[Download] Vista Hide 'n Seek BETA
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la-dee-da-dee
Member
Problems with XP and Unhiding Drives after Uninstall?
I recently installed BCD and HnS on an HP Laptop so that I could have a dual operating system; Windows Vista & Windows XP.
Everything was working fine until the root C:// drive (vista) security settings began blocking me from making any changes to the root directory, all the icons in windows xp locked, and the internet connection in XP stopped working. After trying to fix these problems manually for awhile I decieded to uninstall HnS. But the drives were still hidden, how do I unhide the drives while operating in XP after running HnS. Have you heard of the desktop icons and internet connection on the xp opperating system locking yet?
I recently installed BCD and HnS on an HP Laptop so that I could have a dual operating system; Windows Vista & Windows XP.
Everything was working fine until the root C:// drive (vista) security settings began blocking me from making any changes to the root directory, all the icons in windows xp locked, and the internet connection in XP stopped working. After trying to fix these problems manually for awhile I decieded to uninstall HnS. But the drives were still hidden, how do I unhide the drives while operating in XP after running HnS. Have you heard of the desktop icons and internet connection on the xp opperating system locking yet?
Hi La, welcome to NST.
Don't quite understand your problem.
What is C: ? Vista or XP.
You seem to be saying that Vista is C: and you can't alter it from XP ?
That's what HnS is for.
It stops XP touching Vista.
You must make Vista changes from Vista.
If you've removed HnS while in XP, of course Vista is hidden.
The unhide happens when you boot Vista.
You should have booted Vista then removed HnS whilst everything was unhidden.
If you can't get back into Vista now, you'll need a 3rd party partition manager to flip the "hidden" bit on the Vista partition (you can pick Gparted up free online if you don't own one)
Don't quite understand your problem.
What is C: ? Vista or XP.
You seem to be saying that Vista is C: and you can't alter it from XP ?
That's what HnS is for.
It stops XP touching Vista.
You must make Vista changes from Vista.
If you've removed HnS while in XP, of course Vista is hidden.
The unhide happens when you boot Vista.
You should have booted Vista then removed HnS whilst everything was unhidden.
If you can't get back into Vista now, you'll need a 3rd party partition manager to flip the "hidden" bit on the Vista partition (you can pick Gparted up free online if you don't own one)
la-dee-da-dee
Member
Problems with XP after installing HnS
After installing HnS on my my drive with Vista I began having problems with the XP drive and opperating system. For instance the internet connections stopped working and all of the files on the XP drive are now locked. I can not drag and drop them into new locations, and the copy and paste commands are no longer working. Now I am thinking I should reinstall windows XP.... any suggestions on the best way to do this. Should I uninstall HnS before reinstalling xp?
After installing HnS on my my drive with Vista I began having problems with the XP drive and opperating system. For instance the internet connections stopped working and all of the files on the XP drive are now locked. I can not drag and drop them into new locations, and the copy and paste commands are no longer working. Now I am thinking I should reinstall windows XP.... any suggestions on the best way to do this. Should I uninstall HnS before reinstalling xp?
Coolname007
Distinguished Member
Sounds like you got some kind of virus...
If you want to reinstall, probably best to uninstall HnS first, yeah. And then, install XP, reboot, and boot from the Vista DVD, access Startup Repair (from the options offered after selecting "Repair My Computer"), and run it 2-3 times to get your Vista boot working again. Then just install HnS again, and hide Vista from XP.
Cheers.
Jake
la-dee-da-dee
Member
Ok when uninstall HnS, the drives are still hidden.... having trouble downloading Gparted as well. Are there any othe programs out there?
Addendum:
Once HnS has been uninstalled I receive an access denied error when trying to edit any of the files in the root directory of my vista drive. I get an access denied alert box. When try to boot into the XP drive it says I am missing a boot.ini file? Any suggestions?
Addendum:
Once HnS has been uninstalled I receive an access denied error when trying to edit any of the files in the root directory of my vista drive. I get an access denied alert box. When try to boot into the XP drive it says I am missing a boot.ini file? Any suggestions?
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Coolname007
Distinguished Member
Which OS did you uninstall HnS from?
I assumed you would have done it from Vista, since your XP was messing up.
Uninstalling it from XP means Vista is still hidden...
Why are you trying to edit files in your Vista partition?
I assumed you would have done it from Vista, since your XP was messing up.
Uninstalling it from XP means Vista is still hidden...
