Vista - Complete PC Backup Problem

I have been trying to use Complete PC to back up my image of VISTA.
If I do this to a separate hard drive, I have no problem backing up and
recovering.

However, my problems begin when I try and backup to DVD. It gets so far
before toasting the first DVD it is backing up, and it makes no difference
about what brand of DVD I use.

Now I could try installing a different DVD burner to see if that helps,
but is it possible to force Complete PC to save the DVD images to the Hard
Drive
and use other burning software to burn the DVDs?

If not, any suggestions about any Virtual DVD software to make
Complete PC think it is writing to a real DVD?

Any help would be appreciated.

I have no problem with creating Complete PC Backups straight to DVD(s),
but I would be very interested in an answer to this question, as well.

kpm99 wrote:
<snip>

is it possible to force Complete PC to save the DVD images to the Hard
> Drive and use other burning software to burn the DVDs?

I have a similar problem but (using Vista Business on a new Sony SZ laptop)
it allows me only to backup the first DVD-R, then it keeps asking about disk
1, that it burns again, then again disk 1...and so on. It also only allows me
to open the driver door with software commands.
A

"Daze N. Knights" wrote:

> I have no problem with creating Complete PC Backups straight to DVD(s),
> but I would be very interested in an answer to this question, as well.
>
> kpm99 wrote:
> <snip>
>
> is it possible to force Complete PC to save the DVD images to the Hard
> > Drive and use other burning software to burn the DVDs?
>

Your description about Complete PC asking for Disk 1 again and again,
describes exactly what is happening to me.
Hopefully, we can get some sort of solution.


"AndyB64" wrote:

> I have a similar problem but (using Vista Business on a new Sony SZ laptop)
> it allows me only to backup the first DVD-R, then it keeps asking about disk
> 1, that it burns again, then again disk 1...and so on. It also only allows me
> to open the driver door with software commands.
> A
>
>

Since it is three days that I posted the first message here and I got no
reply, in desperation...I am trying a complete back-up on an external hard
disk I have, to see if something changes. Indeed that's not as portable as
DVDs and anyway is only a partial solution but...what else to do?

I think I am going to buy Acronis True Image Home 10, it seems to do all and
better than Vista, but.....this is no why I bought Vista. Thanks for
Microsoft no-one is around me or they would hear my 'satisfaction' loud. I am
a bit fuming from my ears at the moment....one buys the
brand-new-revenge-of-the-century-OS and one of it's main 'advantages' does
not work. I wonder about the rest.

I let you know how it goes ok? Meanwhile let's hope someone here is able to
shed a light.

A

PS-Are you able to open the driver door with the button at least? My driver
seems to work allright with any other program but the door gets locked only
in this specific case, so I think it is working allright (not faulty I mean).
How is your door behaving? Just out of curiosity.

"kpm99" wrote:

> Your description about Complete PC asking for Disk 1 again and again,
> describes exactly what is happening to me.
> Hopefully, we can get some sort of solution.
>
>
> "AndyB64" wrote:
>
> > I have a similar problem but (using Vista Business on a new Sony SZ laptop)
> > it allows me only to backup the first DVD-R, then it keeps asking about disk
> > 1, that it burns again, then again disk 1...and so on. It also only allows me
> > to open the driver door with software commands.
> > A
> >
> >

Yes, it is odd that no knowledgeable person has had anything to say yet
that might help you. I've had no trouble creating Complete PC Backups
straight to DVD(s), and that is the only way I've done it so far. If
your backup to an external hard drive results in an image (or ISO) file,
and it is small enough to fit on one DVD, then you should be able to
burn that to a DVD. If it is too big for one DVD, however, (which is
likely) I'm not sure how to properly split it.


