Thinking of using FDISR.

No that is not correct.
Once, I uninstalled FDISR two times but completely with all snapshots.
The snapshot where you UNinstalled FDISR will be your new harddisk, because all the rest is gone.

If you boot in snapshot #3 and you UNinstall FDISR in snapshot #3, the contents of snapshot #3 will be your new harddisk.
All snapshots are independent and the primary snapshot has no other meaning than the name "primary". You can change the name of each snapshot too, if you want.
If you rename the primary into "Elvis Presley", that will be accepted by FDISR.

Of course you asked about an uninstall without removing the snapshots and I didn't test this.
I only tested a complete UNinstall of FDISR with all its snapshots.
In the beginning everybody thought that FDISR would keep the primary snapshot, but that was NOT true and was proven by my tests.

 

I have been wqaiting for a post like the last one by Erik Albert.
What I do is apparently wrong.
I have a very simple operating computer and in the past have merely been updating two snapshots by copying the primary to each snapshot in turn.
Is this the wrong way to keep the recovery up to date?
John

 

Not necessarily, but that depends HOW you are using these snapshots. Everything is possible in FDISR.

The secondary snapshot is usually updated by the primary snapshot, when everything is malware-free and working properly.
But FDISR allows IMPROVISATION and what counts for ONE user doesn't count for all users.

There is only ONE GOLDEN RULE : you always need ONE snapshot, where you can boot, if something goes wrong in another snapshot. Every user has such a snapshot, but it isn't always a rollback snapshot.

 

Thanks for that Erik.
I think that that should be adequate for me.
John

 

Ah ok Erik, I can see that that makes perfect sense, but this type of discussion helps me understand what the program does, and what I can expect from it. Good info thnx.

 

Interesting stuff Peter.
Itend to think in the same manner about the primary snap and feel the need to make a special snap to mess about in, but I understand better how the program looks at these things from Eriks explanations. One other question for now, am I right in assuming the BIOS is not part of the hard drive and therefore not protected by FDISR? Important to know because a program like this invites the curious to mess in all the places they have been warned to stay away from, namely the registry and the Bios.

 

Is a snapshot much larger than that which it is a snapshot of?
To explain, I have according to FDISR 6.09 Gb copied from primary snap to secondary, the same for a third snap and the same for a fourth, so in total that is 24.36Gb, I have a folder of about 3.6Gb anchored giving 27.96Gb, but my hard drive shows 37Gb used, which begs the question. Where is the other 10Gb?

 

FD-ISR Knowledgebase:
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows/kb_index.cfm#FDISR

 

Interesting. I went about a bit differently i think. Instead of using my Secondary to restore the Primary i depend soley on it's ARCHIVE. That is ok right?

 

Every user has a snapshot as refuge, when he has troubles in one of his other snapshots. If he doesn't have such a snapshot, he killed the main feature of FDISR, called Immediate System Recovery.

The contents of THAT snapshot is different for each user, but FDISR starts with a rollback snapshot, which can be replaced by an ARCHIVE or FREEZE STORAGE.
In case you didn't notice the FREEZE STORAGE = ARCHIVE because both have the same file extension = .ARX.

The only difference is that a frozen snapshot occurs automatically and invisible during reboot, but it is a copy/update from archive to snapshot, just like any other MANUAL copy/update from archive to snapshot.
I guess most users have a trouble to understand this.

 

My point exactly! Thanks

As for the other mention POWER SHADOW uses less space, time and resources to perform that equivallent.

 

Why would I use another software, like PowerShadow, if I have the same function in FDISR already. I don't need double softwares, that do the same job.

 

I understand that Erik but it's not quite as redundant as you might be led to believe. No, i don't discount FD's freeze snap, it's beneficial of course and best of all works. I'm just of the mind i suppose to subscribe to that layered approach and with Power Shadow you lose nothing but in reality actually gain some advantages beit of small significance or not. For me PS shadow-Mode affords the same advantages as FD's freeze with less overhead. It's a matter of personal results & preference between the 2 i suppose, i just see nothing in the freeze snapshot that i can't accomplish with Power Shadow and certainly far less time spent clicking freeze/reboot/unfreeze or whatever order requires those extra steps. With PS it's only a matter of Point-And-Click "once" each and i'm either shadowed or returned to point A.

