raid restore success - eaz-fix snapshots all back

HI Pete.

Thanks but I already know what you said will work because you outside of windows doing it. You have full access to the drive as it's not in use and can see the mbr to save and restore it. That wasn't the test. The test was to see if it can compete with IFW and if it can backup within windows replacing it with the true mbr of eaz-fix that been backed up out of xp. Yes SP has it uses if you want to backup outside of windows and it restore the mbr without needing to do no manual mbr restore. If you have a 300g drive say how long would that take to back up doing a sector backup offline at end of day. I can now simply use IFW in windows in the background while i do work.

Regards

 

markymoo, thanks for all the IFW info and your continued testing. After reading what you have written, it seems to me that IFW's one big advantage over DS (and possibly every other imaging program) is its ability to capture all EAZ/RB sectors when backing up from within Windows. However (on the surface) using IFW to do that (from within Windows) seems more complicated because of having to also install/use their Phylock utility (perhaps it's easier than it sounds?).

 

Yup, and there is no complication its a simple install. You install IFW then when installed you run the setup again and theres the option to install Phylock and you then reboot. Its just like acronis hardware driver installed to have full access to the c drive in use. I don't have to change any Phylock settings i leave all on default every time. If you backup from UBCD4WIN you won't need to use it. You make it sound alot harder than it actually is.

 

Thanks, I'll put IFW on my 'things to do (sometime)' list. However, my next imaging project will be to try the Paragon HDM v8.5 and Acronis TI v11 boot (Linux) CDs to find out...

1. If both or either of them can 'see' and work with all of my drives.
2. How they compare to DS in their ability to backup/restore my system partition (with RB).

 

@appster
I havent tested them yet. Paragon recovery cd didnt boot with my hardware.

They should both work fine for RAW backup in BartPE but don't know the result putting the MBR back which isn't a problem if you put it back manually after anyways if they don't. They will both see all your hard drives in UBCD4WIN because its UBCD4WIN that sees your hardware and anything you run in UBCD4WIN will. There's plugins for both for BartPe. Theres a recent TI 11 build out. I don't know if this will detect my raid yet.

 

markymoo,
As far I remember you use 3 eaz-fix snapshots.
Are these snapshots permanent or throw-away snapshots when their purpose is finished ?
Have these snapshots a total different contents, I mean that each snapshot have some software in common, while other softwares are only installed in one specific snapshot ?

I'm asking this because Eaz-fix has normally incremental snapshots (point-in-time) and I would like to know if you can create snapshots with a total different contents and keep them forever.

For instance :

Snapshot 1 = software A + B + C + D + E + F
Snapshot 2 = software A + B + C + G + H + I
Snapshot 3 = software X + Y + Z
Each snapshot has the same Windows, but different Windows settings.

Is that possible in Eaz-fix

 

I don´t compare myself with markymoo...but,yes...for example I have tested different AV:s/fw:s in different snapshots,changed back and forth...Also changed settings and pagefile settings without any problems...this is apart from the instant restore very convenient and useful...Each snapshot can be locked so it does´nt get deleted by mistake...combine this with DS/ifw imaging and could it be more ultimate?

 

I dunno, I don't see any archives of snapshots in Eaz-fix, which are also very convenient and the reliability is also a very important issue.

 

Assuming that EAZ works exactly like RB, which I think it does, then I don't see how your snapshot 3 is possible. However, your snapshots 1 and 2 are very doable.

When RB is installed it creates a 'baseline' snapshot. Each subsequent snapshot (scheduled or manual) is a 'differential' snapshot to the original 'baseline' (not an 'incremental'). Because each successive snapshot is differential in nature, any of them can be deleted at any time and/or the baseline snapshot may be updated to any differential's point-in-time, but the baseline is permanently locked and is never deleted unitl RB (EAZ) is uninstalled.

