ShadowProtect Update (v3.5.1)

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by prius04, Dec 11, 2009.

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  1. rolarocka

    rolarocka Guest

    According to this post on their forum you need to:
    Deactivate - install (i installed on top) - reboot - activate again.
    Worked.
    One thing i noticed is that my Machine ID changed.

    Changelog:
    ShadowProtect version 3.5.1

     
  2. prius04

    prius04 Registered Member

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    Yeah, I posted in that thread as well. They deactivated my licenses after which time I was able to enter the serial numbers and activate (again).

    I hope this was simply a glitch and not some new procedure that has been implemented. Having to deactivate licenses before an update really makes little sense. Regardless, I'm hoping we get some clarification, one way or the other.
     
  3. rolarocka

    rolarocka Guest

    This was my first update with SP so i dont know how it was before. But seeing that i now have a new Machine ID i guess its related to copy protection.
     
  4. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

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    prius04 and rolarocka, I am assuming you two have a one year valid maintenance subscription that is why you were able to update, right?

    Can anyone clarify that you do indeed need a valid maintenance subscription in order to update or is there a typo in their policy I quoted earlier.

    Another friend of mine was surprised to hear, that you need subscription for updates, so this is why I am asking.

    Thanks.
     
  5. rolarocka

    rolarocka Guest

    I dont have that year subscription. It seems that this minor updates without new features are for free. And that is how it should be anyway.
     
  6. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

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    If according to their new policy you need a valid subscription to qualify for an update, then it would make sense to activate after every update, as this allows SP to verify that you are qualified for the update.
     
  7. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

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    Understood.
     
  8. rolarocka

    rolarocka Guest

    Or they are limited somehow. Thats the only explanation for me why i have a new Machine ID.
    Lets wait and see...
    As long as this makes Backups and Restores without problems, thats important.
     
  9. prius04

    prius04 Registered Member

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    Raza0007:

    Their policy either changed or they redefined what they consider to be a "major version increment". In fact, there were a ton of changes in v3.5 so perhaps that was considered sufficiently "major" to warrant an upgrade charge (obviously, I have no way of knowing for sure).

    On the other hand, the latest version (3.5.1) is more like a patch than an upgrade; only one bug was fixed, and an admittedly rare one at that. Consequently, there's no way they could justify charging an upgrade fee for such a minor update.
     
  10. grnxnm

    grnxnm Registered Member

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    @rolarocka

    The only affected binary is stcvsm.sys in the *installed* ShadowProtect. You don't need a new ISO, unless you intend to install the product update from the ISO (the ISO contains the ShadowProtect 3.5.1 installer). If you just download the installer from the www.storagecraft.com website (the trial is just the full installer) then you don't need a new ISO. As the ISO recovery environments go, they are totally unaffected by this (you are safe to use your older ISO both for backup and restore). UPDATE: The 3.5.1 ISO is actually not yet available for download as it has not yet been pushed to the mirror servers. The 3.5.1 installer, however, is available here. The ISO recovery environments are not affected so frankly you should be just fine not bothering to download the 3.5.1 ISO when it is available (its only update is that the 3.5.1 ISO will contain the 3.5.1 installers in its Installers directory)

    This 3.5.1 update is a free upgrade to any existing 3.x license, back to 3.0. Version numbers are formatted like so (roughly): Major.Minor.Amend.Build. Sometimes Amend and Build are omitted in discussion. We still give out updates to Minor free. Updates to Major cost money unless you have active maintenance, in which case upgrading to a new Major is free.

    @prius04/wat0114

    Yeah, I agree that tight copyright protection can be a pain. But, regretfully, as Pete says, we do have to do something to protect the software from piracy. Our previous product line, the ShadowUser sandbox app, was not as well protected and it was so heavily pirated that it did serious harm to StorageCraft.

    @Osaban

    Correct, if you are only taking base/full images, you are not affected. Anyone who is creating incrementals really should update to 3.5.1.

    @prius04

    Our web guy is updating the posted 3.5.1 installer (here) right now with a fix for this activation issue. The way it is supposed to work is that if you have already activated a 3.x product, any 3.x update which you apply will be automatically activated.

    All updates to the 3.x line have been free to existing 3.x customers. In other words, those customers who purchased 3.0 have received (without maintenance) free of cost 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, and also 3.5.1.

    @MerleOne

    I'll see if I can find out the status of the international installers. I know they are made, and I suspect they have been or are about to be delivered to those resellers.

    @Raza0007

    This issue has nothing to do with the mounter. It can cause a situation where your incrementals (only "VDiff"/fast incrementals are affected, full diff "DiffGen" incrementals are not affected) do not contain 100% of the changes (particularly to file system metadata) since the last backup. It is much more likely to occur on Win7/2008R2 than on other platforms, and only under certain specific conditions (which is why it slipped past our stress test battery). 3.5.1 has been verified by our lab as well several customers and partners to completely resolve this issue. I can't go into the exact details on what it is that causes this issue because we consider this fix to be a competitive advantage (in other words, it's entirely possible that our major competitors have this issue (it is related to platform behavior and hence can affect any similar product), and we don't want to help them to resolve it, no offense, but that's just business).
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2009
  11. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    @grnxnm

    What is the deal with the recovery cds that you offer at your site for 5$? o_O

    Are they fully functional or what...?

