Rollback RX alternative?

[molitar]

I am looking for an alternative that does not break defrag as I am a user of Disktrix Ultimate Defrag. I am very dissatisfied with the trial of Rollback RX as they poorly handle snapshots. Snapshots should be on a small hidden partition so that it does not affect defrag at all.

What alternatives are out there that works with defrag?

[ViVek]

FarStone RestoreIT
http://www.farstone.com/software/restore-it.php

[molitar]

Thanks I will check it out.

[molitar]

Ok any other suggestions out there? RestoreIT does not even work! I click on anything after installing settings or create a snapshot and it just locks up! What a crappy software Farstone has as well as product support! I need a working alternative to Rollback RX

[ellison64]

Originally Posted by ViVek

FarStone RestoreIT
http://www.farstone.com/software/restore-it.php

Thanks for the link , im gonna try it too.I dont know if the OP is interested but theres a 72 hour giveaway of another farstone product called total recovery pro.All you have to do is register here to get the serial
http://www.tipradar.com/giveaway-far...-72-hours.html
Looks like im gonna have a busy weekend trialing the two

[ViVek]

Originally Posted by molitar

RestoreIT does not even work! support! I need a working alternative to Rollback RX

IMO RetoreIT is much better than RollbackRX or CTM and it works very well on my PC.

[ellison64]

Originally Posted by ViVek

IMO RetoreIT is much better than RollbackRX or CTM and it works very well on my PC.

Just installed it with no problems.I notice it has the service file backup agent but not sure how to find the hidden partition where the backup is located.Also i notice no tray icon..is that normal?
tia

[bgoodman4]

Originally Posted by molitar

Snapshots should be on a small hidden partition so that it does not affect defrag at all.

The snaps are hidden and they do not affect defrag. What is affecting defrag is the fact that Rx prevents defrag apps from running. The reason for this is Rx will see changes made to the drive due to the running of a defrag app as,,,,well,,,,as changes to the drive, and it would record all these changes. This would result in rather large and snapshots which would not be optimal.

I used to use Diskeeper before I purchased Rx and the benefit of Rx far outweighs the continuous defragging of the drive that Diskeeper provided. For me it was an easy decision to forgo continuous defrag in favour of the greatly enhanced security provided by Rx.

[molitar]

Well than any idea why it is not working on a Windows 32bit OS? There support sucks as there is no forum or support option except for a submit ticket if you have a license for it and than it will be 2 days. Horrible support.

[bgoodman4]

Originally Posted by molitar

Well than any idea why it is not working on a Windows 32bit OS? There support sucks as there is no forum or support option except for a submit ticket if you have a license for it and than it will be 2 days. Horrible support.

There is an active forum of very knowledgeable individuals at

http://horizondatasys-forum.com/disa...very-programs/

As far as the 2 days are concerned if you have a gold support plan support is pretty fast. You could also try the live chat option.

PS: IS MS System Restore off?

Rx works without any problem on my 32 bit OS. What exacvtly is the problem you are having?

I am going out of town for the weekend so if you reply I may be a while getting back to you. I would expect someone else here or on the Rx forum if you post there, will get back to you before I do.

[MarcP]

I decided to give RestoreIT a try and I removed it 48 hrs later.

Their claim that is uses an invisible partition to store snapshots it false. Instead, it creates a large bunch of 2GB files at the root of C: to store the snapshots. That had the nasty effect of massively increase the size of my Macrium differential images (5 times as large).

Tested it on three machines (2 64bit and 1 32bit) and the behavior was the same.

[aladdin]

Originally Posted by MarcP

I decided to give RestoreIT a try and I removed it 48 hrs later.

Their claim that is uses an invisible partition to store snapshots it false. Instead, it creates a large bunch of 2GB files at the root of C: to store the snapshots. That had the nasty effect of massively increase the size of my Macrium differential images (5 times as large).

Tested it on three machines (2 64bit and 1 32bit) and the behavior was the same.

You are right that it creates 2GB files for about 18 files, but you can change it to keep these files on a different partition of the same hard drive, thus reducing the size of your image.

Best regards,

[MarcP]

Can you specify a different location? I don't recall being given that choice when I installed it.

[aladdin]

Originally Posted by MarcP

Can you specify a different location? I don't recall being given that choice when I installed it.

It has been a long time since I tried it. Either it is during installation or afterward in the configurations. I believe it is the later.

