System Restore Points - Stop XP Dual Boot Delete

How to Stop System Restore Points from being Deleted in Vista and Windows 7 when Dual Booting with XP​

   Information

When you are dual booting XP with Vista and/or Windows 7, this will show you how to stop XP from deleting all of the System Restore Points and Shadow Copies in Vista and Windows 7 everytime you start XP.

You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

For more information, see also:

• Microsoft Help and Support: KB926185
• System Restore "restore points" are missing or deleted

   Note

In Vista and Windows 7, shadow copies are used to maintain System Restore Points. Additionally, shadow copies are used to maintain Complete PC Backup files. Therefore, when you access the volume from an earlier operating system (XP), it will delete all restore points and all except the most recent versions of Complete PC Backup files in Vista and Windows 7.

   Tip

This problem occurs because the volume snapshot driver that is included with Vista and Windows 7 uses disk structures that are incompatible with earlier versions of Windows. Therefore, the earlier operating system deletes Vista and Windows 7 shadow copies with the associated restore points. This behavior occurs because the earlier Windows operating systems do not recognize the new disk structures.

   Warning

This does not actually fix the problem. It is a workaround that will stop XP from deleting the restore points and shadow copies. After you restart XP, you will not be able to access the volume Vista and/or Windows 7 is on from XP. However, you can still access the volume that XP is on from Vista and Windows 7.

It has been reported that some 3rd party disk defragmentation programs could also delete your restore points when used.

OPTION ONE

Using a REG File Download

   Warning

This needs to be done in XP, not in Vista or Windows 7. This download assumes that Vista or Windows 7 is installed on the D: drive as the second OS. If this is not true for you, or you need to add another drive to be hidden from XP, then do OPTION TWO below to do this manually with the drive letter that your Vista or Windows 7 is installed on instead.

1. To Stop XP from Deleting Restore Points ​

A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.​

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Stop_XP.reg​

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B) Go to step 3.​

2. To Restore Default Settings in XP​

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A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.​

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Restore_Default_Settings.reg​

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3. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.​

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4. Right click on the downloaded .reg file and click on Merge.​

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5. Approve the merge when prompted.​

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6. Restart XP to apply the changes.​

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7. When done, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.​

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OPTION TWO

Manually Through Registry Editor

   Warning

This needs to be done in XP, not in Vista or Windows 7.

1. Open the Start Menu, click on My Computer to open it, then make note of the drive letter for the Vista and/or Windows 7 installation that you wan to prevent XP from seeing to prevent their restore points from being deleted.​

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2. Open the Start Menu, click on Run to open it,, then type regedit and press Enter.​

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3. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)​

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HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices​

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4. To Stop XP from Deleting Restore Points​

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A) In the left pane, right click on MountedDevices and click on New and Key.​

NOTE: If you already have the Offline key under MountedDevices, then skip this step and go to step 4C. (see screenshot below step 4C )​

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B) Type Offline and press Enter.​

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C) In the right pane of Offline, right click on a empty area and click on New and DWORD Value. (see screenshot below)​

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D) Type \DosDevices\D: and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 4F)​

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NOTE: While in XP, if your Vista or Windows 7 is not showing as being on the D: drive in Computer, then substitute D: with the drive letter that it is shown to be on instead. For example, if it is shown to be on the E: drive, then type \DosDevices\E: instead. Repeat this step if you wish to hide another drive letter from XP.​

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E) In the right pane, right click on \DosDevices\D: and click on Modify.​

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F) Type 1, and click on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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G) The registry should now look like this. (see screenshot below)​

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H) Repeat steps 4C to 4G for any other drive letter that you want to prevent them from being seen by XP.​

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I) Go to step 6.​

5. To Restore the Default XP Settings​

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A) In the right pane of Offline, right click on \DosDevices\D:, and click on Delete. (see screenshot below step 4H)​

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B) Click on Yes to confirm the deletion.​

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C) Repeat step 5 for any other listed drive letter that you would like XP to be able to see again.​

6. Restart XP to apply the changes.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a System Restore Shortcut in Vista
• How to Create a System Restore Point in Vista
• How to Undo the Last System Restore in Vista
• How to Do a System Restore in Vista
• How to Change the System Restore Disk Space Usage in Vista
• How to Turn System Restore On or Off in Vista
• How to Create a Create System Restore Point Shortcut in Vista
• How to Make a "Create System Restore Point" Shortcut in XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Add "Create Restore Point" to Context Menu in XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Change the Default Boot Partition in Vista
• How to Create a Complete Computer Backup and Restore Image in Vista
• How to Change the Automatic System Restore Point Settings in Vista Task Scheduler
• How to Enable or Disable Create Vista System Restore Point when New Device Driver is Installed
• How to Enable or Disable Create Vista System Restore Point when a Application is Installed
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows Vista and XP
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and Vista

 

[Brink]

It would be nice if they would, but I suppose that they may be no longer supporting XP for long or much with Vista out and Windows 7 in the works now.