Why are you trying to edit files in your Vista partition?
la-dee-da-dee
Member
I uninstalled HnS from Vista and I was trying to edit files on my vista partition because I enjoy tinkering. (LoL) Is HnS designed to lock down the the files in Vista root directory?
Thanks for trying to help.... I am now in the process of re-formatting and reinstalling both vista and xp on my computer and debating if I want to install HnS again.......
Pros: Creating seperate restore points for each operating system (Never made use of this)
Cons: Can't access the vista drive for information when working in XP. (Really Annoying)
When I did have HnS installed I never restored anything so maybe Im better off just creating a backup image of the dual partitioned drives at different points in time... anyone know the best way to do that?
I would have enjoyed finding this forum without google, Thanks
La-Dee
Thanks for trying to help.... I am now in the process of re-formatting and reinstalling both vista and xp on my computer and debating if I want to install HnS again.......
Pros: Creating seperate restore points for each operating system (Never made use of this)
Cons: Can't access the vista drive for information when working in XP. (Really Annoying)
When I did have HnS installed I never restored anything so maybe Im better off just creating a backup image of the dual partitioned drives at different points in time... anyone know the best way to do that?
I would have enjoyed finding this forum without google, Thanks
La-Dee
HnS only has one function. It protects Vista/W7 restore points.
If you don't use system restore, you don't need it.
(Having said that - Parkinson's law dictates that the moment you lose your restore points will be the exact time where you wish you still had them to avoid the otherwise inevitable reinstall)
You don't use system restore as such.
It's like your house or car insurance.
You pay for it in the supreme hope that you will never use it.
Removing HnS is like letting your insurance policy lapse, probably not a problem, possibly a disaster.
It's a matter of personal philosophy.
If you don't use system restore, you don't need it.
(Having said that - Parkinson's law dictates that the moment you lose your restore points will be the exact time where you wish you still had them to avoid the otherwise inevitable reinstall)
You don't use system restore as such.
It's like your house or car insurance.
You pay for it in the supreme hope that you will never use it.
Removing HnS is like letting your insurance policy lapse, probably not a problem, possibly a disaster.
It's a matter of personal philosophy.
la-dee-da-dee
Member
Speaking in analogy, If I can take enough pictures of the house, keep my valuables somewhere else, and have the time and resources to rebuild I'm thinking that makes more sense?
Any ideas on programs that take an image of the hard drive to be restored at a later date? I realize this is off this thread's subject but now that there are 34 pages of information regarding one way to do things, I'm just exploring alternatives.
Any ideas on programs that take an image of the hard drive to be restored at a later date? I realize this is off this thread's subject but now that there are 34 pages of information regarding one way to do things, I'm just exploring alternatives.
Coolname007
Distinguished Member
There are many programs that can image partitions and/or complete HDDs, and then later restore those images.
It is up to you to find the imaging program that is best for you.
Google "partition image", and you'll find some solutions.
It is up to you to find the imaging program that is best for you.
Google "partition image", and you'll find some solutions.
I don't image whole partitions. I figure the OS and the apps are easy enough to restore by reinstalling (and since I got broadband, it only takes a little while to download every Windows Update (a process that took me 24 hours last time I fresh-installed XP over a dial-up link)
But my user data is another matter. That's mirrored to a second HDD daily,(or immediately if I've just uploaded the contents of my Camera) and the mirror is backed up to External HDD monthly, and the ext HDD is archived to multiple DVD-RW generations, stored away from the PC. (not that I'm paranoid of course)
Since the advent of digital photography, those little quantum packets of magnetic ones and zeros are fantastically valuable (emotionally at least), and need to be jealously safeguarded.
I'm a great fan of the freeware EZBackitup, which does a great job of mirroring all changes to nominated resources, and has a great advantage over MS backup (and most other archival software I've tried) in that the mirror is not in some propriatory format that needs special software to effect a restore, (only to find in some cases that it's corrupted when you try), but is a real, readable copy of everything you value which can be restored over a damaged original with a simple drag and drop.
But my user data is another matter. That's mirrored to a second HDD daily,(or immediately if I've just uploaded the contents of my Camera) and the mirror is backed up to External HDD monthly, and the ext HDD is archived to multiple DVD-RW generations, stored away from the PC. (not that I'm paranoid of course)
Since the advent of digital photography, those little quantum packets of magnetic ones and zeros are fantastically valuable (emotionally at least), and need to be jealously safeguarded.