AndyB64 wrote:
> Since it is three days that I posted the first message here and I got no
> reply, in desperation...I am trying a complete back-up on an external hard
> disk I have, to see if something changes. Indeed that's not as portable as
> DVDs and anyway is only a partial solution but...what else to do?
>
> I think I am going to buy Acronis True Image Home 10, it seems to do all and
> better than Vista, but.....this is no why I bought Vista. Thanks for
> Microsoft no-one is around me or they would hear my 'satisfaction' loud. I am
> a bit fuming from my ears at the moment....one buys the
> brand-new-revenge-of-the-century-OS and one of it's main 'advantages' does
> not work. I wonder about the rest.
>
> I let you know how it goes ok? Meanwhile let's hope someone here is able to
> shed a light.
>
> A
>
> PS-Are you able to open the driver door with the button at least? My driver
> seems to work allright with any other program but the door gets locked only
> in this specific case, so I think it is working allright (not faulty I mean).
> How is your door behaving? Just out of curiosity.
>
> "kpm99" wrote:
>
>> Your description about Complete PC asking for Disk 1 again and again,
>> describes exactly what is happening to me.
>> Hopefully, we can get some sort of solution.
>>
>>
>> "AndyB64" wrote:
>>
>>> I have a similar problem but (using Vista Business on a new Sony SZ laptop)
>>> it allows me only to backup the first DVD-R, then it keeps asking about disk
>>> 1, that it burns again, then again disk 1...and so on. It also only allows me
>>> to open the driver door with software commands.
>>> A
>>>
>>>

Could not backup Complete PC on external disk as it is 'not NTSF formatted'
it tells me. I could backup files allright though (which I never managed to
do on DVDs) but as I try the complete back up it tells me the external disck
is no good as it is not formatted as NTSF. I cannot reformat it as I have
other data from my other computer at home. I think I need to buy a new
external disk as the only way out of this, probably. Not sure. I tried
another complete back up on DVD but same story as ever...no luck.
A

"AndyB64" wrote:

> Since it is three days that I posted the first message here and I got no
> reply, in desperation...I am trying a complete back-up on an external hard
> disk I have, to see if something changes. Indeed that's not as portable as
> DVDs and anyway is only a partial solution but...what else to do?
>
> I think I am going to buy Acronis True Image Home 10, it seems to do all and
> better than Vista, but.....this is no why I bought Vista. Thanks for
> Microsoft no-one is around me or they would hear my 'satisfaction' loud. I am
> a bit fuming from my ears at the moment....one buys the
> brand-new-revenge-of-the-century-OS and one of it's main 'advantages' does
> not work. I wonder about the rest.
>
> I let you know how it goes ok? Meanwhile let's hope someone here is able to
> shed a light.
>
> A
>
> PS-Are you able to open the driver door with the button at least? My driver
> seems to work allright with any other program but the door gets locked only
> in this specific case, so I think it is working allright (not faulty I mean).
> How is your door behaving? Just out of curiosity.
>
> "kpm99" wrote:
>
> > Your description about Complete PC asking for Disk 1 again and again,
> > describes exactly what is happening to me.
> > Hopefully, we can get some sort of solution.
> >
> >
> > "AndyB64" wrote:
> >
> > > I have a similar problem but (using Vista Business on a new Sony SZ laptop)
> > > it allows me only to backup the first DVD-R, then it keeps asking about disk
> > > 1, that it burns again, then again disk 1...and so on. It also only allows me
> > > to open the driver door with software commands.
> > > A
> > >
> > >

Andy, I'm sorry but I never saw your post from 3 days ago. I only saw this
one today. I'm not sure what's going on with your DVD burning...I would
suggest making sure you have the latest drivers and maybe turning down the
burning speed or trying other DVD media. I will ask the Backup team if they
are aware of any issues in this area.

As for the Complete PC Backup, the target must be either an NTFS volume or a
DVD. If your external disk is FAT32, you can always convert it using the
convert.exe command (from an elevated command prompt). Though DVDs are more
portable, there are numerous advantages to burning your Complete PC Backups
to disk--specifically, the incremental changes are saved as shadow copies,
so they are much smaller than the "full" backup.

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows file and storage technologies? Visit our
team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.