 

Snapshot 3 must be also possible. FDISR has no baseline, all snapshots are independent, even the primary snapshot of FDISR is no baseline.
I better test this myself, when FDISR is on the verge of extinction and hopefully, they invent other ISR-softwares with the same kind of possibilities like FDISR.

Maybe this is possible in EAZ :

Baseline = Windows alone.
Snapshot 1 = Baseline + software A + B + C + D + E + F
Snapshot 2 = Baseline + software A + B + C + G + H + I
Snapshot 3 = Baseline + software X + Y + Z

 

Hello ErikAlbert,

Here is an ancient image of a test concept I create ages ago. Sorry for the bad font, but I could not find a way to change it.



I have setup several different snapshots with different content.
Quite as your suggestion, would you not agree?:

Unlike Firstdefense-ISR, it's not possible to install a different operating system in a seperate snapshot though. But on the other hand: Rollback RX/Eaz-fix does support the fat/fat32 file systems. So it actually supports Windows 98.
(No don't start that discussion again! )

I Hope this fulfillls your curiosity.

 

Thanks. WinXPproSP2 + NTFS is enough for me. I'm more interested in what you can do with snapshots in RBRx+clones.

 

I would like to add that snapshots are frozen by definition, when you want to update the content, you do that by taking a new snapshot and removing the outdated snapshot.
Only the work snapshot is dynamic, modifications of the work snapshot survive a reboot.

 

@markymoo

I'd just like to add my thanks for your efforts in the excellent testing carried out in this and other threads. It has been very informative

I am doing some testing with IFW and wondered where you found V2 as I haven't come across it yet. Or are you a beta tester?

Graham

 

Hi ErikAlbert

Yes, I have 3 snapshots permenant that have a specific purpose. I keep these pristine. I don't go into these ever unless some big problem or rebuild. Any additional snapshots i create after that are throwaway. You could call all these from thereon my 4th snapshot. The 3rd snapshot is all my essential applications installed. I create a 4th snapshot i work off day to day and create throwaway snapshots off this for testing and security and more. Eaz-Fix even lets you take a snap by the min or a specific event. Eaz-Fix creates a snapshot everyday by default. You turn your back and you have like 7 snapshots before you know it. I set it to manual or auto and take snapshot day to day but delete them all again except one. These are throwaway. I have a daily image backup in place also.

The baseline snaphot contains a fresh install with all my drivers installed and it's configured with lots of registry tweaks for speed and just how i want it. I then backup this snapshot to an image with compression to an external source. I don't ever have to install xp again i just use this. It won't have Eaz-Fix installed. If ever i need i can put it back on my system and can defrag it fully.

When you take additional snapshots it only saves whats changed to the snapshot your in. Each snapshot is not totally independant while on your system, its incremental all the time but if you want to keep snapshots independant to each other then you can backup each snapshot to an image which really become archives as you can store these and manipulate them. For example say the baseline snapshot 5gb and you do some 7mb additional changes it only records the changes and saves the snapshot as 7mb. When you decide to backup that snapshot it then becomes independant for instance in this case 5007mb it's true size. You can also mount a snapshot to a drive which will also be independant for you to backup image. Can you mount FDISR archives? So yes you can have seperate contents forever so in effect they are really compressed archives.

The lesson is you have your first baseline snapshot with the bare minimum without any software installed and then from this you can create independant snapshots with totally different software installs and then backup each one using the built in image software of Eaz-Fix to become independant or mount to access the data quickly.

Rollback and Eaz-Fix are one.

 

markymoo,
Many thanks for the explanation.
No I can't mount/dismount FDISR-archives, but I can copy/update from an archive to snapshot and that makes the snapshot = archive.
The archives of FDISR are a real part of Immediate System Recovery and work very fast and I don't know yet if archives of EAZ are a real part of ISR or are just a backup image with a slow restore.

