The unofficial Shadow Defender Support Thread.

I found an older version of Shadow Defender here:
http://shadow-defender.en.softonic.com/
It is cheaper and the license code works on 1.1.0.325.
FYI I do not work for or am I in any way associated with Softonic, but I did feel it was a nice find and wanted to share.

 

Having read all of the positive comments from Shadow Defender users I have downloaded the trial and about to dive-in. After selecting Shadow Mode I've got a question.

From what I've read in this thread, it seems that the only way to exit Shadow Mode is by restarting Windows. However this is very confusing to me as I see the "Exit All Shadow Modes" button, but when I try using that option it doesn't allow me to exit Shadow Mode.

Would someone please explain this?

Cruise

 

@Bob M... Nice Find. That's the only discounted price I've ever seen.


@Cruise... I can see where that might be somewhat confusing. As you have read, the only way to exit Shadow Mode when protecting the system volume (which I believe is what most of us do) is via a shutdown or restart. When you perform either of those actions all changes that occured to the volume will be discarded except for those items on your Exclusion List (changes to excluded file/folders bypass Shadow Mode and are saved in the volume as they occur). The 'Exit All Shadow Modes' further allows you to either:

Discard all changes except your Exclusion List
OR
Commit all of the changes made while in Shadow Mode

Personally, I only protect the system volume, but if you protect other volumes with Shadow Mode you can select the volume to be affected by your choice of the above options. Since the system volume is always in use, you cannot exit its Shadow Mode without performing a shutdown or restart.

Hope that helps...


PS. Fwiw I do not make use of the Exclusion List because I believe doing that opens a hole for nasties to sneak through!

 

As I understand it Shadow Defender runs on multiple partitions as well as multiple disks so for example if you had a drive partitioned into three pieces...say they were C:\ E:\ F you could configure each partition individually within that drive using "schedule" when the disk or partition is highlighted to either start in Shadow Mode on reboot or exit, So " Exit all Shadow Modes" might refer to that type of situation.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I've never tried it.

 

From what I can see, you can specify which partitions you want to protect with Shadow Mode, but I don't think each partition can be configured differently insofar as to when they enter/exit SM. But then again, since my only interest (in using SD) is to protect my system partition, I've never tried doing that.

 

I'm also just placing my system partition in Shadow Mode, so from what has been said I have to shutdown or restart to exit Shadow Mode. That is an inconvenience, especially when I need to exit SM in order to clear-out any potential malware before installing system updates.

Cruise

 

When you put C: into shadow mode (no other partitions) and don't avail yourself of any "exclusions", when you're ready to terminate your session, if you click the "commit" button, is there any itemization of the changes that occurred during the time you were running in "shadow mode"?

In other words, is there a way to cherry pick the individual changes that you may want to make permanent?

 

Yes, that is a small inconvenience, but that's just the way it is.

 

When using 'Commit Now' to save files/folders to your system volume you specify the files/folders you wish to save to your 'real system' in the Commit List window (using the Windows Explorer interface) and clicking the Apply button. If you want to delete a file/folder from the Commit List you just highlight it and click the Delete button.


Disclosure: I haven't actually tested this, but I recall reading about it in SD's 'Help'.

 

Thanks, SD. It's unlikely that I'd use it that way but it's good to know.

 

I have a folder that is marked "Saved" under downloads. Its under exclusions in SD. It's also one of my sandboxed folders in sandboxie. So If I were to exclude something outside of SD, its still waiting in a sandbox one the real system. It's not getting very far, unless I take it out.

 

I have been using the 1.1.0 324 version of Shadow Defender without incident. However from my readings on this website and others it appears as if 325 may be the last preferred version other than the current. Can you tell me if 324 is considered a competent and "safe" version. Thank You

 

It's probably safe, but every new build in the 1.1.0.xxx series provided some sort of bug-fix, so I would go with 325 (if not 331) over 324. Is there any special reason you have for using 324?

 

No particular reason. I just had concerns re the latest version. Thanks for the info.

 

Okay, but is that also the way it is in the latest 331 version?

Cruise

 

That's the way it is in all light virtualization applications that use disk sector redirection rather than file system redirection.

 

Got it. I've only been trialing SD for a couple of days so I hope you guys will be patient with me if I ask dumb questions.

In that regard I'm having difficulty getting Commit Now to work... I created a New Folder on my desktop (while in Shadow Mode). I then opened Commit Now, selected Add Folder, added my New Folder into the Commit Now window, then clicked Apply and Ok. However, after restarting my PC the New Folder was not on my desktop! Where am I going wrong?

Thanks,
Cruise

 

Right click on your folder when in Shadow Mode and choose "Commit by Shadow Defender"
When you re-boot it should be there.
You can do this with a file or folder and more than once during the session as the need arises.
You don't need to re-boot then and there with each commit just wait until you re-boot out the Shadow Mode session.
It's probably best not to do it with system files or folders.

 

Hi sdmod,

That doesn't get it done either - I'm able to commit a file but not a folder! - can you commit a folder (or is that a bug)?

Cruise

 

Hi Cruise, you're absolutely right, You cannot commit an empty folder that way but with a file in the folder it commits.


QUOTE=Cruise]Hi sdmod,

That doesn't get it done either - I'm able to commit a file but not a folder! - can you commit a folder (or is that a bug)?

Cruise[/QUOTE]

 

Based on my tests, the Commit Now actions from Shadow Defender's main screen works for both files and folders, but not for an empty folder. The very same holds true when using the right-click context menu to Commit by Shadow Defender (as already noted by sdmod).

So Shadow Defender apparently examines the committed folder and if empty doesn't bother committing it. I'm pretty sure that explains Cruise's inability to save his New Folder.

 

Thanks guys, that's the answer to my dilemma. In checking-out the Commit Now function I never thought of populating my test-folder. Now that I have added a file to my test-folder Commit Now works as advertised (both from the main screen and from the rt-click menu). Sorry for the false-alarm.

Cruise

 

I've installed shadow defender 1.1.0.325 and after about 10-15 seconds after entering shadow mode, my computer locks up forcing a manual shutdown. it was set to start in shadow mode after boot, so the only way to get my computer functional again was to uninstall shadow defender through safe boot.

My current security programs are:
NIS2012 19.6.2.10
Spyshelter prem. 6.1
Sandboxie 3.66
Keyscrambler 2.9.1.0

windows 7 x64

I am new at this forum, so I implore you to bear with me as well as not deploy derogatory comments at me, if this is already been solved somewhere as I have searched but to no avail. Please direct me to the correct place.

Thank you for your time

 

Hi there,
You don't have to worry about derogatory comments on this forum.

What you can try is to exclude in NIS2012 and Spyshelter the following .exe files from Shadow Defender: Commit .exe, Defender .exe, Defender Daemon .exe.

You will find them in C:\Program Files\Shadow Defender.
I hope this will help.

 

Thanks for the awesome and quick reply. Will do and come back with the results.

EDIT: I have done what you said and other possible security conflict exclusions but to no avail.