 

It IS redundant and I prefer a solution (frozen snapshot) within FDISR, because PowerShadow doesn't know what snapshots are. So using it in combination with snapshots might have unpredictable results. As far as I know you only tested PowerShadow ITSELF, but you didn't test PowerShadow in relation to snapshots. You only know that it is compatible with FDISR, that's all. That's not enough for me.

 

Sorry but not true. I been using Power Shadow in combination with it from the day that i first installed FirstDefense and have only positive results. The snapshots as you recall are still the same as your C:\ drive and thus covered with PS's virtualization technology from the moment you engage shadow-mode on it.

Power Shadow regards the snapshot as though it is the operating system itself, i already tested that. I performed various routines as well as run some malware samples on it and after a reboot the snapshot returned to the same exact state as it was when FirstDefense booted it up. Proof enough it works, at least on XP pro, other platforms i couldn't offer as much since mine are strictly XP Professional only.

 

I prefer to test this MYSELF to avoid any misunderstanding and since I consider PowerShadow as redundant, I'm not going to put time in PowerShadow.
If other users want to use PowerShadow, no problem for me, but they don't have to ask me questions if there is a minor or big problem, I will send them to you.

 

Well Erik, if you are as certain in your confidence of FD-ISR as you are so quick in almost every post to favor, then i really don't see why you don't give it a go yourself like you say.

No one has to take my word for it and especially if you're a confident FD-ISR user. That program will bail you out like it did when Sandboxie swallowed your D:\ My Documents folder. You can rest assured though that you'll never suffer from that type of indignity from Power Shadow, it's much more refined IMO then that. I don't mean to poke at Sandboxie but IF your recent experience like that did indeed originate from that app you have nothing to lose to test PS yourself if you trust FD-ISR like you intensively announce so often on a regular basis.

 

I'm quick because I THOUGHT about this for quite some time. My approach is in my mind already more than 2 years, since I heard about ShadowUser at SWI and I don't even use ShadowUser, it was its philosophy that attracted me.
Why are you still talking about Sandboxie ? I ditch it, it didn't work properly, because I separated my data from my system and Sandboxie can't handle that situation. Do you really think, I'm going to give up that separation, just because ONE software, like Sandboxie, can't handle it ? I have very good reasons to do this separation and I don't care if somebody doesn't agree with me.
If a software isn't compatible with FDISR, which one are you going to ditch ? FDISR or that software ? I ditch that software without hesitation.
Any software that has a conflict with my separation will be ditched as well without hesitation, even the popular Sandboxie.

Keep on using PowerShadow, I have no problem with that, but don't try to convince me to use PowerShadow, because you are wasting your time on me. There are PS-users enough at Wilders, who will agree with you.

 

Hello!

There has been lot of intresting discussion on this thread. I am using FDISR as follows: I have primary snapshot and i make archive copy of it to my external harddrive, which i update every day. Then i have my secondary snapshot which i update from my primary snapshot about every 4 days. I also maky a archive copy of this aswell to my external harddrive. I also have kept arhived copies of my primary and secondary snapshot when i installed FDISR. Then i have my test snapshot where i play around with software that i allways wanted to test myself. At the moment i am testing f-secure internet security suite. I dont make any archives of this. Does this make any sense? It is sometimes very time consuming but it works for me.

I have few security programs that need updating. So is it worth trying to use freeze snapshot?

Kristian

 

Using a frozen snapshot without security softwares, is the same as having a computer without security softwares, in other words a HONEYPOT.
So keep your security softwares, because you still need them, even when you use a frozen snapshot.

My usage of a frozen snapshot is in combination of other things.

I removed my signature, because it causes too many questions and discussions, I don't like to defend myself, it's a waste of time. I have my own plan, like anybody else. If they don't understand it, it's not my fault.
They even consider my "frozen snapshot" as an inconvenience, I guess the word "frozen" does that to them.

 

Sorry, i didnt mean to critisize you security set up in anyway. It is your personal choice and nobodyelses.

What i wanted to know is how can i keep my security programs up to date if i choose to use frozen snapshot? Did i undestand correctly that when i turn of my computer in the evening FDISR will automaticly update my frozen sanpshot?

Kristian

 

From the people that actually wrote FD-ISR (Leapfrog Software)...

http://www.leapfrogsoftware.com/support_info/faq/

Of course, everyone will decide what is best for them.

Mike