What is the best alternative to Windows System Restore?

[LiHigh]

I tried to Windows restore, it got stuck halfway. Scanned using Avast home 4.6 and found win32:trojan-gen {vc} inside the restore volume. And, I tried to undo restore but failed again.
Now, I've no confident in Windows Restore. what should i use for backing up my system?

[Ailric]

First, make sure you shut off System Restore.
Start>Control Panel>System - Select System Restore Tab and choose Turn off System Restore

Re-scan your system with Avast! and you should be able to remove the trojan.

You can then restart System Restore or try another program.
-GoBack
-FirstDefense
-RestoreIt

I like RestoreIt.

[wolfpack]

I currently use GoBack 4.0 myself but would probably use RestoreIt if I wasn't given GoBack for free. RestoreIt is more like a combination of Norton Ghost and GoBack in one product, so is probably a better choice imo.

[LiHigh]

-{ Quote: "First, make sure you shut off System Restore.
Start>Control Panel>System - Select System Restore Tab and choose Turn off System Restore
" }-

If I shut off System Restore, all Restore Points are gone!
Avast did got rid of the trojan, But I won't dare to use System Retore again! :(

-{ Quote: "

You can then restart System Restore or try another program.
-GoBack
-FirstDefense
-RestoreIt

I like RestoreIt." }-

I'll try them. Thanx! :-*

[Blackspear]

-{ Quote: "what should i use for backing up my system?" }-Acronis True Image (paid product) – Total system backup, and incremental backup to various media, including CD/DVD, additional Hard Drive etc. Use this when you have first installed a FRESH copy of windows and again when you have installed all your KNOWN stable programs, do this BEFORE you have transferred your data onto the system.

Even better still, have your data on a different partition as well as a BACKUP Drive.
http://www.acronis.com

Hope this helps...

Cheers ;D

[no13]

Norton Ghost ::: keeps the HDD active ALL the time.
Farstone RestoreIT? ::: I dunno.
FirstDefense-ISR ::: DOESN'T WORK ON FAT16/FAT32 DRIVES.
Acronis TrueImage? ::: again, i dunno.

[LiHigh]

Blackspear,

look like ATI 8 is great.
If I'm not mistaken, restore can be done without leaving Windows.......like to confirm.

[Ailric]

RestoreIt creates checkpoints and an entire system backup (if you choose) on a separtate partition (that it automatically creates) on the hard drive. Being on a separate partition makes it virtually immune to viruses.

You can also create a disk image with RestoreIt.

[Cochise]

Ain't nothing wrong with 'Restore'.....just don't blame it for you having Cack on your Computer and then expecting Restore to be a Cure-all.....Restore is only what it says it is, a Restore to a better time.....it doesn't do Virus or Trojan Cleaning...........Well, not directly anyway.....be not afraid of 'Restore', it's good........It's saved me on many occasions since I've had XP...LONG LIVE RESTORE......... ;D


Cochise, 8)

[Primrose]

as i recall..certain Windows UPDATES in XP will require you to have that system restore turn on or else the update will not even take.


Automatic restore points (called system checkpoints) are created every 24 hours, provided your machine is turned on. If the machine is off, the scheduled checkpoint is created the next time you boot. Additionally, restore points are created when you initiate any of the following actions:

using Windows Backup to create a backup of your system
choosing to install a device driver that is unsigned and therefore may be unstable
installing an update or patch you've downloaded using Windows Update or Automatic Updates
installing Microsoft Office 2000 or later
using System Restore to restore your system to an earlier restore point

System Restore isn't perfect, though. Here's a list of what is restored when you use the feature to restore your system to a previous point in time:


the Registry
local user profiles
Windows File Protection DLL cache
COM+ database
WMI database
IIS Metabase


