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    I currently run WHS to backup 5 Systems - 1 laptop + 4 Desktops and all is working great. I have used the system to restore systems several times to replace a failed drive or even just to resolve problems I knew were created by #2 son downloading anything and everything in sight. These forums have been invaluable in sorting though all the questions and problems I've encountered along the way, but I can't find, nor can I recall seeing a discussion of this question. 

    I'm about to bring in a new laptop, and my plan is to dual-boot WinXP and Vista. How does WHS see that for backup purposes? Will it see it as the same system, whether booted with XP or Vista (not likely, i think) or will it see the system essentially as 2, depending on which OS is booted?

    Since both OS's exist on the hard drive as separate volumes, will a backup run on 1 side (say XP booted) also backup the other volume containing Vista? If so, do i then need to only have 1 side "connect" to WHS for backup purposes?

    There must be someone else out there who has tried this - anybody with any hints to share?

    Thanx in advance...

    JohnBrown
    Monday, November 17, 2008 9:20 PM

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    WHS will consider it two different systems, and it will by default backup both volumes (as long as they are both formatted NTFS).

    So if you boot the Vista install, and WHS backup runs it will also backup the XP partition and vice versa, unless you choose to deselect the partition for backup manually in backup config.

    You can use both backups (XP or Vista) to do a full restore of the system. Sometimes the system may not boot after full restore, however in general that can be fixed readily by booting from the Vista install DVD and then run Startup Repair.

    In theory it's fine to connect and run backups only from one OS, which should preferably be the default OS when you are backing up the computers when they are asleep or hibernating ("Wake this computer backup" from the WHS system tray icon )
    Monday, November 17, 2008 9:41 PM
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    The recommendation on a multi-boot system is to install the connector on the OS that's used the most often, which is usually the one that boots by default. By installing the connector for that OS, you ensure that the entire computer will get backed up as often as possible. If that OS is Linux, well, pick another. :)

    In your scenario, which OS will you use the most?
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Tuesday, November 18, 2008 2:34 AM
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    WHS will consider it two different systems, and it will by default backup both volumes (as long as they are both formatted NTFS).

    So if you boot the Vista install, and WHS backup runs it will also backup the XP partition and vice versa, unless you choose to deselect the partition for backup manually in backup config.

    You can use both backups (XP or Vista) to do a full restore of the system. Sometimes the system may not boot after full restore, however in general that can be fixed readily by booting from the Vista install DVD and then run Startup Repair.

    In theory it's fine to connect and run backups only from one OS, which should preferably be the default OS when you are backing up the computers when they are asleep or hibernating ("Wake this computer backup" from the WHS system tray icon )
    Monday, November 17, 2008 9:41 PM
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    The recommendation on a multi-boot system is to install the connector on the OS that's used the most often, which is usually the one that boots by default. By installing the connector for that OS, you ensure that the entire computer will get backed up as often as possible. If that OS is Linux, well, pick another. :)

    In your scenario, which OS will you use the most?
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Tuesday, November 18, 2008 2:34 AM
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    Thx Ken and Brubber, that's what I was thinking too... I'll boot XP most of the time (for now anyway) so I'll just let that side back it up. Since the Boot Manager comes from the Vista side, that may be what won't work in a restore scenario, but like Brubber said, that's relatively easy to fix.

    Thanx again...
    jb
    Tuesday, November 18, 2008 2:49 PM
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    I've just gone through a similar scenario:

    Staring point:
    Windows XP installed on main partition

    Mid point:
    Windows 7 added as dual boot (though, used Boot to VHD feature of Ultimate)

    Desired end point was:
    Windows 7 restored as only OS on main partition

    I had backed up the entire machine to WHS as XP only.
    I had backed up only the Win 7 drive to WHS after getting to dual boot.

    Problem I had was this:
    After restoring the Win 7 backup to the primary partition, I was left without a boot loader.

    The reason that happened (and could NOT be fixed by the Win 7 recovery feature), is that the original partition never had any boot info on it (it was all on the primary partition).

    I was able to fix it by copying bootmgr over (yes, it didn't exist after the restore), as well as a boot.ini that was properly set up.

    After that -- things were great!

    Except, be sure to reboot the machine *prior* to making the backup that you'll want to restore, or else any registry settings that were modified since the last startup won't be saved in the backup and you'll have to make those changes again.

    Cheers
    Mike
    Tuesday, December 1, 2009 9:35 PM