Need help with Vista Backup

[TWmailrec]

I have been developing a program to backup complete XP / 98 windows systems
to a large dedicated partition for zip backups.
Now that I have installed Vista (multiboot system) in a partition, I find it impossible to zip/delete & unzip the vista "Documents and Settings" & "Users" directories from within the XP C: drive.

Can anyone suggest a way to unlock these directories from within XP, or suggest a program that has got round the problem??

[nudone]

is this problem due to not having the correct user permissions to view the folders, i.e. it's nothing to do with making them into archives?

not sure if it would work like that but that's my first guess.

[MerleOne]

I have been developing a program to backup complete XP / 98 windows systems
to a large dedicated partition for zip backups.
Now that I have installed Vista (multiboot system) in a partition, I find it impossible to zip/delete & unzip the vista "Documents and Settings" & "Users" directories from within the XP C: drive.

Can anyone suggest a way to unlock these directories from within XP, or suggest a program that has got round the problem??

You could try XYPlorer, which can sometimes access special folders where other file manager can't.  And use it in conjunction with mstTotalAccess Pro which lifts all restrictions due to  access authorization.  Both are payware, but there is a free edition for XYPlorer.  Both can be evaluated for a short period of time.

[TWmailrec]

Many thanks for the info.
I use the same username (as administrator) across the platforms, but I guess system security retricts access.

I will try to check out mstTotalAccess Pro and XYplorer and see if I can manually perform zip backup/restore first.

[MerleOne]

Many thanks for the info.
I use the same username (as administrator) across the platforms, but I guess system security retricts access.

I will try to check out mstTotalAccess Pro and XYplorer and see if I can manually perform zip backup/restore first.

http://www.mstsoftware.com/en/Products%5Cmst-TotalAccess is the link for mstTotalAccess

[TWmailrec]

I have now experimented with mstTotalAccess Pro but so far it doesnt resolve the problem - I only used the trial program, to see if it worked.
I have contacted mst to get their advice on this.

[TWmailrec]

I have now re-downloaded and installed mst TotalAcess and it seems to work perfectly.

Many thanks for all the help! - especially to Merleone for suggesting
mst TotalAccess.

[MerleOne]

Glad it worked.  mstTotalAccess is really a nice tool !

[TWmailrec]

I still find it impossible to delete "Documents and settings" and "users" directories from the Vista partition, while running XP.
mstTotalAccess Pro doesnt seem to resolve the problem.

The directory attributes that I can change do not make directories deletable.

Can anyone explain this?

[MerleOne]

These folders are probably seen as "system" folders, hence locked against deletion.  You have to reassign the users folder to another one.  That's just a possibility.

How to do that : in the properties of the users folder there should be a special tab or option to relocate it.

[TWmailrec]

Ive checked properties (from XP) for Documents and settings, and
can only see attributes where Hidden is checked and greyed out,
and under "Advanced", Archive and Index Attributes.

There is also "Network sharing and Security" under "Sharing" Tab.
I havent found "Relocation" option.

My  idea is to delete all Vista dirs and unzip different version from ZIPed Backups. My program normally deletes and unzips systems automatically,- but cannot delete Vista "Documents and Settings" and "ProgramData"