And here are some things that System Restore does not restore:

any user-created data stored in local user profiles on the machine
passwords stored in the SAM hive
Windows Product Activation status
file types not monitored by System Restore
any items listed in the FilesNotToBackup and KeysNotToRestore keys under the HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\BackupRestore Registry key
DRM settings



(here is a list of all file types System Restore monitors by default)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/sr/sr/monitored_file_extensions.asp



see here for more info

http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/10/19/SystemRestore.html

[Acadia]

-{ Quote: "System Restore isn't perfect, though." }-
Exactly!! Programs such as GoBack, FirstDefense, and RestoreIT restore EVERYTHING; your ENTIRE system is "taken back in time" to a point before the baddie happened. 8)

Acadia

[MikeBCda]

My system came with RestoreIT dealer-installed, and I think it's great. As has been pointed out, it backs up everything, not just critical system files.

There was one occasion when I was disgusted with Sun Java because it wasn't working right, and uninstalled it, only to find there were no alternatives (the MS VM was a dead issue) and I was stuck with Sun. It was much faster doing a disk restore from RestoreIT than a fresh installation of Java would have been (that's around 120 megs or so, don't forget).

The only drawback that you have to keep in mind is that you lose any fresh work (data files, mailbox contents, etc) or installations since that restore point, so they're lost. Thank heavens critical things like my a-v are on auto-update, so were quickly brought back up to date.

[Acadia]

-{ Quote: "The only drawback that you have to keep in mind is that you lose any fresh work (data files, mailbox contents, etc) or installations since that restore point, so they're lost. " }-
You can backup your data files onto a second hard drive or cd, but most of these programs, actually I think ALL of them, have a feature that can retrieve any data files that you left behind (these programs can also take you "back to the future").

Acadia

[maddawgz]

I love first defence i only use it in ER MD

[Blackspear]

-{ Quote: "Blackspear,

look like ATI 8 is great.
If I'm not mistaken, restore can be done without leaving Windows.......like to confirm." }-You are correct, it is Windows based, well the GUI is ;) ;D

Cheers ;D

[LiHigh]

I did give RestoreIT a trial. It looks like quite a good application but annoying popup windows keep reminding me to purchase it. So, I just uninstalled! >:(

Then, I tried out Acronis True Image 8 and love it since then! It did backup image without having to reboot to DOS. It took about 5 mins to fully backup my primary drive of 5+ gb.

[Acadia]

Just for fun I downloaded the User's Guide Manual for RestoreIt ... sheeesh, and I though FirstDefense can sometimes get complicated ...

Acadia

[zorro zorrito]

Hi all, this three programs are very interesting(RestoreIt,GoBack and FirstDefense), in fact I liked too much goback 3.15 the version by roxio, found it at majorgeeks.com, and it went very fine the first time, then I uninstalled and now that I'm trying to install it again it gives me an error when windows xp restarts after install of GoBack, the error says: error in 'SBR push a key. Someone knows how can I fix it? maybe I did something bad, because it was running very good before, EXCELENTE PROGRAM. Another question, can I still buy this program at roxio? because now it is Norton GoBack, and I have found verybad opinions about this.
Thanks friends, This is one of the best posts I have ever seen here

[Cochise]

Seems to me that even if you pay lots of Dinero for Restore programmes (or are we getting mixed up with restore as opposed to complicated backup progs here).....it still appears that the paid for options still have the same probs as a Freebie......me, I'll struggle along with the Freebies... ;D ;D ;D...



Cochise, 8)

[Ailric]

-{ Quote: "Just for fun I downloaded the User's Guide Manual for RestoreIt ... sheeesh, and I though FirstDefense can sometimes get complicated ...

Acadia" }-

Don't be shocked by user manuals,
I recently downloaded a user manual for a cell phone... 18.5MB 108 pages :o

[zorro zirrito]

Hi, Cochise, "it still appears that the paid for options still have the same probs as a Freebie", do you know some free programs that do the same things as GoBack, RestoreIt, and FirstDefense?

Thanks