Hide Vista partition(s) from Windows XP - Fix for System R..

I don't know how difficult it could be. I'm not a developer working with
this at MSFT. We asked them to fix it several times and had direct chat
discussions with them during the Beta, and they said they didn't consider
it worth the time, and they didn't have enough time. You could post a
comment directly to them on Jill Zoeller's blog if you sign in:

How restore points and other recovery features in Windows Vista are affected
when you dual-boot with Windows XP

http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/archive/2006/07/14/441829.aspx

Directly from Dan Stevenson who works with this at MSFt:

"Why this fix is not trivial for Windows XP: Backporting volsnap.sys to
Windows XP would require significant development and testing time. The
entire Volume Shadowcopy Service (VSS) subsystem in Windows Server 2003,
Windows Vista, and Windows Server "Longhorn" would need to be backported to
Windows XP and would likely break a number of third-party backup
applications that rely on the current version of volsnap.sys in Windows XP.

The workaround: To avoid losing Windows Vista shadow copies on a disk that
you don't need to access from Windows XP, disconnect or power off the disk
prior to booting to Windows XP."

I believe that a large component of their decision not to backport was that
given the time it would take, they didn't feel it would impact enough people
who dual boot. I'm not in agreement with this, and think it should have
been fixed. But I also have dual booted through about 20 builds of Vista
beta and using the shortcuts I put on my Vista desktop to XP, or just
quickly typing in the filepath, it hasn't been any problem for me.

CH

"Computer Guru" <mqudsi DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1180799969.498300.214590@p47g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
> On Jun 2, 6:49 pm, "babaloo" <fac... DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
>> These are good suggestions.
>> It might be even simpler if Microsoft just allowed you to specify where
>> the
>> system restore files are saved so they are not seen by XP. I presume one
>> can
>> manually do this, or write a simple batch file that will do it on
>> closing.
>> That one would have to resort to any of this tells you all you need to
>> know
>> about programming decisions at Microsoft. If security was really a
>> concern
>> in the creation of Vista this idiot bug could not have been overlooked.
>> What self-serving weanies.
>> Booting to the XP desktop from Vista is not a solution for the millions
>> of
>> us for whom Vista simply does not work adequately for performing real,
>> everyday tasks as opposed to endless twiddling with a defective operating
>> system.
>
> Actually what would be best if Microsoft just patched the damn bug
> already!
> How difficult can it be?
>
> "IF systemrestorefiles.osversion.major = 6 THEN DON'T DELETE IT!"
>
> Well, you get the picture. Even if it needs a hotfix to Vista to make
> it add an identifying mark that says "this was made in vista" and
> another hotfix in XP that checks if it was made in Vista or not, it
> would still be worth it - and not dificult.
>

Hi JCO--

Not a bad idea at all in this and other situations, but I haven't felt any
impact of this phenomenon because I simply shortcut to XP from the Vista
desktop on a dual boot and that saves me time copying anything and also
considerable space on my Vista drive.

CH


"JCO" <someone DeleteThis @somewhere.com> wrote in message
news:OR$U54TpHHA.3512@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Personally, I would insert a Harddrive Cradle on the front of the computer
> so that you can simply turn one HD off and the other on. That way you
> simply change the OS by switching harddrives. Its so simple and safe.
> Cradles work great because you can easily keep 2 or 3 Harddrives plugged
> into the computer at all times. Then you have a switch that turns power
> to the HD on or off.
>
> Simple click of the switch does it all.
>
> "Computer Guru" <ComputerGuru DeleteThis @NeoSmart.net> wrote in message
> news:1180796979.592160.129270@p47g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
>> One of the most common questions I've seen asked here is if it's
>> possible to hide the Windows Vista partition from Windows XP
>> installations because of the bug where Windows XP will delete the
>> system restore points for all Vista installs on that machine if it
>> sees the drive [1]. One solution is to use Bitlocker drive encryption
>> which rarely works and another is to use 3rd party paid products like
>> PQBoot or Acronis OS Selector - none of which are very compatible nor
>> free; and tend to create more problems than they solve.
>>
>> Here is another solution which uses the 100% free EasyBCD and the
>> NeoGrub component - unlike other options, these were built for,
>> around, and on Windows Vista, so compatibility is a non-issue.
>>
>> You can use NeoGrub to boot into multiple Windows XP installations and
>> hide all Vista installs in the progress as well; circumventing the
>> system restore bug entirely.
>>
>> These are the detailed step-by-step instructions:
>> http://neosmart.net/blog/2007/hide-vista-partition-from-xp/
>>
>> EasyBCD can be downloaded for free from http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1
>> NeoGrub Documentation (WIP):
>> http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/NeoGrub
>>
>> Hope this helps!
>>
>> [1]: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926185
>>
>> -Computer Guru
>> http://neosmart.net/
>>
>
>