So finally took the AyRecovery plunge, some questions!

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by ratchet, Dec 30, 2008.

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  1. ratchet

    ratchet Registered Member

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    Well after passing on the free EAZFIX from GAOTD months ago I finally installed this type software. Quite painless I must say. A few questions though. First, from the following quote: "After installation of AyRecovery, you need to modify BIOS boot sequence as "Boot from HDD-0". Please do not select "Boot from CD" or "Boot from Floppy disk"." Do I need to edit the BIOS or did AR automatically do this during install? Also, does this mean that if I had some sort of total system crash I could not boot from recovery media?
    If GAOTD should give EAZFIX away again, any point in uninstalling AR other than lengthening license time? I know EF is supposed to be more feature rich but AR is probably fine for me.
    Software and anti-malware updates are still actually occurring correct?
    Thank You!
     
  2. jack90125

    jack90125 Registered Member

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    I would not bother.I tried it and it would not do something like restore when I had another problem it still would not boot.vista x64 so I trashed it and went back to seagates free version of tru image that all seagate drive owners get for free. and has been flawless.
     
  3. Aaron Here

    Aaron Here Registered Member

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    Presuming that you mean AY, not AR, the significant feature it lacks in comparison to EF (or RB) is drive imaging which is built into EF v8.1. That won't matter if you use some other disk-imaging program for disaster-recovery backup, if you don't do that, then EF's drive image represents an important feature.
     
  4. ratchet

    ratchet Registered Member

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    Yes, I use Norton ghost!
     
  5. Jo Ann

    Jo Ann Registered Member

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    Hi ratchet,

    Afaik, all recent versions of Norton Ghost can only create an image backup from within Windows (not from its Boot CD). If that's true of your Ghost version, when you use it to create an image of your system drive/partition it will only capture the current Ay snapshot (the current system state) - it will not fully capture Ay Recovery or any Ay snapshots other than the current one. Furthermore, in order to recover that image there's a high likelihood you will have to repair your Master Boot Record (to a standard Windows MBR)!

    In order to create a proper backup image of your system, including AyRecover and all of your Ay snapshots you need an image backup program which allows you to run it from its boot CD (using its 'all sectors' mode of operation).
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2008
  6. ratchet

    ratchet Registered Member

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    It is Ghost10. I copied a full image to my external HD before installing Ay. Frankly, I'm loving this app and really don't see as much of a need for Ghost, although I do realize they can compliment each other. My issues over the years have been with software that my system didn't like or the removal of a reg entry. I should have listened to the folks on here a long time ago who swore by the snapshot type apps. I'll still be careful but feel quite confident relative to system protection now. Thank you for the reply!
     
  7. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    Hehe, glad you're enjoying AYRecovery, ratchet. I'm a spoiled FD-ISR brat so I remember how thrilled I was when I realized it's recovery capability and the freedom it gave me. Enjoy but, yes, keep that imaging as a fallback. Now, although I probably don't need it, I'm interested to read up on AYRecovery.
     
  8. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    I guess i been lucky to have the best of all worlds thanks to FD-ISR Classic myself, that is the good old version by Raxco distributors.

    Just last evening i found my 200GB FD-ISR .SNA image made by the incredible imaging app DriveSnapshot. I simply opened the image in DS's virtual drive, fired up XYPlorer and proceeded to browse all 8 of my snapshots and copied over many apps to this drive i been using lately. This is peering technology at it's best IMO and the convenience is nothing short of remarkable!

    Doesn't harm either the snapshots or the image itself as it sits ready to be restored again when i fit another drive to accommadate the size of it.

    Enjoying AYRecovery should be a breath of fresh air for you so long as it serves your needs without problems but i would also as already suggested save yourself some anxiety and image that drive/system too so that in event of the jack-in-the-box surprise problem, if it should rare it's ugly head on you, it's but a simple matter to restore your system completely stable and intact again. There are some very useful choices around, and you'll read benefits as well as complaints with some, but for pity sakes, DriveSnapshot for me just keeps batting a thousand. Not a single problem with it ever, something i cannot say for other apps of like kind including my old fav PARAGON long since mothballed for DS.

    EASTER
     
  9. raakii

    raakii Registered Member

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    I was using ayrecovery for 1 month , i found the software reliable among other ISR software , and also it is free.

    But due to inherent problem associated with all current ISr software(slow bootup time), I tried the imaging softwares.
    I found DS to be best among all.

    IFW from terabyte is also closely following DS in efficiency.
    Shadow protect also worked fine but not better than DS.


    By using extensive measures i have reduced my image size too just around 1gb , that means
    it takes just 1 minute to restore the windows.

    If u nedd multiple snapshot ,i would recommend Ayrecovery.
     
  10. ratchet

    ratchet Registered Member

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    Please excuse, but now I'm quite confused! I read the Ay "white paper" on using image software with Ay. I basically got the gist of it but it does require jumping through hoops and really only gives directions for someone with the Ay CD.
    I made a complete image onto my external HD with Ghost10 prior to installing Ay. Is this image useless now? Is it useless to image again unless I go through the white paper method? Is DriveSnapshot or something similar the only image software(s) that is/are compatible? And while I'm at it, what exactly is the "Synchronize" in the context menu for? Ay help didn't have it in the index. Thank You!
     
  11. raakii

    raakii Registered Member

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    Synchronize , files copies the file in the snapshot chosen to be copied to the current one.-->manual method, works fine.

    It has the exclusion list also for preventing some files chosen by the user from being changed on every snapshot.-->consumes lot of disk space for anchoring.
     
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