Best regards,

[molitar]

I know you can exclude file types in Macrium Reflect so if that is the only problem than just do that. I gave up on Farstone because it would not run on my system at all.

[MarcP]

I ended up resizing my partition and created a new one just for RestoreIT. Aladdin was correct that you can store those snapshot files outside of your main partition which seems to be best.

I'm on a 14 days evaluation and will see how it works. What I don't like of RollbackRX is the super slow long boot time. Once I upgrade my desktop machine to an SSD it may no longer be an issue, but I'll see how RestoreIT performs for a few days.

I have a laptop with an SSD and RollbackRX is definitely not a problem.

[aladdin]

Originally Posted by molitar

I know you can exclude file types in Macrium Reflect so if that is the only problem than just do that. I gave up on Farstone because it would not run on my system at all.

Very true and you have given another alternative.

Best regards,

[aladdin]

Originally Posted by MarcP

I ended up resizing my partition and created a new one just for RestoreIT. Aladdin was correct that you can store those snapshot files outside of your main partition which seems to be best.

I'm on a 14 days evaluation and will see how it works. What I don't like of RollbackRX is the super slow long boot time. Once I upgrade my desktop machine to an SSD it may no longer be an issue, but I'll see how RestoreIT performs for a few days.

I have a laptop with an SSD and RollbackRX is definitely not a problem.

But even with Rollback Rx, you need to image regularly as Rollback Rx doesn't protect from hard disk failures.

Here is a thread might be interest to you, where Rollback Rx failed miserly:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showt...36#post2080036

Best regards,

[MarcP]

I already use Macrium to image daily (with differential images). I'm covered.

[aladdin]

Originally Posted by MarcP

I already use Macrium to image daily (with differential images). I'm covered.

Dear MarcP,

Excellent decision!

Best regards,

[pandlouk]

First, keep in mind that sooner or later, all ISR softwares will fail to deliver a correct restore.
Having said that, Windows System Restore is the one software that comes closer to RollBackRx (as functionality not as technology). It allows you to have 999 snapshots, to go backwards and forwards in time and to retrieve data from any snapshot.
Combine it with:
System Restore manage v2.0
and with
System Restore Explorer
and you will have the same features of RollBack RX for free.

Panagiotis

[MarcP]

I'm still evaluating RestoreIT and so far so good. There's one thing nagging me and I can't ask Farstone since they don't have forums of their own and do not respond to any support requests.

The software comes with a WinPE environment used when you press F4 at the boot screen (a big reason why RestoreIT is such a big download). Many software makers are losing their license to provide pre-built WinPE environments one by one due to a change by Microsoft.

What will Farstone do? Do they have a plan? They're completely silent so far and their silence is not making me feel good about purchasing this product.

[The Shadow]

I trialled RestoreiT v7 during the winter of 2011 and I discovered a huge disadvantage as compared to RollBack Rx (and for that matter, even Windows System Restore) - after rolling back to a prior snapshot all subsequent (more recent) snapshots were gone! That was an instant deal-breaker for me.

TS

[aladdin]

Originally Posted by MarcP

I'm still evaluating RestoreIT and so far so good. There's one thing nagging me and I can't ask Farstone since they don't have forums of their own and do not respond to any support requests.

The software comes with a WinPE environment used when you press F4 at the boot screen (a big reason why RestoreIT is such a big download). Many software makers are losing their license to provide pre-built WinPE environments one by one due to a change by Microsoft.

What will Farstone do? Do they have a plan? They're completely silent so far and their silence is not making me feel good about purchasing this product.

Microsoft used to charge the vendors, so only paid version were being offered with WinPE as they had to pay royalty to Microsoft.

Then Microsoft changed their policy and they didn't charge the vendors. So, both the paid and free version came with WinPE.

Again, Microsoft changed their policy and started charging royalty to the vendors, so now once more the paid versions are being shipped with WinPE.

To answer your question, I don't think Farstone Restore It comes as a free version.

Best regards,

[MarcP]

It's bigger than that. Vendors are not longer allowed to distribute pre-built WinPE environments. That's why Paragon had to make changes to their non-free softwares and Macrium will do as well.

http://support.macrium.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4239

This is correct. Unfortunately, MS has pulled the plug on Windows PE licensing globally. Our license with MS expires in 6 months time and after that we will no-longer be able to distribute a pre-built WIM.