Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

I too have been happy with V1.4.1.48. It has saved me numerous times since I first installed it. I think I only had to use the cold restore 2 or 3 times in all this time. My system has played some nasty tricks on me, such as changing the Drive letters, but AX64 has always recovered the originals. I did purchase v2 because I would like to monitor more than just one partition but v1 is so reliable I will stick with it until most of the bugs are worked out of v2. I am grateful for it.
sb

 

Guys and gals.. please chill and give them some time..
It's kinda understandable most of us are a bit ~ Snipped as per TOS ~ off about their absence,
(then again,this forum is not their official support forum,but no news on their main-site either,so...)
I sent them this e-mail and here is the answer:


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Absent AX64 support
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2015 08:21:17 -0600
From: AX64 Support <info@ax64.com>
To: Toni ***** <toni**********@gmx.com>


Hi Toni,

Thanks for your mail and really appreciate you touching base here. We did pop in there a week or so ago. We advised users shoot emails to us here and we'd respond as promptly.

Last time we popped in we got flames extremely bad, despite our best efforts to touch base with users.

The only way to redeem ourselves on Wilders is to release a new version of AX64. We are working on this as hard as we can.

Unfortunately as we shared on Wilders we have had some setbacks, so there are delays.

We hope to be back with in touch with users asap.

As for support, we are always here. Do you have any issues? Do let me kn and I'll trouble shoot as best as we can.

Best regards,

Nathan Vong
Technical Support Specialist
Bluebird IT PTY LTD
AX64.com
Elegant and simple backup!

On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 10:13 pm, Toni ******* <toni**********@gmx.com> wrote:
One of you guys really should pop up at the wilders security forum, and
post what's going on with AX64 development ..
No word from you guys for a long time, people are being ~ Snipped as per TOS ~ off and
making harsh accusations and assumptions...

 

As I mentioned before, most users do not want reassurance. They want meaningful and reliable updates and good communication.

 

AS far as I am aware there is no official forum. In addition if you read the posts leading up to the so called flames you will have a better idea as to why folks are unhappy.

In a nutshell there are folks who did a lot of trouble shooting for the developers and then found that all their efforts were a waste of time. If the beta was to be trashed and folks efforts and support were a waste of time someone from the development team should have appeared early on to explain what was going on, this did not happen and folks who were beta testing were left with backup chains that could not be used and a version 2 license that was, in many cases, worthless as v2 did not work for them. The offer of a refund was an insult IMO.

I cannot speak for all (obviously) but the feeling is that while most still would like to see a successful AXTM that there is little confidence that one will be forthcoming. It is felt that just like the developer was unable to get a properly functional Real Copy (I think that was the name of their original app) they will not be able to develop a properly functioning AXTM. I would love to be proved wrong but given performance to date since they took over from Isso its not looking very good,

 

I think if Isso had partnered with a more reputable company, things might have been different.

 

This latest post from bgoodman4 who has always been a fierce defender of this software and the company behind it tells you a lot about the disappointment even the most loyal users of AX64 are feeling today...

Having said this I must admit that I am quite surprised how well the latest unofficial Beta v. 2.0.0.549 works on my computer. I do have a license for v. 1 which is rock solid, but I really need the ability to backup more than 1 partition, so I gave this latest v.2 Beta a thorough test run on my machine.


Of course I had to use a few tricks to overcome the "Beta Expired" message,but this was not too hard. These tricks made Warm Restores dysfunctional, so like in v.1 you only have Hot or Cold restores.

My system is Win7 64-bit, no UEFI and no GPT. All backups and restores worked perfectly, hot restores seemed to be a little slower than in v. 1, but only by a small margin.

To my big surprise this version offers reliable Bare Metal Restores. There is no option to restore the whole drive in one piece, but after restoring one partition at a time the end result is a perfectly restored HDD. Pretty cool...


After this experience I would really like to know why the company does not build on this latest Beta. Did this "awesome new talent" who obviousy did a great job leave in anger and took the code he wrote with him?

