Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE works well with Windows 10 (beta) already, here's how

Posted by Paul Braren on Apr 16 2015 (updated on Jun 26 2016) in

I actually enjoy playing around with beta code, because I like getting a peek at where things are headed. I also enjoy hitting the ground running, when the final product finally arrives. For over a decade now, in my home the family's PCs tend to be at the very latest OS level, usually a month or two before generally available.

So it's fun for me to share with you the secret sauce I used to "convince" Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE into letting me use it with Windows 10 Pro Technical Preview Build 10041. Once I made the right installation tweaks, everything just worked flawlessly and quickly, even on a modest 8-year-old T61 laptop with a SATA2 SSD.

Windows-10-Build-10041-running-Veeam-Endpoint-Backup-FREE

Yes, Windows 10 is currently beta. Yes, this "hack" is not a permanent solution for anything you'd use for stuff that really matters to you. It's mostly just horsing around, which for me also means learning the product inside out. I knew this could work, because it already worked on earlier beta versions of Endpoint, as I demonstrated here. So then it just became a matter of how to make it work, despite the apparent installer show-stopper.

Running Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE with any Windows 10 beta is NOT supported by Veeam

Do not open a service ticket from within the friendly Endpoint UI if you're running this on Windows 10.

Prerequisites

A functioning system (physical or virtual) with Windows 10 Pro Technical Preview Build 10041 installed.

Downloads

Download VEB (Veeam Endpoint Backup) 1.5 VeeamEndpointBackup_1.5.0.306.zip from go.veeam.com/endpoint
Download 7-Zip, here's the direct URL for the 64 bit MSI installer

Instructions

Install 7-Zip (Default choices)
Right-click on VeeamEndpointBackup_1.0.0.1954.zip, choose Extract All..., click Extract
Right-click on VeeamEndpointBackup_1.0.0.1954.exe then select 7-Zip >, Extract to VeeamEndpointBackup_1.0.0.1954\
navigate to \VeeamEndpointBackup_1.0.0.1954\EndPoint\Redistr\x64
install these 3 files in this order, oldest first
(these are the database run-times Endpoint requires)
SqlLocalDB.msi
SharedManagementObjects.msi
SQLSysClrTypes.msi
navigate to \VeeamEndpointBackup_1.0.0.1954\EndPoint\EndPoint\
double-click on Veeam_B&R_Endpoint_x64.msi to launch the installer
it fails due to local admin error, close the error, close the Veeam failure message
right-click on Veeam_B&R_Endpoint_x64.msi
choose "Troubleshoot compatibility", click the Test the program... button
it fails again, due to local admin error, close the error, close the Veeam failure message, click Next, and choose Yes, save these settings for this program then close the troubleshooter
double-click on Veeam_B&R_Endpoint_x64.msi to launch the installer
it fails due to local admin error, close the error, close the Veeam failure message
a pop-up shows up, with the Troubleshooter offering help again, select No, launch the troubleshooter so it tries again
click the Test the program... button, this time, the installer runs fine, proceed with a normal install, click OK when it's done
you can now close the Troubleshooter window (Red X at top right corner)

Below, you'll find a detailed walk-through video that demonstrates every step of how I did this, followed by some fairly extensive tests to verify functionality.

Video

AUG 03 2015 Update

New VEB 1.1 version coming very soon with full Win 10 support, according to @gostev 's latest newsletter, meanwhile proper tweak for upgraders to Win 10 at veeam.com/kb2057