What is the best alternative to Windows System Restore?

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by LiHigh, Apr 17, 2005.

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  1. LiHigh

    LiHigh Registered Member

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    I tried to Windows restore, it got stuck halfway. Scanned using Avast home 4.6 and found win32:trojan-gen {vc} inside the restore volume. And, I tried to undo restore but failed again.
    Now, I've no confident in Windows Restore. what should i use for backing up my system?
     
  2. Ailric

    Ailric Guest

    First, make sure you shut off System Restore.
    Start>Control Panel>System - Select System Restore Tab and choose Turn off System Restore

    Re-scan your system with Avast! and you should be able to remove the trojan.

    You can then restart System Restore or try another program.
    -GoBack
    -FirstDefense
    -RestoreIt

    I like RestoreIt.
     
  3. wolfpack

    wolfpack Guest

    I currently use GoBack 4.0 myself but would probably use RestoreIt if I wasn't given GoBack for free. RestoreIt is more like a combination of Norton Ghost and GoBack in one product, so is probably a better choice imo.
     
  4. LiHigh

    LiHigh Registered Member

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    If I shut off System Restore, all Restore Points are gone!
    Avast did got rid of the trojan, But I won't dare to use System Retore again! :(

    I'll try them. Thanx! :-*
     
  5. Blackspear

    Blackspear Global Moderator

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    Acronis True Image (paid product) – Total system backup, and incremental backup to various media, including CD/DVD, additional Hard Drive etc. Use this when you have first installed a FRESH copy of windows and again when you have installed all your KNOWN stable programs, do this BEFORE you have transferred your data onto the system.

    Even better still, have your data on a different partition as well as a BACKUP Drive.
    http://www.acronis.com

    Hope this helps...

    Cheers :D
     
  6. no13

    no13 Retired Major Resident Nutcase

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    Wouldn't YOU like to know?
    Norton Ghost ::: keeps the HDD active ALL the time.
    Farstone RestoreIT? ::: I dunno.
    FirstDefense-ISR ::: DOESN'T WORK ON FAT16/FAT32 DRIVES.
    Acronis TrueImage? ::: again, i dunno.
     
  7. LiHigh

    LiHigh Registered Member

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    Blackspear,

    look like ATI 8 is great.
    If I'm not mistaken, restore can be done without leaving Windows.......like to confirm.
     
  8. Ailric

    Ailric Guest

    RestoreIt creates checkpoints and an entire system backup (if you choose) on a separtate partition (that it automatically creates) on the hard drive. Being on a separate partition makes it virtually immune to viruses.

    You can also create a disk image with RestoreIt.
     
  9. Cochise

    Cochise A missed friend

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    Ain't nothing wrong with 'Restore'.....just don't blame it for you having Cack on your Computer and then expecting Restore to be a Cure-all.....Restore is only what it says it is, a Restore to a better time.....it doesn't do Virus or Trojan Cleaning...........Well, not directly anyway.....be not afraid of 'Restore', it's good........It's saved me on many occasions since I've had XP...LONG LIVE RESTORE......... :D


    Cochise, :cool:
     
  10. Primrose

    Primrose Registered Member

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    as i recall..certain Windows UPDATES in XP will require you to have that system restore turn on or else the update will not even take.


    Automatic restore points (called system checkpoints) are created every 24 hours, provided your machine is turned on. If the machine is off, the scheduled checkpoint is created the next time you boot. Additionally, restore points are created when you initiate any of the following actions:

    using Windows Backup to create a backup of your system
    choosing to install a device driver that is unsigned and therefore may be unstable
    installing an update or patch you've downloaded using Windows Update or Automatic Updates
    installing Microsoft Office 2000 or later
    using System Restore to restore your system to an earlier restore point

    System Restore isn't perfect, though. Here's a list of what is restored when you use the feature to restore your system to a previous point in time:


    the Registry
    local user profiles
    Windows File Protection DLL cache
    COM+ database
    WMI database
    IIS Metabase