Whatever, like some other folks I have the feeling that time is running out for AX64 Time Machine. Macrium has entered the race, and this is a company which has the resources to make a product succeed.


Cheers
manolito

 

I would have to agree with Pete on this though I still hope for a functional/reliable AXTM at some point.

Macrium Reflect V6 looks like a very solid contender for fast reliable restores. Its not as simple to use as AX64/TM but from early reports by Froggie, Pete, and others, its proving itself to be quite excellent. If you are interested in this app see the thread on Macrium Reflect on this forum.

 

The idea of keeping up with another thread...
Do I have to? Oh, well, better start now while the pages are still under 40.

 

to: Mr. Manuel
re: "I am quite surprised how well the latest unofficial Beta v. 2.0.0.549 works on my computer."

Hello, can you advise where you got this one from.
Do you state then that v. 2.0.0.549, wherever it can be found, has "not" expired?
Thank you.

 

Unfortunately the beta has expired and the developers have indicated that it has been shelved. Something to do with a member of the development team leaving the company. Pretty strange isn't it?

 

@ timmy

The link to this version is in post #9584 on page 384.

And this version has also expired, but there are "certain methods" to overcome this...


Cheers
manolito

 

These guys have never been very communicative with us, I don't expect they would change now. I am sure when they have a new beta they will let us know but when that will be is anyones guess.

 

I am trying AX64 v1.4148 for the first time (realizing it's a dead project) and I have a question. If I only take manual incrementals will they consolidate?

 

They can consolidate, if you do so manually. However, they won't consolidate automatically. You have to go into the AX64 browser and essentially manually delete a snapshot. It will then combine or consolidate the snapshot before it with the one after it. IMPORTANT: You should ONLY do this via the AX64 browser and NOT via windows explorer. Also, you would not want to delete (not sure if you can) the baseline snapshot in the chain.

 

Thanks Alex. I'd also appreciate it if you (or anyone else) would summarize any known Cold, Hot, or Warm restore issues with v1.4148.

 

You can delete the baseline snapshot (it will be merged/consolidated with the next incremental snapshot) but you can't delete the last (newest) snapshot using AX64's browser. But you can freely delete the last snapshot in Explorer, as well as a snapshot at some other point of time together with all snapshots made at a later date (up to the last one). Just do not delete any snapshot(s) in the middle, else you'll break the chain and ruin all later snaphots...

 

Thanks for clarifying that. Perhaps letting it automatically take hourly snaps would be most convenient (to get the auto merging/consolidation) even though my system doesn't incur changes that frequently.

 

Personally, I don't find auto mode useful for my needs. I do snapshots on demand - when needed: before installing new soft, when changing system config, updating drivers etc. But often I just can't resist making one at least once a day (just in case...), mainly when leaving the PC for a few minutes...

 

Any feedback on this?

 

I don't know about that particular version, nor cold issues (don't think it does warm), but AFAIK all versions of AX64 have problems with hot restores for many people (perhaps not all). I imagine I've had about a 10-20% failure rate over the various versions, and don't remember any particular version being better/worse than others (though probably never did enough snapshots with a given version for the results to have any statistical significance).

 

The intermittent HOT restore issue (usually a hang during the restoration) was not seriously dealt with until v2.0.548... all v1 versions potentially had that issue. Having said that, it appears that issue was configuration dependent... meaning if you had a system which didn't experience it, you were usually good to go. There is no WARM restore available in v1... if your HOT restore fails, COLD (or complete) restore is your only option. As I've mentioned before, most of the work done between v1.4.1.24 and v1.4.1.48 dealt with WinPE issues and the ability to correctly BOOT systems.

In my experience, v1.4.1.48 (BETA) has been the most reliable.

 

TRF, thanks for that excellent recap. I'm most interested in using AX64 on my wife's system, mostly because of it's operational simplicity (especially using auto snaps) and her difficulty in grasping other system imaging programs (which she wound-up not using). Any other thoughts in this regard would be most welcomed.

Scott