System Restore Points - Stop XP Dual Boot Delete

**Brink** · 06 Feb 2008

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:

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.

Stop_XP.reg file.

B) Go to step 3.

2. To Restore Default Settings in XP

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

Restore_Default_Settings.reg

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

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

5. Approve the merge when prompted.

6. Restart XP to apply the changes.

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

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.

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

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

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

4. To Stop XP from Deleting Restore Points

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 )

B) Type Offline and press Enter.

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

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

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.

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

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

System Restore Points - Stop XP Dual Boot Delete-modify-jpg

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

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

I) Go to step 6.

5. To Restore the Default XP Settings

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

B) Click on Yes to confirm the deletion.

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.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

**Noel** · 17 Feb 2008

Wonderful overview--THANK YOU!

Shawn, do you know if need to install Vista BEFORE adding this reg tweak, but before rebooting to XP?

Noel

**Brink** · 17 Feb 2008

Hi Noel,

Yes, Vista will need to be installed first. Afterwards, just boot into XP and apply the reg tweak to hide Vista from XP.

Shawn

**Emile** · 23 Feb 2008

Hello,
I run a Dual Boot XP and Vista . I had the described problem : the restore points of Vista deleted by XP . I applied the suggested fix in the registry and the restore point problem is solved.
BUT now from time to time (not always) when running XP and I request a restart I receive a black screen and the PC reboots... no "Saving your settings" , no "Shutting down" window anymore ...

When I request a shutdown I have the "saving your settings" and "shutting down" windows;

Any recommendation?
Thanks in advance.

**Brink** · 23 Feb 2008

Hi Emile,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

This is usually related to when you have something running in the background and how long it takes for XP to shut them down when you click Shutdown or Restart. When nothing is running, it can shutdown very quickly.

I believe XP has these same settings as Vista. Add a bit more to the WaitToKillServiceTimeout string value name to allow for more time for XP to shutdown things. The default in Vista is 20000, you might try bumping it up to 25000.

Shutdown

Hope this helps,
Shawn

**Emile** · 23 Feb 2008

Hello Brink,
Just to clarify when I request a "restart" in XP and the problem happens I receive immediatly the black screen and PC reboots

The PC does NOT wait.

**Brink** · 23 Feb 2008

Emile,

My apologies, it should still apply to Restart since it calls for XP to shutdown first, then restart.

**Emile** · 23 Feb 2008

Hi Brink,
I did apply the suggested modification to my XP registry and , up to now, all seams OK
Thanks

**Brink** · 23 Feb 2008

You're welcome Emile. Glad that it is working ok for you now.

Shawn

**rseiler** · 28 Feb 2008

Chicken and egg: How do you apply this fix to XP from Vista without booting into XP first? I'm thinking that doing a "Load Hive" in Vista's regedit would be the way, but I'm not sure and am not comfortable doing that (though I do use regedit frequently for more normal things).

System Restore Points - Stop XP Dual Boot Delete

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