Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by Isso, Jan 18, 2013.

  1. twl845

    twl845 Registered Member

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    Sorry, I misspoke. I meant to say merged with.
     
  2. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Not sure I can agree. If it is an imaging program, then that has to be rock solid, before adding more features. That still doesn't seem to be the case.
     
  3. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    You do have a point on this but for my use it does the job. I can roll back and forward and restore my system from a fresh install of Windows if need be. Yes, this is not a complete imaging program from the point of view of a bare metal restore but in all the years I have been computing the necessity to do this has been extremely rare,,,,I think maybe once in over 20 years. I have no idea why there is a problem getting the program to the state where you would consider it a rock solid imaging program but I suspect that if it were easy to do the developers would have been done by now.

    Regardless this program does something nothing else on the market seems able to accomplish while there are many programs who are rock solid imaging programs but who cannot even come close to the speed of recovery and the time machine aspects of this one. Glass half full or half empty sort of thing I guess. I see it as half full (well actually more like 80% full). Its a simple solution for me to meet the "just in case" situations by using a 2nd program to do traditional full images. Def would be nice if AX64(TM) did it all with 100% reliability but I expect in time this goal will get increasingly closer to being accomplished. In the mean time I am happy to have it as a core program on my PC.
     
  4. wajamus

    wajamus Registered Member

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    Dear AX64 users,

    AX64 aims to deliver an ever more reliable backup solution without the clutter and complexity. We also aim to deliver the best support we can. A backup program needs to be rock solid, trustworthy and instill peace of mind in the user.

    With the last build we released, we fell short on our pledge to deliver a great product. Some users have reported that the rescue environment fails to load properly. Build 528 fixes this critical issue. We sincerely apologise to all of the users affected.

    You can download the new build here. We recommend all users on build 526 to upgrade.

    You can simply install this over the last build.

    As a thank you gesture to all our users, we will be announcing a promotion very soon.

    We're really excited with the AX64. In the past month we've expanded our team with some awesome talent. This will help us to deliver faster responses to user support tickets as well as new expertise that can bring AX64's technology to the next level.

    Again, we apologise to the user's effected by the last build, especially to the users effected.


    Best regards,

    The AX64 Dev Team
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2014
  5. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    Deleting backups takes a very long time as it merges after doing it. Is that normal?
    Is it necessary for me to delete backups?
     
  6. upchie

    upchie Registered Member

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    Following Hardon's report,I also noticed that deleting backups takes very long time
    with the build 528.Tested on Win 7.
     
  7. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Hadron & Upchie... DELETE operations do take some time under AX due to the fact that a MERGE operation is always performed into the next snapshot in the sequence. If the snapshot being deleted is fairly big or the snap being merged into is of good size, the DELETE operation, normally, will take some time.

    DELETE operations won't gain you much in storage requirements unless the snapshot being deleted contains a whole bunch of data that was only valid after that snapshot and removed before the next one. Example: install MicroSloth Office, snapshot system (Snap #X) then play a while, then uninstall Office before the next snapshot. After taking the next snapshot following the uninstall, Snap #X will have no use (unless you wanna return to an active Office install) and should gain you a bit in storage if you DELETE it. Also note... the lower # of snapshots in the chain, the faster the COLD restore will be, if necessary.

    That said, I have not had time as of yet to compare Build 526 & 528 in that aspect. I'll take a quick look later today and report back if that helps.
     
  8. William Johnson

    William Johnson Registered Member

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    But can I install directly over 499 build?
     
  9. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    William, any release up to this point in the development of v2 may be installed directly on top of any previous release of the same major version, regardless of the vesrion #... I do this all the time while testing this app. This does not apply when moving between versions (v1 <> v2).

    It should work just fine... just INSTALL, no unINSTALL if you want to preserve your backup chain.
     
  10. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Hadron & Upchie, ran the following test under Builds 499, 526 & 528...

    DELETE (MERGE) a 4.32gB snap into a 1.12gB
    DELETE (MERGE) a 931mB snap into an 832mB snap

    This was done on an eSATA connected SATA II drive (about 55mB/sec read capability). All the measured times were essentially the same (within a few seconds of each other). It looks as though there have been no changes in the capability of the DELETE (MERGE) operation over the past (3) app releases.

    Something else to NOTE: if you're doing these operations on a USB2 connected device, they will be even slower due to the limited thruput of the USB2 connection (25-28mB/sec, real world).
     
  11. upchie

    upchie Registered Member

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    Thanks for the testing and the explanations TheRollback Frog.
    I don't know why,but
    the Delete & Merge processes are running much faster
    on version 1.
    The backup process speed however has been improved on build 528 comparing to previous version 2 builds,
    but again,not as fast as in version 1.
     
