Returnil

Ok, it has happened again, same as before, restart PC, same two errors on boot,Returnil does not mount the VP although icon appears in the tray. Right click and show the program all check boxes in the settings are blank and serial number is missing. Adding the serial number and click register requests reboot. On reboot now the errors do not appear however there is no tray icon (probably because I have not checked the relevant boxes yet) However launching the program from the start menu seems ok, it allows me to mount VP, turn on session protect, but when I activate the password protection it will not recognise the password, I am very careful to double check that it is correct, even using the display password feature

It gets weirder, I reboot again no errors, and launch from start menu it prompts for password (as I enabled this during the last session) and this time it accepts it. I set all the prefereces, mount the VP,and turn on session protect and shut the UI. The tray icon is there tool bar all ok, I double click the tray icon and it prompts for password, I enter it and the program declares it invalid.

 

Ok specs of the system in question. Desktop, no hibernating.
XP Home SP2 fully updated 1gig RAM, AMD 64 2800, Single Maxtor 115 GB HDD single partition, about 50% free space.
Security apps running, SSM free, Avast! Home, Windows Defender and Sandboxie

 

I wonder if either comodo or SSM are trying to "protect" you ?

Have you tried - for test purposes only - running with some of these "security"
programs disabled or uninstalled ? Would be interesting to discover if one of them doesn't want to play friendly with Returnil.

 

Hi Long View, am at that now, taking a stab in the dark, Comodo is in my sig and on a different snapshot, this one is Sygate, I have rolled back again to a clean snap and reinstalled Returnil, this time with SS disabled, both during the install and for the time being, also I am running without using sandboxie, and also I had a habit of running ccleaner just before shutdown which incleded prefetch files. Now I have no idea if any of this is significant, my money would be on SSM as you say, so I will run it for a few days and gradually reintroduce the elements with SSM last and report back.

 

I too am unable to get Returnil to protect my system drive on my desktop computer.

Specs -

I have 2 physical hard disks -
1 - SATA, 2 partitions - C:\ and S:\
2 - EIDE, 1 partition - D:\

SystemPartition key = Device\HarddiskVolume1
WinObjEx identifies C:\ = Device\HarddiskVolume1

The Windows Disk Manager identifies C:\ as the System drive, and there are no other active partitions.

The two other keys you asked about on page 12 are the same as this post -
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1039855&postcount=291

I just did a simple test - enable SessionLock (red tray icon), and created a few new text files on the desktop. They remained after reboot.

I should mention I have Returnil running fine on my laptop, so I know how good this software is.

Do you have any more info on this problem or any suggestions?

 

is it possible that Returnil sees the IDE before SATA ? Can't be sure but several times now I have seen reported problems where SATA and IDE are both being used

 

What about if you unplug the ide drive, then install returnil and see if it works correctly. If so then plug the ide drive back in and see how it goes.

 

Well that concludes that experiment, no use of SSM, no use of Sandboxie, and randomly Returnil broke with the same errors in the same manner. I'm afraid that for the time being I could not trust the security of my PC to this app.

 

I don't think that when Returnil is installed makes a difference. However when I get a chance I'll try unplugging the IDE drive and have a go at it.

I'm hoping they have this straightened out in the next beta series.

 

Returnil doesn't work for me either. I enabled protection manually, deleted a few folders and copied a few files, rebooted and nothing had changed. I tried a few times (even after reinstalling the program) and it partially worked once (removed a few of the copied files) but overall it was a colossal failure.

My system drive is XP SP2 on a 25GB partition of a 250GB SATA2 drive with a 160GB SATA and 2x80GB IDE drives as well.

 

Here we go again SATA and IDE on the same system. Can it just be co-incidence ?


Assuming you have the time and the inclination would it be possible to physically disconnect the 2 IDE drives and then run Returnil ?

 

Hi,
We plan to start a new beta series this coming week and the SATA/IDE issue is a priority. Keep an eye on the website and here in the forums for the announcement and links to the download.

Thanks as always
Mike

 

My computer is stuffed up into the basement beams so it's a major operation to take it down and remove the cables.

 

Any updates?

 

Peter, are you using Returnil, and if so would that be on a box with fd-isr?

 

Peter

why do you use sandboxie if you are using Returnil ? Is it because you are using one partition ?

 

Thanx Peter, do you have it load the VP on startup? Reason I am asking all this, is that you will likely have seen that I had isues with it, or it with me, anyways, I put it on a laptop, with all the same security software, the only thing I did different was not use the VP, and it seems to run fine, so was wondering if the VP load on startup was disliked or problematical with fd-isr, since it only operates in the system partition, it might not lke another partition appearing in the middle of its party during its startup sequence. I will get round to testing the theory myself, just wondered how you were running it.

 

How does Returnil compare to PowerShadow? Aren't they pretty much the same kind of application? Would anyone like to share their Pros and Cons of Returnil versus PowerShadow?

 

Returnil offers a free version and PS is no longer free except for maybe the Chinese. Both are worth paying for if they work properly on your system.

PS can protect the whole disk as where Returnil only protects the system partition (normally C: )

Returnil is suppose to work more in the memory/RAM whereas PS is suppose to write more to the disk.

Returnil gives you the option to install a 'virtual drive' to save things to while Retunils' protection is on. This is useful if you don't have an alternative data partition to save you data.

Yes, they offer the same type of protection and I have both installed. I occasionally use Returnil and or PS 2.82 and both work fine on my machine. I normally do my daily 'safe' surfing running my browser in Sandboxie. When I'm not sure about where I'm surfing, going to unsafe sites and or installing a new program to test, I enable either Returnil or PS protection. (note: the program must not need a reboot to install otherwise it will be deleted upon reboot with either program).

To the best of my knowledge, both programs are being actively developed and improved. PS version 2.6 does not protect the MBR whereas PS 2.82 does as well as Returnil. Returnil has good support and the developers listen well and take all suggestions given to them seriously. I hope this helps .

innerpeace

 

Any update on the beta? I'm in the SATA + IDE camp too...

 

Do you know what is the disk space used for storing (temporary and permanent) data when Returnil and PS are running?

Thanks.