Looking for a GoBack like replacment

I have avoided .NET so far because I don't want another virtual machine on my PC. Java is enough. And also because for every .Net application there is another one doing basically the same thing, so at least far ! I also expect to minimize sources of problem. Just a personal view.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I will take a look at the recommended programs.

 

Regarding the Acronis and RollBack Rx issue I am embarrassed to say that I was the one who posted the issue originally and only about a week ago and I completely forgot about the posting and the reply. I guess my wife is correct,,,my mind has become like a sieve. Anyway here is my original post on the subject and Jo Anns reply.

bgoodman4

Jo Ann

I have a few questions regarding this issue ---

1: If I do as Jo Ann suggests would I then be able to use my most recent version of my TI images to restore the PC or would I be limited to using the pre-RollBack version?

2: Why would this problem be a problem in the first place? If TI backs up everything including the MBR why would a restore not have boot capability? I would think everything on the PC would be returned to the state it was at when the backup was done. Or is this an issue with backing up from within Windows (the method I have always used) and would it be eliminated if I created a sector by sector image using TI?

 

If you do a sector by sector backup it should backup your system including all rollback snapshots.

Thanks,

Chris

 

Thanks Chris but I am not concerned with backing up the snapshots as I am imaging the drive each night and am looking to RollBack Rx primarily for reversions between these backups. If I need to restore a TI image and the Rx snapshots are missing its not a big deal. My concern is that I will have problems restoring my TI image if and when I need to do this given the stated problem above (even though there is a workaround provided). I would prefer not having to do sector by sector backups as they are considerably larger than the regular backups I have been doing. At least thats what TI is indicating when I put a mark in the sector by sector check box.

While I am on the subject could someone explain the difference between sector by sector and regular backup. I gather that sector by sector is more complete but the size of the backup for sector by sector is the size of my hard drive. Since the hard drive is not full (apx 50% free space) why would this be the case? Is TI backing up the free space as well? If so I don't understand why this would be something that the program would do.

 

Sector by sector backups include free space. If your drive is 100 gigs the backup will be 100 gigs. On the other hande the regular backup is only used space. Rollback hides its used snapshot space so a regular backup does not see this and so does not back it up and a sector b sector will. You shouldnt have problems restoring your backup without sector by sector but again you will lose all snapshots and I think if you backing up in windows you will backup your system in the current snapshot and if you backup using Acronis CD it will backup your baseline snapshot. I think this has been the consenses from what I have read hear on the forum.

Thanks,

Chris

 

During it's typical imaging process, ATI backs up the sectors that Windows 'sees as being used', not those that it considers unused. However, even with that limitation, ATI still backs up the MBR, so if you retain a backup that was made before you installed RB you will have a copy of a clean (standard) MBR which can be used to repair same if it gets corrupted.

The bottom-line is that you have to actually 'bite the bullet' and do what I and Jo Ann have suggested previously. You will never be satisfied (and comfortable) until you create and restore your own backups, dealing with the issues (if any)!

PS. ATI and most other disk-imaging programs have the ability to compress the backup (standard or all-sectors), so if you select this option, your backup will always be smaller in size than the actual space consumed on your source disk.

 

Thank you Chris and Aaron,

Aaron, I have no problem backing up and restoring. As a mater of fact I went through a BSOD situation a month ago where I was unable to boot Windows. I was not even able to get the TI boot disk to work the system had become so corrupt. I had the faulty ram replaced (which was the cause of the problem) and the OS re-installed and used TI to restore my PC. All was well. I just want to make sure I am not creating problems for myself by adding RollBack RX into the mix. I am a big believer in better safe than sorry thus my questions. I am not discounting your and Jo Anns advice and I am not looking for "an easy way out", I just want to be sure I understand as much as I can before proceeding.

I have 2 further questions (for now) if I can impose on you folks a bit more. I read that before restoring using TI you must uninstall RollBack Rx. How can you do this if you are unable to boot? Can I uninstall RollBack from the TI boot disk or would I have to have the operating system reinstalled before I can do the restore?