  12. William Johnson

    William Johnson Registered Member

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    Thank you
     
  13. timmy

    timmy Registered Member

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    Thank you Mr. Waj, I was one of the users affected (or effected if desired) by the 526, but all well now with your updated b528. Just tried a restore now and it worked! Rgds and best.
     
  14. wajamus

    wajamus Registered Member

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    It is not necessary to delete your backups unless you are running out of space. Regarding deleting backups taking a long time, please send in your logs to info@ax64.com and also write in detail what exactly happened (ie. tried to delete backup, right clicked, clicked delete, it took x amount of time etc).

    To send logs:

    click backup tools
    click about icon
    click collect logs

    attach these to the mail
     
  15. wajamus

    wajamus Registered Member

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    AX64 Time Machine Sale


    We are holding a promotion until Nov 10 2014 to celebrate our users, fans and new supporters! We send our biggest appreciation to those who have stuck with us since the beginning.

    Prices for the period are as follows:



    Single License

    Sale Price: $19.95

    Was: $39.95

    Discount: 50%



    Family 4 Pack

    Sale Prie: $29.95

    Was: $64.95

    Discount: 55%



    Server License

    Sale Price: $49.95

    Was: $129.95

    Discount: 60%



    Thanks guys!
     
  16. michaelwileman

    michaelwileman Registered Member

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    Version 528 does now boot,but still slow restore using warm restore,hot restore quicker.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2014
  17. enonod

    enonod Registered Member

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    UEFI Windows 8.1.
    Perhaps a stupid question but if anybody knows or has advice before I try I would be grateful.
    I have a clean Win 8 upgraded to 8.1 backup, taken with rubbish backup program, before other software was installed. I want to take the C partition only, not the boot partition or the recovery partitions, with AX64, come forward to the present incarnation (2 years later) and slot the just mentioned backup into the current C partition without affecting the boot etc partitions.
    If I do that the obvious way of restoring to the original first, the rubbish program wipes all other data partitions (doing a System Recovery because of the altered boot partition position and size) and I have to recover them all.
    The boot & recovery partitions are in a slightly different place on the old backup hence the need to slot in without altering the current boot recovery partitions.
    So... is it possible to mount an image of the C: Windows partition (larger but with much less data) taken with the rubbish program (before AX64 enlightenment), using that program, and then backing that mount up with AX64 and then restore that image back as current C partition, using AX64? I hope this is clearo_O
    [EDIT] No I cannot do the above, the mounted drive does not show up in AX64. Any suggestions?

    There is a reason... The 'rubbish' backup program I used to use slightly altered the boot partition position leaving bits of unallocated in between, thus if I want to go back to that setup (in order to save the result directly in AX64), the rest of the partitions get wiped because a System Restore is required, and I then have to recover them.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2014
  18. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    Thank you,,,,, do we get this at your website? A link would be very good.
     
  19. enonod

    enonod Registered Member

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    I have just availed myself of this, go to the normal download site, the offer is on there as well
    http://ax64.com/
     
  20. wajamus

    wajamus Registered Member

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    Hi there,

    Yes, just go to the website and the sale is up :)

    https://ax64.com/purchase/

     
  21. Max29

    Max29 Registered Member

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    Now lets see, first I paid $39.95 Then Vers 2 I paid $17.50. Total 57.45 and it dose not work. Now low and behold for $19,95. Total of $ 77.40 Reminds me of Acronis. At this rate by the time they get one to work probably $ 200. Bought Macrium Pro on sale $47 and it works.

    Max29
     
  22. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    If you already paid for V2 then you don't need to spend another 19.95 But that being said I do agree with you
     
  23. wajamus

    wajamus Registered Member

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    Hi Max,

    If you have a problem do please let us know at info@ax64.com. Send your logs through if you haven't already and we will investigate. Also, if the app doesn't work for you ever, then then let us know. I can arrange a full refund for you. Even after that, we will still continue to do our best to resolve your issue.

    But this sale is not for current owners of AX64v2, unless you want additional licenses.
     
  24. enonod

    enonod Registered Member

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    Regarding my post #9292 (just back up the page). I went back to the old system and AX64'd the C drive. On returning to the current system I tried to 'Restore' the AX64'd partition and it said the partition could not be found and did I want to restore to a blank drive.
    This is probably expected and I assume it is due to the partition start maybe not matching the current one.
    Please!!, is there any way to adjust the AX64'd image to match the current partition so that I can go back and forth?

    The reason is that I want to slowly add software to the original clean system while still working on the current, every time I restore the old system (not using AX64 I hasten to add) the backup program wipes all my partitions. I therefore want to go back and forth using AX64.

    Thanks in advance for the wonderful solution you are about to give me :)
     
  25. wajamus

    wajamus Registered Member

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    Hi I've sent you a PM
     
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