How do "You" use FD-ISR

As for using a frozen snapshot for normal daily use, you need to make sure that your applications know to save their settings, downloads, bookmarks, etc to another partition or to an anchored directory if you want the settings retained after a reboot. Be advised that this may not be for the faint of heart, and some people might be wary of the kind of changes I have done.

For Firefox, you could move your profile using the steps here to another partition:
http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/profile

For Thunderbird:
http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/profile

etc.

Some programs don't allow you to move their settings, or store them in the registry. These programs require a little more work and some advance thought on your part. If you know that the program stores configuration files in its own directory, a possibility might be installing it to another partition.

If it insists on storing settings, profiles, etc in the c:\documents and settings folders, then a possible fix would be using a program like sysinternals junction.exe to make a hard link in your filesystem. A hard link is like a shortcut that is essentially invisible to the program while it is running. I have a couple of hard links that point from C:\Documents and Settings\Application Data\Some Program to a folder on my D:\. The files that are written to C:\Documents and Settings\Application Data\Some Program by the program are actually written to the folder on the D:\ drive and are accessible by going to either the folder on the D:\ or by going to the hard link folder on the C:\. This way, changes are retained through reboots.

Programs that store their settings in the registry are problematic, and I am still looking for a good fix. Most likely the fix will involve batch files that export and import settings at shutdown and bootup.

 

Horus

I agree w/ Pete. Get comfortable w/ the app first. You seem to be over-complicating things.

Start w/ a basic set up: Primary & Secondary SS. Keep an Archived SS of the Primary SS on an external HDD. Have it Copy / update (at your discretion).
I know you've read the manual, read it again! Then read it again. Eventually things will start to sink in. FD-ISR is so versatile that the possibilities are vast. Once you're comfortable w/ the app, you will find a way to set it up that will suite (sp?) your needs.

Then you can come back to this thread and post: How "You" use FD-ISR.

my 2 cents

 

The manual specifically talks about anchoring data before freezing, so clearly the sole intent of a frozen snapshot is not to reverse all changes when rebooting. The ideas I posted about are merely another way of achieving the same thing as anchoring, while providing the added benefit of moving data and settings off the primary partition and/or drive and onto a secondary partition and/or drive.

 

I guess this is why Leapfrog introduced compression in the later builds to try reduce this somewhat.

 

I use the primary frozen only. My Documents folder and a download folder are on another hard drive. I only make Windows patch changes and program additions to the frozen primary shot. I also have an archive of the frozen primary on the other drive for safety sake.

SourMilk out

 

That's assuming people have an external HDD to hand. I don't, for example.

 

What I do is make a nice new fresh Windows installation. I then install drivers and adjust settings and configuration how I want them. My intention is to keep as much software as possible off of this installation. When everything is perfect, I install FDISR and make a snapshot, so I have a perfect backup if I need it.

I then make another two copies of the snapshot - one for testing software and one for working with movies/imaging/other memory hogging applications.

I then install most of my software on the original (Primary) snapshot, but I do not install firewall, AV or security software. I then make a copy of this and call it 'Programs'. It's one I use if I want to change my firewall or AV - I hate uninstalling a new firewall over an old one. The same with an antivirus.

Finally I add the security software on my Primary Snapshot and use that snapshot for surfing, P2P, email, etc - an everyday snapshot.

And that's it. Oh, and I never use Data Anchoring for My Documents. I figure many viruses like to hide in the My Documents folder so why bother to anchor it? I am sure that it is useful, but I don't really see the point of risking it into every snapshot.

It's a great piece of software and one I would not be without.

 

An external HDD is not an absolute, but it comes in handy "if" you have one. I suppose you could export the SS to CD / DVD to accomplish basically the same thing.
As we've seen throughout this thread: There's more than one way to skin a cat.

 

At this moment I use 2 permanent snapshots :

OFF-LINE SNAPSHOT for
- quiet working with MS Word, MS Excel, Notepad, Snagit and printing
- defragmentation with PerfectDisk
- backup/restore with Acronis True Image Home
- archive/restore snapshots with FDISR
- creating new snapshots
- burning CD's and DVD's (movies)

No internet, no disturbances, no troubles, faster, ... I love that snapshot.

ON-LINE FROZEN SNAPSHOT for internet activities.

 

If the SS is off line how do you update everything ? or do you just mean that you don't normally go on line when you are using this SS ?

 

My off-line snapshot doesn't contain any security software and these softwares require regular updatings because they would become useless after awhile.
I don't need these softwares because I disconnected the internet in Windows.

This off-line snapshot contains softwares that don't exist in my on-line snapshot, like
- PerfectDisk
- Acronis True Image Home
- nLite
- DVD Shrink
- CDBurnerXP
- ...

If I need to update these softwares, I boot in my on-line snapshot and download the latest version in my data partition [D:].
Then I boot back in my off-line snapshot and install the latest version.

I have access to my data partition [D:] in all snapshots on my system partition [C:] as an alternative for anchoring. I don't like anchoring.

I had several reasons to create that off-line snapshot :
I needed a quiet environment to do my work/hobbies without any disturbances. That was the main reason why I created this off-line snapshot.
I also like to keep my external harddisk off-line during archiving snapshots with FDISR and backup/restore with ATI.
I also do all my CD/DVD-work in this off-line snapshot.
If I need additional snapshots to test several different softwares of the same kind, I create these test snapshots in my off-line snapshot.