 

Snapshot 1 is the baseline plus software
Snapshot 2 is the baseline plus snapshot 1 + its own software

So snapshot 3 is easily possible with EF/RB because as i recommended the baseline snapshot is just a bare windows to begin with so as long as you don't install extra stuff into this, you can have some highly configurable snapshots.

To get snaphot 3 you would bootup into the baseline snapshot and install completely different software to this then save it as snapshot 3.

You could even have multiple baseline snapshots if you so desired. You could even create a snapshot that has alot less than the baseline snapshot but it wouldnt be smaller space because its still being used by the baseline snapshot.

...and like Wilbert said you take a new snapshot and delete the outdated snapshot and that frees up any protected space by EF so windows can use it again.

What you really asking is can Eaz-Fix update a snapshot from its backup and back to it's backup archive quick.

Yes because EF can take snapshots fast and restore snapshots fast and the backup you made previously can be mounted to get to the data quick to copy,update the present snapshot and then take another snapshot and then back it up. The backup of one snapshot doesn't take long and the data is compressed smaller and can be mounted quick means Eaz-Fix has the edge don't you think? Eaz-Fix lets you search all snapshots for files, folders.


So FDISR takes snapshot of other o/s ? EAZ-FIX does support multi-boot windows but not something like linux. You couldn't use a utility like Grub4Dos and install it into the mbr and then boot linux and eaz-fix mbr because eaz-fiz has to know about the other o/s and if it didn't the other o/s would write into parts of the partition that eaz-fix was protecting.

@nexstar

Sure, I'm carrying on from where you left off. it's thanks to your earlier testing and informative posts from you and others that i have learned. We all looking for good solutions. It makes you wonder if image softwares don't want you to have every complete feature in there softwares otherwise they be nothing left to buy. Laughs.

I was messing with 1.99 and succeeded and thats when Brian K brought 2.0 to my attention. I went on terabyte newsgroups looking for more info and when i bought 1.99 the 2.0 was available to download but theres an evaluation of it you can get here. ftp://terabyteunlimited.com/ifwc_en.zip remember to use phylock with it.

 

markymoo,
Thanks again. I have now a pretty good idea of the possibilities of EF and how to build snapshots and archives. The rest is more a matter of testing it myself and see how it works in practice. I don't expect that it works exactly the same like FDISR. As long I can get what I have in mind, I'm satisfied.
Multiple OS is not important, I use winXP until my computer is worned out.

 

@markymoo
Thanks for the IFW v2 link and for your sentiments. I'm glad you were inspired . I think it has been a good example of a collaborative effort between those asking pertinent questions and those who should probably be getting more sleep .

As a matter of interest (...and I'm certainly not holding my breath for this one), I had a email 'chat' with Andrew Shen from HDS a few weeks ago and, amongst other things, I was trying to persude him of the merits of imaging all snapshots. Their feeling had been that users wouldn't be too pleased if they imaged, say, a 10GB partition but ended up with a 15GB image due to the snapshots. However, he did come up with the idea of having it as an option , to which I gave enthusiastic support. There's certainly no technical reason why it hasn't been done....but I'm still not holding my breath .

Graham

 

Graham, I don't understand Andrew's comment. Since that 10GB partition would contain RB and its snapshots, how would one end up with a larger (15GB) image? If anything, I would expect the 10GB partition to be compressed to around a 6GB image. What am I missing?

 

Not to be arguementative, but just to make sure I'm understanding this... I don't believe Windows can be replaced in any EAZ/RB snapshot, so 'software A' must represent Windows. If my asssumption is true, then even replacing everything else, Snapshot 3 would = sotware A + X + Y + Z.

Anyway, that's why I said (several posts above) that I didn't think Snapshot 3 was possible with EAZ/RB, but then again I've probably misunderstood Eric's question.

 

Sorry, didn't explain that very well . The 10GB is what Windows is showing as being actual data on the disk and the extra 5GB is made up of the snapshot data. The partition itself being in excess of 15GB.

Graham

 

Ok, now that computes!