I'm a great fan of the freeware EZBackitup, which does a great job of mirroring all changes to nominated resources, and has a great advantage over MS backup (and most other archival software I've tried) in that the mirror is not in some propriatory format that needs special software to effect a restore, (only to find in some cases that it's corrupted when you try), but is a real, readable copy of everything you value which can be restored over a damaged original with a simple drag and drop.
I'd recommend Acronis True Image if you can afford it. If not, there are a few free solutions like Macrium Reflect or Easeus Disk Copy.
la-dee-da-dee
Member
Vista Recovery
So then my real question is will the partition imaging software like Acronis (or any of the others listed) restore entire systems running more than one operating system? Especially if you have hidden partitioned drives....?:nerd:
I have spent 3 days getting my computer back to a state where I can be productive on it. I don't want to have rack my brains on it again, so I'm just being cautious here before I make my next move against a machine that, up till now, has been way too high maintenance.
Thanks All
So then my real question is will the partition imaging software like Acronis (or any of the others listed) restore entire systems running more than one operating system? Especially if you have hidden partitioned drives....?:nerd:
I have spent 3 days getting my computer back to a state where I can be productive on it. I don't want to have rack my brains on it again, so I'm just being cautious here before I make my next move against a machine that, up till now, has been way too high maintenance.
Thanks All
Coolname007
Distinguished Member
Yes, any good partition imaging software (such as Terabyte's IFW - Image For Windows) can backup the entire HDD (not just the partitions with OSes installed to them). However, you would need to unhide any hidden partitions first before the software would be able to see it (at least on a normal setup). With IFW, though, you can backup any partitions (even ones that are not currently in the MBR partition table), just as long as they exist in the EMBR (an extended partition table used only by Terabyte's other software, BING).
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HnS is a custom version of Grub4Dos with a GUI front-end/installer.
It uses grub to boot each system, but the GUI creates hide/unhide commands as part of the menu.lst, so whenever you boot XP it will hide Vista and W7 drives. When you boot V/W7, it unhides them again.
If you use this XP registry hack (and it works for you ), you don't need HnS. (The registry hack doesn't work in all circumstances)
It uses grub to boot each system, but the GUI creates hide/unhide commands as part of the menu.lst, so whenever you boot XP it will hide Vista and W7 drives. When you boot V/W7, it unhides them again.
If you use this XP registry hack (and it works for you ), you don't need HnS. (The registry hack doesn't work in all circumstances)
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Coolname007
Distinguished Member
"It" being HnS or the XP registry hack? Just to clarify (don't want readers getting confused)...
la-dee-da-dee
Member
Trickery of IFW and BING
So what if I use IFW to make an image of the Partitions and I don't have BING but am using EasyBCD.... Am I screwed?
I don't mind paying for backup imaging software like Acronis (even though when I look into Acronis; seems as though more have questions than they do answers about it.) I just don't want to pay for something and then not have it work with EasyBCD because EasyBCD is what I have learned and also what I have already donated to....
I am down to these 3.
Acronis - The giant toolbox with some things that may even do more harm than good if not used properly. Advantageous in that is has features that allow you restore images on a different machine. Not sure about EASYBCD compatibility. Not sure about restoring images to partitions of different sizes either.
Macrum - Seems good but not sure about compatibility with EasyBCD - doesn't have a simple way to restore images onto different sized partitions.
IFW - Seems above average in that it allows you to restore images onto different sized partitions but Im concernted about getting roped into buying their BOOTIT software after I have another crash and have to start this whole miserable process of reinstallation again. Seems like the EMBR is something that is different from what EASYBCD has.
Can someone please do an editorial on this post?
So what if I use IFW to make an image of the Partitions and I don't have BING but am using EasyBCD.... Am I screwed?
I don't mind paying for backup imaging software like Acronis (even though when I look into Acronis; seems as though more have questions than they do answers about it.) I just don't want to pay for something and then not have it work with EasyBCD because EasyBCD is what I have learned and also what I have already donated to....
I am down to these 3.
Acronis - The giant toolbox with some things that may even do more harm than good if not used properly. Advantageous in that is has features that allow you restore images on a different machine. Not sure about EASYBCD compatibility. Not sure about restoring images to partitions of different sizes either.
Macrum - Seems good but not sure about compatibility with EasyBCD - doesn't have a simple way to restore images onto different sized partitions.
IFW - Seems above average in that it allows you to restore images onto different sized partitions but Im concernted about getting roped into buying their BOOTIT software after I have another crash and have to start this whole miserable process of reinstallation again. Seems like the EMBR is something that is different from what EASYBCD has.
Can someone please do an editorial on this post?
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