    Panagiotis
     
  12. LenC

    LenC Registered Member

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    Please post a message to let us know when the fixed installer is in place.

    Thank you
     
  13. grnxnm

    grnxnm Registered Member

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    Above post is somewhat inaccurate. Note that the 3.5.1 ISO is not yet available for download (the 3.5.0 ISO is still on the download mirror servers). Since the recovery environments are not affected, this shouldn't cause any problems. Just download the updated 3.5.1 installer here (and if you MUST have the 3.5.1 ISO as well then check the storagecraft forums periodically - I will announce when it is available when the web guys tell me it's on the mirror servers).

    http://www.storagecraft.com/software_update.php
     
  14. grnxnm

    grnxnm Registered Member

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    I think that's just the recovery environment ISO burned to a CD. It's cheaper to just download it yourself and burn it to a CD-R blank. However, some people don't want to bother burning the ISO - they want us to do it for them and ship it to them.
     
  15. grnxnm

    grnxnm Registered Member

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  16. rolarocka

    rolarocka Guest

    This is my Update story so far. I downloaded the "old" 3.5.1 installer - deactivated - installed (on top of 3.5) - activated again -> New machine id.
    Redownloaded the "new" fixed 3.5.1 - uninstalled without deactivating - installed "new" 3.5.1 - activated again -> New machine id.
    This means that my serial is already associated with three machine ids (all on the same system of course).
    Well lets hope i will be able to update next time ;)
     
  17. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    Thanks for explaining. :)

    I have a small request. Can you post some screensshots of how the activation/deactivation is done? I hate online activations and the only reason that I haven't bought a license yet is because of fearing problems like the one rolarocka described.

    I searched the faq section of storagecraft but could not find any info/tutorial about this.

    Panagiotis
     
  18. wat0114

    wat0114 Guest

    Thank you for the feedback, grnxnm! Yes, I understand the dilemna the company faces with being too lenient with licensing. Really, all I would hope for is fewer hassles with the major release numbers, eg 3.x.
     
  19. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

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    That makes sense.

    But your FAQs on "Sales and Ordering" > "What is '1 Year Maintenance', and should I purchase it?" state this:

    To me, this clearly states that you will get updates (even those with bug fixes) and new versions only if you purchase a maintenance agreement.

    Is discouraging potential customers part of some new business strategy adopted by StorageCraft?...;)
     
  20. MerleOne

    MerleOne Registered Member

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    grnxnm, Thanks for taking the time to answer !
     
  21. wat0114

    wat0114 Guest

    BTW, and maybe a bit OT, but I have indisputable first-hand proof that the recovery disk (ver 3.5) will backup and restore Linux partitions, at least ext4 file system. your KB page mentions here that it is Windows only. This may be true for the Windows environment, but the recovery disk has proven its mettle handling linux quite nicely in my little venture :)


    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1591122&postcount=15
     
  22. L Bainbridge

    L Bainbridge Registered Member

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    You won't if my experience is anything to go by.
    I've only deactivated Shadow Protect once from my recollection. I recently upgraded to Win 7 using a 'new' FD-ISR snapshot for 7, installed SPD on Win7 and went back to XP to deactivate it, so I could install it in Win 7 only to be told by SPD I had used up all my deactivations. Needless to say I couldn't activate SPD on 7 either...
    I have Emailed support and have been giving the run around for 48 hours.
    This is TOTALLY unacceptable for a product that costs $80.
    The activation system is not well thought through and compounded by Storage Craft's apparent poor customer support. I appreciate they need to stop piracy but alientating faithful customers is pretty poor way of getting them to support your product.
    Sadly, the product is fantastic but any more run around from Storage Craft and I'll uninstall it, take the financial hit and reluctantly use Acronis or Paragon.....
     
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2009
  23. LenC

    LenC Registered Member

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    Last edited: Dec 15, 2009
  24. rolarocka

    rolarocka Guest

    @ L Bainbridge

    Quick update on this. Only one deactivation count was burned for me with this glitch. The support credited it back to me. So i am at the same as i was before. All i can say is that the support was great :thumb:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 17, 2009
  25. grnxnm

    grnxnm Registered Member

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    Well, yeah, uh, you're right. :) You can actually backup your Linux partitions, however the disadvantage with the current tools is that free space on those volumes is not yet excluded. In other words, the backups of linux partitions are good, but unnecessarily large, because they back up ALL sectors even those which are free space within the EXT2/3/4/Reiser/etc filesystem.
     
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