Restore System Programs

Hello Forum,
I would like to start beta testing, but because of my limited computer knowledge i will need a good system restore program. Do all system restore programs restore the registry.Which one of these would you choose: Storage Craft, Norton Ghost, True Image.Or would you recommend something else.
Badcompany.

 

Hi, folks: IMO. for any beta tester or any prog dev, their best buddy is FD-ISR. You can have as many as 10 snapshots in one single HD. In other words, you can have multiple testing mechanism at your disposal. Several members here, Erik and Pete just name few, are EXPERTS on this. I learned a lot from them early on. You may have to get a me-too copy from different company, since Raxco has terminated its relationship w/ Leapfrog. You probably already know that there is a formal forum here. Good luck.

 

System Restore only restores the registry and some system files iirc. But snapshot programs like FD-ISR or Rollback RX restore EVERYTHING. You can switch between the snapshots with just a reboot.

Norton Ghost, True Image, etc are imaging programs. They require more time to restore an image but theyre handy if you need when replacing drives.

Both types of programs are complements to each other, and have their own uses.

 

Hi WSFuser,
I have tried Rollbackrx many times but it will not work on my PC,I keep getting BSOD.What other snapshot programs are there apart from FD-ISR.I don't have a lot of knowledge of this type of program.
Badcompany.

 

I dont know what others are available, but FD-ISR is great. You should try it.

 

Thanks, i will download it and try.
BC.

 

I have just read this on there website, is this still a problem: Comodo firewall prevents FirstDefense from creating/updating snapshots correctly.
BC.

 

Don't forget Virtual Machines (VMware, VirtualBox, VirtualPC)

 

Comodo FW protects its own registry keys and prevents FDISR to correctly create snapshots. The workaround is to turnoff that protection in Comodo...

 

Hi The Seer,
Thanks for the info.

 

Is this what you mean.

 

Keep in mind that Raxco doesn't sell FirstDefense-ISR anymore, which means that the name FirstDefense-ISR will fade away.
The same software is also available under the names : BootBack and Peer-ISR.
The most interesting one to buy is Bootback (= FirstDefense-ISR) :
http://www.spursuits.com/bootback/bootback.asp
Which offers a 30-trial version.

 

Thanks ErikAlbert, Thats why i can't find it on there web-site.

 

Yes. The last radar-box.

Erik, I did not know about BootBack and Peer-ISR. Thanks for info.

Cheers guys...

 

Thanks for all your help and info, going to download bootback now.
BC.

 

This is Peer-ISR, watch out for the price !!!
http://www.peersoftware.com/solutions/peerisr/peerisr_workstation.asp?sol=isr&pid=isrw
If you look at the screenshots, you will see that BootBack looks like Peer-ISR and that both look like FDISR.

 

Have you thought about trying DeepFreeze ?

http://www.faronics.com/html/deepfreeze.asp

I have only been using it for a few days but am very impressed. I am still using
FD-ISR with a freeze snapshot on one machine but intend buying more copies of Deepfreeze for other machines.

 

Once I have ShadowProtect, I will try DeepFreeze, because FDISR is starting to bore me.
There is no difference between DeepFreeze and a frozen snapshot of FDISR. The only difference I expect is the recovery time.

 

I haven't tried ShadowProtect yet - but will probably bot be able to resist.

There is a big difference between DeepFreeze and a Frozen snapshot with FD-ISR. On slower machines I have found recovery time to be much greater for FD-ISR. I'm assuming that when you boot FD-ISR compares C: with the frozen snap shot and this takes time ( more than a minute on one of my older machines). Seconly you need more hard drive space with FD-ISR - not so good for a lap-top with say a 75 gig drive. As best I can tell DeepFreeze does NOT make a snapshot but rather stores all changes which are flushed at reboot.

Both programs are great but work best in different situations. Both still need Acronis ( or favoured alternative) for just in case scenarios.

 

Yes, I know the differences between FDISR and the rest, because they are always the same differences : faster recovery time and less space.
I know exactly what I want, I just don't get what I want, because what I want doesn't exist yet.

 

Power Shadow Master could fill that bill quite nicely itself. Returnil which is yet to come is purposed to even go further with virtualization.

AFAIK, theres is only one fully dependable instant rollback plan around for XP systems and that's the famed FD-ISR now Bootback/Peer-ISR.

In my current setup i use Power Shadow to cover FD-ISR snapshots (9), i also employ a solid HIPS (SSM/EQSecure3.3) to prevent intrusion or corruption from either malware or a badly incompatible legit program. Couple this with Multiple FD-ISR snapshot Archives to alternate HD's also, and immediate rollback recovery is 99% assured, if not, my imaging program PARAGON Drive BackUp completes the other 1% for Mutually Assured Restore.

 

Sorry Easter, not wishing to be unnecessarily argumentative BUT:

(1) how is FD-ISR Instant ? If you use freeze you have to reboot ? if you copy from a good primary you have to reboot ? I have FD-ISR and use it every day but it is not instant nor anything like instant. Is there an instant feature that I am not aware of ? Great if you want/need multiple snapshots but not the fastest rollback as far as I can tell.

(2) DeepFreeze is fully dependable. Install computer the way you want it.
Install DeepFreeze. Reboot and every time you are back the way you were.
You want to change something - you thaw - make the change and refreeze.
Takes up less space than FD-ISR and is quicker than FD-ISR in some situations.

I have and use both programs. Do you have DeepFreeze and use it ? If so why would you not include it next to FD-ISR as dependable and "instant" ?

 

Just installed BootBack,( FD-ISR.) When you set a schedule it asks for a password, which password do they mean, i don't have a password.
BC.

 

I would say Rollback RX or FD-ISR. I think Rollback RX is better than FD-ISR but only if it works good on your computer. For example it's working completely fine for me and has all the features i would want. If RBX would be less buggy and more stable it would beat FD-ISR.

 

Not at all, just offering my choice from experience. Maybe DeepFreeze is better now, i dunno, but i read entirely too many instances where folks had severe problems with it before.

As for speed, maybe but, adhereing to the topic title just pointing out that FD-ISR is a super-stable/dependable choice. You can off-site/off-disc save archives which of course are copies of the original snapshots to whatever external media you desire and access them again to rebuild, even in event of Hard Drive failure.

I dunno if Deep Freeze can offer that confidence or not. Maybe you can fill us in.

Thanks