Beginners question about backup/restore XP/VISTA

Hello!

I'm not sure about how to backup my system.

First of all this is how it is built:

Harddisk 1 / Partition 1 : XP Home (SP2)
Harddisk 1 / Partition 2 : Vista Home Premium

Now, how do i correctly backup this system? Should i backup the WHOLE harddisk or each partition for its own? I am asking because i don't know how True Image does modify the MBR when i restore one partition.

For example: When i restore my XP, does Vista (and the bootmenu) still work?

Another question: Does True Image also restore the original MBR when i restore a partition?

Hope you understand what i mean, my english is not the best one.

Greetings from Austria,

Markus

 

Once you have both OS's installed and working properly, it's generally a good idea to make a backup image of the entire drive. That way you have a good base image to fall back on later, if necessary.

Single partitions can be restored without restoring the MBR.

There are still a few "bugs" with restoring Vista. Be aware that a restore of either partition may require you to run the Repair option from the Vista DVD. Take a look at this thread for more information. Vista seems to do okay when the entire drive is restored or when restoring an already repaired Vista partition.

 

Hello Markus71,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please note that you can restore a single partition from the backup of the entire drive. Thus, if you have two partitions on the drive and wish to back up both of them you can create an image of the entire drive. In addition, as MudCrab mentioned you can restore the partition from the image backup without restoring the MBR.

Please also have a look at this thread (posts #14 and #18 ) to find the information about restoring the MBR.

You can find the detailed instructions on how to use Acronis True Image 10.0 Home in the respective User's Guide.

Thank you.
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Aleksandr Isakov