At least they did issue the two links at the top of the tutorial though to help with this.

 

[Ex_Brit]

Oooops, missed those......groan.

 

[Brink]

LOL, no problem.

 

[Ex_Brit]

OK, thanks. I'm outta here before you......

 

[Brink]

ROFLMAO, that's great.

 

[Ex_Brit]

It should be part of every civilized forum's Terms of Service IMHO....LOL

 

[Brink]

LOL, agreed.

 

[stox]

Hi Stox, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Yes, it will still have the same affect regardless of the 32 bit or 64 bit versions of Vista or XP.

Thanx for the info Shawn. I know have a dual boot 64bit system running

Although i do have another small question. Is it correct that the same issue effects Backups. ie. you mustn't let XP 'see' a Vista backup file ?
As i am/was hoping to use 1 partition for both XP and Vista backups.

Cheers in advance.

Steve.

 

[Brink]

Hi Steve,

It would not be a good idea to share partitions for system backups with XP and Vista. It would most likely have the same effect on the Vista backups as XP did on the Vista System Restore points. You could split that partition though as long as you would not have more than four partitions on the one drive. Afterwards, hide the Vista backup partiton drive letter from XP as well.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[stox]

Hi Shawn

I was thinking along them lines (as in 2 partitions for backup) but just wasn't a 100% sure. Now i am

That now leads me to another problem. I already have a 1TB HDD partitioned into 4, so to keep my backups seperate i ideally need to make that 5 partitions.. o.O

I guess the limit is 4 on any 1 drive... huh ?

You must excuse my dumb questions Shawn i dont actually work with PC's for a living, i'm more a self taught kinda guy.

Steve.

 

[Brink]

No problem Steve, that's how I learned everything on the computer. (See Signature )

Yeah, the limit is 4 partitions per drive though.

 

[stox]

Ok, thanx for that..

Althougth that has got me thinking... i already have 4 partitions on 1 drive. 3 are primary and 1 is logical.

I'm presuming that that is the limitation, or could i have 4 primary's ?

 

[Brink]

It's just a 4 partitions limit of any kind with Disk Management.

 

[stox]

Okies. But is it possible to have 4 primary partitions ?

I know you can have 3 primary partitions in Vista... well thats what mine did originally.

 

[Brink]

Stox,

Yes you can have up to 4 primary partitions per actual hard drive.

See the information box at the top of this tutorial below for more on this. You might be able to setup an extended partition to work around the 4 partition limit using the Microsoft link provided in the table. I have not tried this myself, so I do not know how it will work though.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/95398-disk-management-shrink-partition.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[stox]

okies...

 

[Larvald]

If you have Vista on your C: drive and XP installed on another drive eg. D: this "hiding C:" workaround disables you from installing Adobe Flash Player plug-in on XP. For some reason Flash Player plug-in installation requires C: drive available during installation.
ref. http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb406903&sliceId=1
Error: "You do not have sufficient disk space to complete this installation" when installing Flash Player 10 on Windows
The Adobe FP workaround is not feasible, as renaming C: in order to name another drive C: is not possible.
You Have to undo the "dual boot workaround" then loosing your Vista restore points.

 

[Brink]

Hello Larvald, and welcome to Vista Forums.

After you have undone the "dual boot workaround" and installed the Flash Player, were you able to enable the "dual boot workaround" again without any problems with the Flash Player?

You might try the Adobe Flash Player direct download link to see it will work better for you.

Shawn

 

[Larvald]

Hi Shawn!
Thank you, nice to get a rapid reply!
There was no problem introducing the "dual boot workaround" after the Firefox Flash Player plugins were successfully installed and FP and the "dual boot workaround" works just ok.
The "direct download" install ok even with the "dual boot workaround" activated.
As the Adobe workarund mention installing ActiveX control has not this problem like the plug-in has. Does the "direct download" also install the plug-in?

I was in contact with the Adobe support-portal in my trials to get a solution to my problem. They finally concluded that I had some strange configuration they don't support and thus could not help me. Then I remembered that I long ago did introduce the "dual boot workaround" and jess...
What amazes me is, that am I the only one with a Vista/XP dualboot with Vista on C:? Are there other applications with this C: drive need?

Lars

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Lars,

The direct download installs the Adobe Flash Player IE add-on.