Vista should be able to see and write to your DVD drive natively. Do you
have any idea why it isn't being recognized? Could you go into device
manager and try to see if it is listed? I would first try to work at that,
as it would be the easiest way to back up the data partition/folder. If you
still can't back up from within Vista, then definitely image your drive
before doing anything else. A really good, inexpensive image program I use
is Image for Dos. You could image all your drives or just your data drive
(assuming your data is on a separate partition) with it (works from a
bootable floppy or CD). If you only have a data folder/s, Image for Dos can
copy selectively from the image file from within XP. (The program is created
by a company called Terabyte. I think it gives a 30 day free use of the
program.) Then if you have to reformat and start over, you can just restore
the data partition (or folder) and get back to it from WinXP. Good luck!

"Kerry Brown" wrote:

Ken M wrote:
I installed Vista build 5384 onto a ThinkPad T60 as an upgrade (Yes I
know that was my first mistake). The hard drive is partitioned and
my data is segregated from the OS. However it is encrypted using
IBM's on the fly security module. (My second mistake as Vista cant
read it). I booted from my XP-Pro CD in an attempt to format my C:
drive and install XP again but Setup claims that I do not have a hard
drive (What does Vista do that hides the drive from XP setup?)
Fearing that I may have to use the Restore partition I tried to do
another backup of the data. I ran the Vista Backup utility from the
control panel but it does not list my writeable DVD as an available
place to store the data (There is a help link "why can't I see my
disk" but that question is NOT answered in the help section)

Any help in both backing up the data and getting rid of Vista would be
appreciated. There is no point in trying to convince me that I
should keep and play with Vista as the list of standard functions and
programs that do not work is too longfor it to be usefull for me .
Regards
Ken

I'm not familiar with the T60 but I'm guessing XP needs a driver for the
disk controller. If this is the case then you need to get the driver on a
floppy disk, boot from the XP CD, during the text part of the install press
F6 when prompted to load the driver. I can't remember the exact wording but
it's at the very bottom of the screen early in the install process.

I think at this point you should make an image of your hard drive before
doing anything else. Because your data is encrypted there is a strong
possibilty of losing it. You'll need a disk imaging program like Acronis
True Image or Symantec Ghost. Boot from the CD and image the drive to
preferably a USB drive or DVD if you don't have a USB drive. This will allow
you to get back to this point if something goes wrong in trying to get XP
back. Make sure you image the whole drive including the IBM
restore/diagnostic partition(s).

--
Kerry
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca/forum/Forum.htm