It's no secret that security softwares can be a pain for non-security softwares to do their job properly. I took that possibility away forever and everything works faster in my off-line snapshot.
I never have any problems in my off-line snapshot, my on-line snapshot is the troublemaker.

My off-line and on-line are totally different, so I don't have a rollback snapshot anymore. I use my off-line snapshot as a RECOVERY snapshot to get back in business if something goes wrong in my on-line snapshot.

 

Thanks

I'm just playing around with FD-ISR at the moment -trying to see what it can do and what it can't. I can certainly see that an offline snapshot might come in useful.

So far I have found that it is very easy ( for me at least) to forget the state of play of each snapshot.

 

Yup, with 16 Snapshots, I have to keep careful notes what each one contains!

Acadia

 

Long View,
I always used the primary snapshot as rollback snapshot in the past, although FDISR recommends to use the secondary snapshot as rollback snapshot and the primary snapshot as working snapshot.
I find it more logical that the primary snapshot = rollback snapshot.
Since all snapshots are independent and can be renamed in FDISR, it doesn't matter which snapshot = rollback snapshot.
At this moment I don't have a rollback snapshot anymore and my first snapshot = recovery snapshot.

If you ever uninstall FDISR, boot in the snapshot you want to keep first and then uninstall FDISR.

And yes, recognizing snapshots can be a problem, if you have many of them like Acadia. In that case a good naming and description is necessary.

 

If I ever uninstall FD-ISR ? Have done so numerous times today. I'm still at the stage of trying to "break it if I can". I've just done an off line Perfect disk defrag on the second snapshot. Later I will try out some reg cleaners to see which if any cause problems. So far the program seems to have a very solid feel.

I'm still having difficulty in seeing any real difference between a primary snapshot and any other. certainly once the primary has been copied to I would have thought it was the same as any other and could be archived, deleted, restored etc.

To me it seems that there are only active and non active snapshots ? or am I wrong and the primary is different ?

 

Whenever you use one Snapshot to update another, they are now IDENTICAL. Actually, to get super technical about it, four things are NOT copied, but even those four exceptions make sense: .tmp files, the Paging file, Recycle bin, and Hibernate file. To repeat, because this is such an important point for folks to realize, except for the four exceptions mentioned above, whenever you use one Snapshot, ANY Snapshot, to update another Snapshot, ANY snapshot, they are now IDENTICAL.

Acadia

 

I believe you, I believe you.

It's just that after 3 years of using Acronis ( making and restoring multiple images in my sleep) I have to get my mind adjusted to a different way of doing things.

I must admit I still like to idea that with Acronis I am restoring to an empty partition. Kinda gives me a comfortable feeling that when restored the image is still the same as it was the last 25 times I restored it. Watching FD-ISR add, delete, change files makes me wonder -- what if one or two files get missed each time ? I also think I would prefer to "see" my snapshots - this is purely a psychological thing - I don't really like the concept of "trust me". I know its not possible but if I could I would like to run a binary comparison.

I know that I will get used to it after a few days more of playing.

 

It's not about uninstalling numerous times. Uninstalling FDISR is EASY.
It's about what is left after uninstalling FDISR. You probably didn't see it, because all your snapshots were identical and created by copy/update the primary.
The first time I created 10 identical snapshots and then I tried to create the eleventh snapshot.
That's when I realized that the copy/update wizard isn't just a wizard. This wizard doesn't display any source or target snapshot that is technically impossible to use and that's a kind of safety for the user.
The only mistake the user still can make, is choosing the wrong source and/or target snapshot.

 

My setup is very much like Peter2150's. I have a Primary snapshot, that I use for everyday stuff. I also have a Gaming snapshot, just XP, basic security, and whatever game I'm playing. I keep archives of both on an internal and external HD. If I test a new program on the Primary, and decide not to keep it, I boot into Gaming, and copy my Pimary archive over the Primary snap.
When I'm done playing a game, I boot into Primary snap and copy the Gaming archive over the Gaming snap, completely erasing the game I've just played. This way I always have a nice, clean gaming profile without any garbage left behind from past game installs. I then boot into the clean Gaming snapshot, install any XP or security updates, and update the gaming archive.
I can also use this Gaming archive for a default Primary snapshot, should something go wrong with both my current Primary snap and the Primary archive
I find this gives me the maximum amount of usage and flexiblity with a minimum of snapshots and archives.

 

Slightly off topic

I haven't tried Data Anchoring as I keep My Documents and all data on another partition.

As I am about to change to another machine - with 2 Physical hard drives - I had intended to put My Documents on the second drive and use Acronis to image data and to use FD-ISR to create a number of snapshots of C: only.

Even though I have no problems with Virus or spyware I'm assuming that by having data on none operating system drive that I am somehow safer ? or are
the bad guys able to attack my data even on a separate drive ?

 

Difficult question, it depends on how and for what the malware is programmed.
Even a malicious destructive screensaver can format your data partition, while you are looking at the screensaver.

I know one thing for sure : a program can do anything with your computer, because that's the only way you can talk to a computer and many malwares are programs. I don't think it makes a difference for malware, if your data is stored on C or D, at least not in theory.