Fortresgrand CleanSlate

Just ran this program in a virtual machine and it looked very decent. Besides virtualization if offers some more Features like restriction to predefined programs on the machine or it can prevent any Downloads of executable files. You can enable or disable many Features like MBR protection...I would like to know how exactly this program restores the Computer to a previous Point. Does it work similar to Rollback Rx using snapshots or is it more like those light virtualization programs like Deepfreeze and whatnot. Another good Thing I noticed was that you can set up exclusion Folders, registry keys and programs from the virtualized Environment. You can Switch virtual mode on and off without having to reboot so I assume this program works with snapshots?? Also I think this program can only restore the System partiton...

Does anyone know about that exactly? Also I would like to see a test of this against some rootkits. Haven't found any tests so far so I guess this program might not be very popular. I think this one is an Oldie though. Overpriced as well :/

 

Hi
As i "veteran member" i know that this product has been discussed here since years, and as i have experimented it in 2005 or 2006 my opinion can not be accurate.
But a search on Wilders might be helpful
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/search.php?searchid=5076088

More over, it is not always a good idea to test a virtualization/sandboxing solution in a VM.
Testing should be done in a real life system environement...but this is just my point of view.

Rgds

 

I haven't tried Clean Slate for some time but, from what I remember, it wasn't very stable on my system and I did get the occasional BSOD while using it. It looks to be primarily aimed at corporate users and educational establishments, as it is quite expensive for a home user. Also, it doesn't seem to be under active development, as it doesn't get updated very often.

It falls into the light virtualization category rather than snapshot category. My understanding is that the reason it has a richer feature set than most LVs: things like the ability to make registry exclusions, entering and exiting the virtual mode without a reboot, etc, is because Clean Slate implements the virtualization at the file system level, rather using the disk sector redirection method that is used by nearly all programs in this category: Deep Freeze, Returnil, Shadow Defender, Toolwiz Time Freeze, etc.

Although less flexible in terms of features, the lower level disk sector method is more robust, more difficult to bypass by malware, and less prone to system instability and conflicts with other software. Clean Slate is unusual in this respect in opting for a different approach. Ultimately, it's a trade-off between security and the added convenience of not having to reboot to enter and exit the virtual mode.

 

Some comments about Clean Slate:
http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/240561-fortres-grand-clean-slate-absolutely-rubbish

"We have had major issues with this software not removing files that have been stored on the desktops / my docs etc etc and have tried to get support direct from the vendor but they have been pretty useless to say the least. The software basically doesn't work!"

"We use Clean Slate in a library environment, and find that the software essentially can't be relied on to stop changes from being saved. Like you have encountered, we have files saved to desktop, programs loading, all sorts of things that Clean Slate is supposed to stop from happening."

 

I tried it a couple of years ago but I didn't find it as robust or as user-friendly as other LV apps like SD, TTF etc.

In my view companies like fortes grand make most of their clientele through organizations that are not familiar with LV: Some mid-level manager who is oblivious to LV comes across to a program like Clean Slate, believes the marketing hype, and without doing any decent research on better alternatives he/she orders an x amount of licenses...