virtualization for trying out software

taken from https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=230459

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trying out different software is something that i want to do, will something like returnil or shadow defender suffice? or only the products recommended above?

 

If the software requires a restart of the system to be functional, neither Returnil nor ShadowDefender will suffice. ShadowUser Pro is the only example from this genre currently able to carry shadow sessions across restarts. If a system restart is required, use the full machine virtualization options mentioned.

Blue

 

ShadowUser unfortunately won't work with Vista. There are programs based on snapshot technology which are also suitable to test programs: Rollback Rx and FirstDefense PC Rescue.

 

i use rollback rx all the time to test software, make a backup image, takes like 2 seconds then install and if i dont like the software, just reveert back to the image which takes about only 1 minute, so its pretty quick.

 

You can also use Windows SteadyState from Microsoft. It is free.

 

I use returnil Virtual System 2008. I've never had a problem with returnil in the 2 years i've been using it. You can't test software that requires a reboot though. I don't want to give up Returnil though because its so stable, and has never leaked that i'm aware of. Has anyone ever tried to install more than 1 virtualization program on the same machine? I was going to give it a try. I was going to try to install ShadowUser Pro with returnil on my system. I figure maybe theres a chance it will work as long as i don't have both of them running in virtual or shadow mode at the same time. The only downer is that it will require more space to back up my system with Acronis True Image 11 since i will have to also backup the space for the virtual partition. Has anyone tried this? To install 2 virtualization programs on the same PC? Does anyone believe i will have problems with 1 trying to overwrite the other's isolated virtual partition?

 

Other options to consider (depending upon the type of software being tested),would be Altiris SVS (now Symantec) or Thinstall.

 

It doesn't really take long to make or restore and image of C: provided you keep C: fairly small with programs and data on another partition or drive.
If a program doesn't require a re-boot I would use Shadow Defender. If a reboot is required then I would make an image with Shadow Protect and restore when done.

 

Altiris SVS v. 2.1.2084 has never failed me. I don't know if it's still free since Symantec bought them. I think the version is now 3066, but I've read about a lot of problems.

I'm also looking at icore 3 in 1. It's free at http://icoresoftware.com/

I don't know about reboots yet. Later today, I plan to mess with icore some more.

 

Yes SVS is still free,at least for now.That Icore looks very interesting.Pity it doesn't support Vista.

 

icore is pretty good, so far. I did crank up the desktop and the program I installed, that needs a reboot is still there and it works. Boot takes 3 full minutes plus for everything to initialize. And, it won't work with Vista. I tried to put it on my laptop.

Unfortunately, I had to pick the one software on the Internet that requires a printer be set up. The program works without a hitch, but won't shut down without a printer being connected.

The icore carried my firewall and a most of my programs over, but it doesn't see the printer ....... so, I can't shut this test program down.

There is a shared folder thing and I might be able to include the printer. If that's the case, the trial program will exit when I want it to.

 

It takes me about 25 minutes to do a full retore of my C drive with Acronis True Image 11, but i have 15 GB's extra partitioned for returnil virtual system to run the clone of my operating system on. If i go much lower then i can't download many large files to C drive. I'm not really sure how much of a factor the extra partition is on the time it takes to do a full restore of my drive.

 

I had never heard of Altiris SVS. I'm going to take a look at this product. It seems like large companies like Symantec just wait for others to do all the work to come up with great innovative products, and just buy them out. Don't they have any talented programmers to come up with their own products Lol

 

regarding shadow defender, an option to continue the shadow mode after reboot?

 

No joy boy As already said without commit everything is gone after reboot.

 

I don't think there would be any problems having SU and Returnil installed on the same OS as long as your are not running them one inside the other, like you mentioned one or the other but not simultaneously.

If you are happy with Returnil why not try FirstDefense PC Rescue: You get two identical operating systems therefore you can have the virtualization of Returnil in each snapshot, and test programs by simply moving from one snapshot to the other (if you want to get rid of the test program completely, you simply reboot to the other snapshot and copy it to the first one, the whole operation takes 6-7 minutes at the most).

This is what I've been using for the last 3 months, instead of Returnil I have ShadowDefender. IMO ShadowUser and Returnil is a bit of a waste together.

You would have an image impact though, as you need to backup a double system; my ShadowProtect image is 30 GB which is restored in about 20 minutes. On the other hand having FirstDefense PC Rescue you rarely need the imaging program.

 

Update....icore is removed. It ran very nicely, and I liked the program and concept. But, last evening, I began having serious slowdowns and a box popped up telling me icore couldn't load.

I rebooted, which takes a while with icore, and still it refused to load. Today, same thing, only everything was working even slower and the HD light was on constantly. I had one single piece of software loaded in icore.

So, removed it...and let me tell you....thank Heaven for Revo uninstall and Ccleaner. Leftover files everywhere.

I'm sticking with Altiris SVS. Now, I'm looking for a similar good, free, quick virtualization program for my Vista laptop.

 

I'm such a freeware junkie I can't believe I've lived without an IR. I started a free one year license for AyRecovery (AK EAZ-FIX and Roll Back) at the end of December and love it. Nothing quite like it for instant tests and/or recoveries! I'll definitely purchase the version with the best deal come December.

 

That'll teach you Chuck.

Check this out. From the blog at icore, the person posting the blogs.

Artem Prokopenko

Pr okopenko <----second half looks like a screen name for chat stuff.

Pr = maybe Publicity response

Artem = metrA (bidirectional?)

I'm going to wait untill Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes reviews it.

P.S.

Proko penko

Funeral Engineering

 

I have a computer I use to check out new software that uses EAZ-FIX. It works just great to "roll back" to a stable environment.

Just thought I would mention it.

Enjoy your day,
SourMilk out

 

Funeral Engineering, huh?

I guess I should pay attention to the old saying, "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is."

Well, I'm fooling with MS SteadyState now, LOL. It's the v.2.5 and surprisingly is running very quickly on my ancient desktop AMD Athlon 1.8G and 512RAM with XP Pro. Compared to the older version I ran a long time ago, this one is a big improvement. Seems very stable, but I've only had it running a day.

I've got disk protection on, to dump everything at each boot, and a few other changes. I'll let it go another day or two, then see about downloading something and change the setting to retain the cache for a few days. If that works, as I expect it will, SteadyState might be what I'm looking for. It could go on my Vista laptop too.