Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

Thanks and strange also, I don't remember activating bitlocker in any way...

 

I have that Windows 10, and the Time Machine seems to work just fine. Not sure why that other fellow had so much difficulty with it, but suspect not related to the program itself.

 

Timmy which version are you using with Windows 10? Is it version 2 or one of the version 1 builds? Some of us never moved to version 2.

 

Looks like another beta is up:
http://ax64.com/versions/private-beta-build-637/

 

Thanks for the info... So now the company doesn't even announce new versions on Wilders any more. Looks like the former love affair between Ax64 and Wilders has faded.

I gave the new version a test run for a couple of days (Win7 64, two partitions plus the SRP). Everything looks stable, now bare metal restore also works. After restoring the system partition to a fully wiped HDD you cannot restore the other partition from Windows - the unallocated space on the HDD is not listed as a valid target. You have to restore the second partition from the recovery environment instead.

Speed is still not remarkable, it feels slower than the old version 1. I did not directly compare restore speed to Macrium 6, it feels pretty much the same.


Cheers
manolito

 

Looks like I spoke a little bit too soon, I did find a problem in the Backup Browser...

When I select different backups in the left pane of the browser, it sometimes takes more than 5 minutes until the hourglass cursor goes away and I can see the files of this backup. Must be related to the new Search feature. I have no idea if my computer is just swapping or if some kind of indexing is involved, I do have heavy HDD activity while waiting. My machine is on Win7 64bit, it has 2GB of RAM. It is not a crash, if I wait long enough, everything is fine.

Previous version 2 betas without the Search feature in the backup browser did not have this issue, switching from one snapshot to another was instant. And interestingly the recovery environment (no matter if it is loaded from USB or from the startup manager) also has no problems.


Cheers
manolito

 

am using the ver. 2 with the recent built they came out with, ending in 37. There may be another one after that, don't know. But in any event have had no problems after two weeks or so with it.

 

Are we ever going to be given the ability to schedule when backups are made? It seems ridiculous to have twenty four per day.

 

Probably not until it's bulletproof as an imager first... which it currently is not (there have been bugs discovered in both HOT and WARM restore processes... they're working on 'em)

 

That makes little sense. Why make sure it's ""bulletproof" and then add more features? Those features are likely to break it. Plus, it seems ax64 is loosing customers by it's bare-bones approach to having almost no features.

 

I guess I view it much differently than you do. What good is an imaging-based snapshot tool with great scheduling features and flexible restoration options if it can't even successfully image a system? After all, it's primarily an imaging tool, right? Who wants something that just may fail (and they know it will) when you need it the most?

With very limited development resources, it would behoove them to concentrate on making it a flawless imaging/snapshot tool (they're close) before adding all those bells and whistles... otherwise, all they'll have is a toy (which works like it was "Made In China") and a lousy reputation for technical excellence.

 

This is not why its loosing customers. It is loosing them because it has failed to be reliable and it has been taking a very long time to solve this problem.

 

Hi guys,

We always appreciate the dialog that occurs on Wilders. Thank you to the supporters and the constructive comments.

AX64 has always worked towards the goal of creating the simplest and fastest disk imager for Windows, for ultimate peace of mind.

In order to achieve this, we set out with a minimalist UI, hourly backups (no schedule) and super fast incremental backups and restores.

Unfortunately, AX64 time and time again fell short on delivering "ultimate peace of mind". Hot restore was a flawed architecture and warm restore failed to achieve the speed we desired.

It has been a topsy turvy ride - AX64 being a small startup has continued to hustle for resources in order to achieve the simple flawless app we set out to make. In this regard, we are immensely grateful to Wilder's for being our testers, guinea pigs and critics. THANK YOU.

It's been a long time coming and it is clear much of the community here is losing patience with us. But today, our team truly feels its on the verge of releasing a build that holds true to our vision of simple, peace of mind.

But before I explain why - let's recap the core issues:

• Hot restore: A unique method to restore just the changes on the disk. Results in a restore that can takes just seconds to minutes.

Pros: Super fast restore, comparable to a snap shot program.
Cons: Restores occasionally would fail, as restoring in Windows meant third party apps could interrupt the restore. Thus hot restore, ultimately unreliable.

• Warm restore: Slow in comparison to hot restore.
• Bare metal restore: V2 left baremetal something to be desired, for a long while. This is now fixed in the latest build.

If these three core issues exist (especially the first two) AX64 fails to be

1. A reliable app that provides peace of mind and
2. Fails to be a super fast disk imager.

A totally new restore method.

We've been working for a long time on a revamped restore method - we called it "Native restore".

Without getting too technical, it has the reliability of warm restore and the speed of hot restore. It runs outside of Windows and is not susceptible to third party app interruptions like hot restore. It also doesn't have to boot into a recovery environment like warm restore, so we don't sacrifice on speed.

When's it available?!

A select few have already had the chance to test it and so far - awesome feedback so far.

There are some issues and we're ironing them out.

Notably:

• Restore from a network drive will not work with native app. Warm restore still works for this.
• Sometimes full restores occur. We are aware of why and we're fixing the issue.
• Other than the above, it appears restores are fast and work every time.

Issues aside, we are ready to share the latest build to anyone keen to give it a test drive.

Private Beta

If you'd like to test it, we'd love your feedback. The more feedback, the faster we can iron out the issues and get a final release out.

To apply to be a tester, simply mail us at and we'll send you a private link to the native restore build of AX64:

info@ax64.com



This is big news. We're confident native restore holds the key and is the final step to achieving the consistently fast, simple and reliable disk imager that we always envisioned since the beginning.

Thanks again Wilders for the continued dialog and support.


Best regards,

Wajamus
AX64 Team

 

Have you solved the problem of long/old chains leading to restore times being some multiple of full restore times? In other words, has anybody tested the restore speed of a chain that is several weeks and hundreds of merges old?

 

How does one reduce the size of the "My Backups" folder? Many of the snapshots are very large due to video files which have subsequently been deleted from the C:\ drive but are still contained in the backups. Can I just delete these large snapshots in the middle of the chain? or should I just start a new chain?

 

Jopa66... if the delete is done from AX64's browser, when the merge is done that stuff should disappear. You cannot do the delete in the backup folder via Explorer.

 

Thanx. I understand. So I can delete any snapshot in the middle of the chain using AX64's browser? Just want to be sure about this before I do it.

 

I did send an email about 3 or 4 weeks ago, but no reply todate.

 

Good to hear waj, hopefully AX64 is going to ready for prime time very soon. I have friends I would like to get to put it on their PCs (will save me lots of repair issues) if it live up to expectations.

Thanks for the update

 

Any one but the most recent one... it won't let you do that, and the "merging" process that occurs during the delete may take some time depending on the data involved... be patient

 

Thanx. Just what I was hoping to hear.

 

Jopa, you must understand that all that data won't disappear until you delete not only the snap where it was taken, but all snaps up to the point where it eventually was deleted. If you don't do that, the data will be carried forward due to the fact that other snaps may also contain references to that data.

Even though this thing is a "Time Machine"... you cannot change the future

 

Crap! I was hoping it could remember tomorrow. Thanks for your help Froggie.

 

Hey Bgoodman4,

Appreciate the support!

 

I'm so glad to hear that real progress is being made. The update is needed and very welcome news.