to go. It really isnt' a problem to schedule a full image backup (or FIC to you mainframe guys), let Acronis do it's work and shutdown the PC when finished.
I never had a problem recovering yet!
Jorge,
It should work just fine. Make sure you include all the partitions that contain and OS, any hidden partition (system reserved, diagnostics, OEM, recovery, etc) and the active partition.
My backup comprehends both XP and Win 7 partitions, is it posible to restore only the Win 7 partition ?.- Shouldnt be no problems with the booting files or configuration ?
Thanks
Depending on your computer, the actual boot files could be in the restored partition or not. If the backup you restore was done at a time where the dual boot was setup as you want to restore it, it shouldn't matter. If you restore however a partition that contains the boot files in a state where the dual boot was not enabled the way you want it now, you would obviously end up in a undesirable situation. IT is however easy to fix such a situation with the Win7 installation DVD.
Thanks for you reply
I set up my dual boot using EasyBCD, and when booting, both Win XP and Win 7 64, appear as options to be selected.- The following are the EasyBCD settings:
"There are a total of 2 entries listed in the bootloader.
Default: WIN 7 64
Timeout: 8 seconds
Boot Drive: D:\
Entry #1
Name: WIN XP
BCD ID: {ntldr}
Drive: D:\
Bootloader Path: \ntldr
Entry #2
Name: WIN 7 64
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe".-
In that situation I made the original partitions backup, and kept it afterwards updated with incremental backups.- How can I know where are the boot files ?
I asume that problems can appear only when trying to restore one of both partitions, and contrary if I restore both partitions there should be no problem, is it so ?
In case of problems how can it be fixed with the Win7 DVD ?
Thanks again
Since you use EasyBCD, you simply use this tool to update your dual boot configuration in case you have problems, whether the problems happens at the MBR level or the BCD level...
In your case, you should have no problems backing up and restoring the partitions together or independently.
For example, if you were to change disk, you would simply restore each partition separately, then restore the MBR+track0 after the second restore, with the disk signature. Or you could initialize the disk using the ATI recovery CD, recover your partitions, if need be use the Windows installation DVD to repair the startup to be able to boot in at least on partition with EasyBCD installed and then use EasyBCD to update the boot configuration.
See http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Repairing+the+Windows+Bootloader
And http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Updating+the+MBR+and+Bootsector
Thanks Pat L