I also see from RollBacks FAQ section of the publishers website that they recommend using RollBack Rx to image your drive. In other words, according to them, you do not need any other program. Chris, I see from the information at the end of your post that you are using the 2 programs. Have you (or anyone else) used RollBack Rx to image your drive to an external drive and if so did you like it? I am now thinking of possibly using both TI and RollBack to create images and of course to use RollBack as a GoBack replacement. This way I would have an extra layer of protection. If for some reason one or the other of the programs fails I have a 2nd option to restore my drive.

 

This is true and if you are going the route of sector backups with Rollback then it can also be helpful to wipe the unused sectors before installing RB. This will write zeros in all of the unused sectors and means that the disk imaging compression can be much more effective on those areas.

I use a free utility called Disk-Redactor to do this. I also tend to use it whenever I have uninstalled RB for any reason.

Graham

 

If the system is non-booting then you won't be able to uninstall Rollback. The only reason for wanting to uninstall it prior to restoring an image would be to make sure that the MBR was put back to a standard MBR. So, as long as you do this with whatever imaging software you use then there will be no need to uninstall RB first.

I have used the built-in imaging in RB and it worked ok to an external drive. It was slow on my system and I normally use Drive Snapshot which is much faster. But you can't have too many backups .

Graham

 

Since the restore is performed by booting into another OS, I don't see why that should be necessary - however, doing that may be a good idea before imaging from within Windows (for the reason Graham suggests)!

That's certainly a good idea!

 

I have also found DS to be much faster than either ATI or EF/RB for creating backup images (and restores), especially so when backing up and restoring all-sectors (maint. mode).

 

i am waiting rollback rx 9

 

bgoodman4, you are asking great questions! Also, I think the next time I have Ay uninstalled, I'm going to make a boot media with PLop-Bootmanager. It has several options that I believe would allow bypassing Ay booting first, enabling the ability to access or restore with Ghost from my external HD images.

 

Thank you all for your input, I think I now have enough information to make a decision as to how to proceed. Some of what was said is over my head but I think I get the idea well enough. I think to make things simple on myself I will continue using GoBack and ATI on my old desktop since it works, and I will implement the TI RollBack (and possibly DS as well) on my new Laptop. On the RollBack site they mentioned the importance of uninstalling GoBack and "fixing" the boot record before installing RollBack to make sure everything related to GoBack is gone. This is the part thats over my head especially since I do not have a Windows install disk for this PC - the install files are on the drive in a separate partition) and I guess if its not broken there is not much point in trying to fix it. I learned a lot from this discussion and again I want to thank you all.

 

Any updates?

Thanks,

Chris

 

I too moved from GoBack to RBRx, and was worried about the same statement as you so I research the point and found the information on the following thread useful (don't know if you have already been directed to this but in case not):

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/archive/index.php/t-180293.html

This relates to the following Symantec page:

http://www.winforums.com/showthread.php?t=7334

and use of a removal utility that you can create on a bootable CD from a ISO imagine (NGBBoot.iso) that you download. You can then use that to uninstall GoBack 4 completely/deal with the MBR, etc.

However, despite downloading and creating the bootable CD I did not have to use it as the standard GoBack uninstall worked fine for me (perhaps I was lucky) but then again I did make sure, before uninstalling, that I had switched off GoBack via the options available, and then exited the program so that the sys tray icon diappeared.

So my recomendation, if you are finally temped to try a GoBack > RBRx 'move' is to noted above...for what it is worth.

 

Hi Chris, am happily using RollBack on my tablet PC, so apart from ongoing issues with Horizon support all is great. Next is getting GoBack off of my desktop so I can put a copy of RB on there as well. I may or may not go ahead with this as GoBack, while slow, is working fine. Thanks for asking.

 

Thank you for this, I will take a close look at the pages you have linked to.

EDIT: after reading the info posted at the links you have provided I have decided to leave well enough alone. The PC is working fine, GoBack is working fine, and I am not stressed out at all. Best not to push my luck. Thanks.