Testing software, Forming Opinions and a Clean Image

After all the years of testing products out, it has become very apparent to me the value of starting with a clean image. I have found and tested products, and formed opinions on different products I like and dislike. Most of the time my argument was it was sluggish or just didn't perform as I wished. It finally dawned on me of the importance of installing a product on a clean image.

When we tests products and uninstall them, it is obvious that junk gets left behind. Most of the time we assume what may remain is totally harmless, but I know now that, even registry entries for unused products can and do play a part on other products installed.

I am not a geek so specifics I don't have, but I do know that products I have complained about when installed on a clean image, behaved sometimes in a totally different way. What I thought was sluggish became responsive. It doesn't mean it can take a bad product and make it better, but it did teach me that, before forming an opinion on a product and then complaining about it here, it may be my own machines fault and not the product.

I know now, the importance of testing stuff in a fair environment, for not only myself, but for the vendor also. Just my 2 uneducated cents worth.

 

Makes total sense to me. My question is, as someone who knows absolutely nothing about imaging, how do you go about doing this? Where/how would I begin?

 

You look where this thread should of been started -
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=97

 

@trjam: Have you looked at virtual machines?

 

FDISR
It was all sooo easy way back when.
Still nothing to get near it.

Well set-up VMs with plenty of RAM + snapshots ?? maybe next best option.

?? Need a dedicated machine with various images of different set-ups to restore.

Set up multiboot options into different images/OS set-ups/Test beds on one machine ??
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootit-next-generation.htm


Read about Roxio_BOT: ?? Some options there:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1705645&postcount=9
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=276333&highlight=Roxio

...my head hurts...often

 

I am still lucky to have my FD-ISR. The one pice of software I guard with my life.

 

For VM's, just copy the folder. Very easy restoring it.

 

@trjam,

I agree and I believe most of the problems that users reported are due to the users' computer systems themselves. Unless the reported problems can be replicated and reproduced on a number of different systems, they can hardly be classified as a fair problem report.

Sound familiar ?...I started the Opera 10.5 to 10.7 thread and many users reported crashes on their systems and only one of the reported crashes is a genuine bug and even then, the Opera developers were aware and recognize that crash problem very early.

 

I partially agree. Most of the problems are caused by security software; all those kernel hooks, the services installed as hidden drivers and their pure uninstallers is one of the reasons that made microsoft to introduce PatchGuard on 64bit.

Panagiotis