"AndyB64" <AndyB64@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:197EFF49-1023-4550-A089-415B0D844D18@microsoft.com...
> Could not backup Complete PC on external disk as it is 'not NTSF
> formatted'
> it tells me. I could backup files allright though (which I never managed
> to
> do on DVDs) but as I try the complete back up it tells me the external
> disck
> is no good as it is not formatted as NTSF. I cannot reformat it as I have
> other data from my other computer at home. I think I need to buy a new
> external disk as the only way out of this, probably. Not sure. I tried
> another complete back up on DVD but same story as ever...no luck.
> A
>
> "AndyB64" wrote:
>
>> Since it is three days that I posted the first message here and I got no
>> reply, in desperation...I am trying a complete back-up on an external
>> hard
>> disk I have, to see if something changes. Indeed that's not as portable
>> as
>> DVDs and anyway is only a partial solution but...what else to do?
>>
>> I think I am going to buy Acronis True Image Home 10, it seems to do all
>> and
>> better than Vista, but.....this is no why I bought Vista. Thanks for
>> Microsoft no-one is around me or they would hear my 'satisfaction' loud.
>> I am
>> a bit fuming from my ears at the moment....one buys the
>> brand-new-revenge-of-the-century-OS and one of it's main 'advantages'
>> does
>> not work. I wonder about the rest.
>>
>> I let you know how it goes ok? Meanwhile let's hope someone here is able
>> to
>> shed a light.
>>
>> A
>>
>> PS-Are you able to open the driver door with the button at least? My
>> driver
>> seems to work allright with any other program but the door gets locked
>> only
>> in this specific case, so I think it is working allright (not faulty I
>> mean).
>> How is your door behaving? Just out of curiosity.
>>
>> "kpm99" wrote:
>>
>> > Your description about Complete PC asking for Disk 1 again and again,
>> > describes exactly what is happening to me.
>> > Hopefully, we can get some sort of solution.
>> >
>> >
>> > "AndyB64" wrote:
>> >
>> > > I have a similar problem but (using Vista Business on a new Sony SZ
>> > > laptop)
>> > > it allows me only to backup the first DVD-R, then it keeps asking
>> > > about disk
>> > > 1, that it burns again, then again disk 1...and so on. It also only
>> > > allows me
>> > > to open the driver door with software commands.
>> > > A
>> > >
>> > >

I have tried Arcronis True Image 10, but have also found problems.
Mainly - it only seemed to see hard drives formatted with NTFS under XP,
Drives formatted with NTFS under VISTA were not appearing.

Also, it backed up to DVD ok, but I tried restore it from DVD it didn't
allow me to restore it directly from the DVD drive, I had to put the images
on to the hard disk first - what is the point of that?

It does however see USB hard drives and shared networked drives, so there
some more options to retrieve backups.


So until Microsoft sort this DVD issue out, I might still use Acronis for
DVD backup despite the limitations.

"AndyB64" wrote:

> Since it is three days that I posted the first message here and I got no
> reply, in desperation...I am trying a complete back-up on an external hard
> disk I have, to see if something changes. Indeed that's not as portable as
> DVDs and anyway is only a partial solution but...what else to do?
>
> I think I am going to buy Acronis True Image Home 10, it seems to do all and
> better than Vista, but.....this is no why I bought Vista. Thanks for
> Microsoft no-one is around me or they would hear my 'satisfaction' loud. I am
> a bit fuming from my ears at the moment....one buys the
> brand-new-revenge-of-the-century-OS and one of it's main 'advantages' does
> not work. I wonder about the rest.
>
> I let you know how it goes ok? Meanwhile let's hope someone here is able to
> shed a light.
>
> A
>
> PS-Are you able to open the driver door with the button at least? My driver
> seems to work allright with any other program but the door gets locked only
> in this specific case, so I think it is working allright (not faulty I mean).
> How is your door behaving? Just out of curiosity.
>
> "kpm99" wrote:
>
> > Your description about Complete PC asking for Disk 1 again and again,
> > describes exactly what is happening to me.
> > Hopefully, we can get some sort of solution.
> >
> >
> > "AndyB64" wrote:
> >
> > > I have a similar problem but (using Vista Business on a new Sony SZ laptop)
> > > it allows me only to backup the first DVD-R, then it keeps asking about disk
> > > 1, that it burns again, then again disk 1...and so on. It also only allows me
> > > to open the driver door with software commands.
> > > A
> > >
> > >

Try different media.
I saw this with poor media, but with quality media it has been ok.

I use the full backup prob every other day to an external disk on my Vaio &
it's never faulted yet.

"AndyB64" <AndyB64@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0EE72F7C-476C-40EA-9FEC-21CF1D24387D@microsoft.com...
>I have a similar problem but (using Vista Business on a new Sony SZ laptop)
> it allows me only to backup the first DVD-R, then it keeps asking about
> disk
> 1, that it burns again, then again disk 1...and so on. It also only allows
> me
> to open the driver door with software commands.
> A
>
> "Daze N. Knights" wrote:
>
>> I have no problem with creating Complete PC Backups straight to DVD(s),
>> but I would be very interested in an answer to this question, as well.
>>
>> kpm99 wrote:
>> <snip>
>>
>> is it possible to force Complete PC to save the DVD images to the Hard
>> > Drive and use other burning software to burn the DVDs?
>>