    And here are some things that System Restore does not restore:

    any user-created data stored in local user profiles on the machine
    passwords stored in the SAM hive
    Windows Product Activation status
    file types not monitored by System Restore
    any items listed in the FilesNotToBackup and KeysNotToRestore keys under the HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\BackupRestore Registry key
    DRM settings



    (here is a list of all file types System Restore monitors by default)

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/sr/sr/monitored_file_extensions.asp



    see here for more info

    http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/10/19/SystemRestore.html
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2005
  11. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Exactly!! Programs such as GoBack, FirstDefense, and RestoreIT restore EVERYTHING; your ENTIRE system is "taken back in time" to a point before the baddie happened. :cool:

    Acadia
     
  12. MikeBCda

    MikeBCda Registered Member

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    My system came with RestoreIT dealer-installed, and I think it's great. As has been pointed out, it backs up everything, not just critical system files.

    There was one occasion when I was disgusted with Sun Java because it wasn't working right, and uninstalled it, only to find there were no alternatives (the MS VM was a dead issue) and I was stuck with Sun. It was much faster doing a disk restore from RestoreIT than a fresh installation of Java would have been (that's around 120 megs or so, don't forget).

    The only drawback that you have to keep in mind is that you lose any fresh work (data files, mailbox contents, etc) or installations since that restore point, so they're lost. Thank heavens critical things like my a-v are on auto-update, so were quickly brought back up to date.
     
  13. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    You can backup your data files onto a second hard drive or cd, but most of these programs, actually I think ALL of them, have a feature that can retrieve any data files that you left behind (these programs can also take you "back to the future").

    Acadia
     
  14. maddawgz

    maddawgz Registered Member

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    I love first defence i only use it in ER MD
     
  15. Blackspear

    Blackspear Global Moderator

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    You are correct, it is Windows based, well the GUI is ;) :D

    Cheers :D
     
  16. LiHigh

    LiHigh Registered Member

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    I did give RestoreIT a trial. It looks like quite a good application but annoying popup windows keep reminding me to purchase it. So, I just uninstalled! :mad:

    Then, I tried out Acronis True Image 8 and love it since then! It did backup image without having to reboot to DOS. It took about 5 mins to fully backup my primary drive of 5+ gb.
     
  17. Acadia

    Acadia Registered Member

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    Just for fun I downloaded the User's Guide Manual for RestoreIt ... sheeesh, and I though FirstDefense can sometimes get complicated ...

    Acadia
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2005
  18. Hi all, this three programs are very interesting(RestoreIt,GoBack and FirstDefense), in fact I liked too much goback 3.15 the version by roxio, found it at majorgeeks.com, and it went very fine the first time, then I uninstalled and now that I'm trying to install it again it gives me an error when windows xp restarts after install of GoBack, the error says: error in 'SBR push a key. Someone knows how can I fix it? maybe I did something bad, because it was running very good before, EXCELENTE PROGRAM. Another question, can I still buy this program at roxio? because now it is Norton GoBack, and I have found verybad opinions about this.
    Thanks friends, This is one of the best posts I have ever seen here
     
  19. Cochise

    Cochise A missed friend

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    Seems to me that even if you pay lots of Dinero for Restore programmes (or are we getting mixed up with restore as opposed to complicated backup progs here).....it still appears that the paid for options still have the same probs as a Freebie......me, I'll struggle along with the Freebies... :D :D :D...



    Cochise, :cool:
     
  20. Ailric

    Ailric Guest

    Don't be shocked by user manuals,
    I recently downloaded a user manual for a cell phone... 18.5MB 108 pages :eek:
     
  21. Hi, Cochise, "it still appears that the paid for options still have the same probs as a Freebie", do you know some free programs that do the same things as GoBack, RestoreIt, and FirstDefense?

    Thanks
     
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