Failed Virtualizations with Multiple Bootloaders
Scope
This article discusses bootloaders, and how they may affect the bootability of virtualizations.
Problems with multiple bootloaders
When a system has bootloaders from multiple operating systems, they can cause boot errors when you attempt to virtualize the production machine. This is because Datto's virtualization software looks at the version of the machine in the bootloader, and attempts the boot based on the parameters that it finds.
The best solution to this problem is to remove any other bootloaders that you do not need.
NOTE Datto Technical Support can provide information about bootloaders that may be causing a conflict; however, we cannot modify the startup configuration of any production machine. These changes will need to be made by the partner.
Boot Camp
- Boot Camp is an application created by Apple that allows you to install Windows on Macintosh hardware. If you are using boot camp on a protected machine, you will only be able to back up one operating system at a time. The following limitations will apply:
- If Mac OS is loaded, and you are backing it up, the Datto agent will not see the Windows partition, and will not back it up. The agent will be seen as a Mac system only.
- If Windows is loaded, and you are backing it up, the Datto agent will not see the Mac partition, and will not back it up. The agent will be seen as a Windows system only.
- You will only be able to virtualize the Windows partition. Mac OS virtualization is not supported.
- You will not be able to perform a Bare Metal Restore of the protected machine successfully, because only the Windows partition or the Mac partition will be backed up, but not both. Single-partition Bare Metal Restore might fail due to dependencies on bootloaders that reference missing partitions.
Bootloaders by Operating System
- Windows 2000, Server 2003, and Windows XP: NTLDR, Ntdetect, and boot.ini
- Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Server 2008/2012/2016: bootmgr, BCD and winload.exe
- Mac OS X: BootX
