Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

Too kind...but there are many others here who can, who do & have done the same...it is just hard to find those gems & pearls in this monster thread...

And the help/knowledgebase on the AX64.com site is also simple & clear...check it out.

Regards, Baldrick

 

Re: 413 Years Ago

ROFL...

 

Re: 413 Years Ago

And I can't even delete it. If I hover over it, the tooltip says it was created on 01/01/1601 at 10:00AM.

How do I get rid of it or fix it?

 

Auto backups are merged automatically so if you want to keep some,,,,say daily snaps, its a good idea to do a manual every so often. These manuals stay until you decide you no longer need them. I like to make a manual snap at the end of the day and keep 7 of these. Then on the 8th day I delete the oldest one etc etc.

As for testing, the ans is yes, do a manual just before the test and then you can roll back to just pre test. Rolling back to the last auto snap can give you a time frame ranging from 1 min prior to 59 min prior. Also, since you can name the manual snap its easy to roll back to it if the test overlaps an auto snap (auto snap created during the test).

 

Its here as a beta that folks report is very stable. The only issue reported is an inability to create recovery media due to MS removing some files. Older recovery media work just fine though.

 

Re: 413 Years Ago

I know AX64 is a time machine but this goes beyond all expectations. 413 years ago,,,,amazing,,,,,,buy gold and put it away for your present self.

 

Thanks for this. Further clarifies and presents an option for the daily manual.

 

Re: 413 Years Ago

I deleted everything and started from scratch.

 

Re: 413 Years Ago

Hi Stiggs,

The timeframe is odd, however, I believe one cannot delete the initial baseline image. It is very huge as it is the complete image rather than the incremental image.

You are right, that you deleted everything and started from scratch.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Re: 413 Years Ago

If one can not "delete" (merge) the baseline image, then I believe my copy of AXTM is broken because I've done that quite a few times.

 

Re: 413 Years Ago

Maybe, it can be done, but it is the biggest image, the initial baseline one. Merging it will take a very, very long time. My initial baseline image is about 50GB and therefore it is not recommended to do so.

Here is an example:

Image A: Initial baseline Image = 50GB
Image B: First Increment Image = 200MB

Now, if I delete Image A and merge it with Image B, the result will be as follows:

Image B: Will be now 50.2GB

The above will result in lots of wasted time, but accomplish nothing.

However, smaller incremental images can be deleted and merged. So three smaller incremental images of 500MB each will result in one incremental image of 1.5GB

But eventually they will become bigger and bigger too. So for this reason it is better to start a new chain.

Stigg couldn't delete it because something went wrong. He was better off to start a new chain.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Re: 413 Years Ago

And, if I not wrong the first baseline image is manual rather than automatic so that it cannot be automatically merged with the next incremental image.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

My personal opinion about AX64 Time Machine is that I don't think it is the type of backup/imaging application that I am looking for.

I am also currently using Macrium Reflect and am very impressed with it indeed.

I have also used Acronis and Paragon in the past. I don't think I ever liked Acronis for a number of reasons, but I found Paragon to be another superb backup/imaging application.

I still have AX64 Time Machine installed, and I may change my mind in the future, but I don't think it is what I am looking for.

 

Hi Stigg,

Do an experiment. Make an initial baseline image. After few minutes, make an incremental image. Then add a program to your OS. Make another incremental image.

So, now you have an initial baseline image and two incremental images. Turn off your security programs and within Windows restore to the first incremental image.

See what happens and how quickly it happens.

Are you game?

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Hi Mohamed.

What are you trying to tell me, mate? And how should I make an initial baseline image and two incremental images in AX64?

 

Hi Stigg,

Rename your AXTM directory to Old. Make a backup with AXTM, and this will take very long but will be much, much quicker than Macrium Reflect. If you OS is 50GB the compressed backup will be around 25GB. This will be your initial backup image.

Wait 2 minutes, make another backup, this will be your first incremental backup, and it will be very small and very quick. Now install a software, then make another backup, this will be your second incremental image. This again will be very small and quick.

Now, turn off all your security programs, all the shields. Then restore to the first incremental image, this from within Windows.

See what happens and how quickly it happens.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Hi Stigg,

P.S. I assume that you have already made a Recover Media for AX64.

Your first initial baseline backup is like your first full backup in Macrium Reflect. From then on any further backups in AX64 are incremental backups, which are equivalent to incremental backups in Macrium Reflect.

In Macrium Reflect you can do differential backups, in AX64 you can't.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Re: 413 Years Ago

 

This should have its own sticky or separate forum category. It masks other new topics.

 

thanks rollback frog! i thought of the same but you have given deep down explanation! it has helped a lot , also that means that i have to take iso image and then burn it into my pen drive? is that the only solution for using ax64 as suggested by taotoo ?

 

Vaastu_Mani... as Tattoo suggests, if you want to use a BOOTable UFD, you'll need to make an ISO from AX64 and burn it to the UFD if your UFD mounts as a "fixed disk" in your system. If it mounts as a "removable disk," AX64 can burn the UFD directly, no ISO involved.

I've stayed away from the "ISOtoUSB" tool because its installer, on most of the internet places, is full of Adware. "Yumi" is a decent tool but creates a kind of cryptic boot menu (because it can create a multi-ISO BOOTable UFD) that gets you to your RECOVERY MEDIA. I use "UltraISO" for single purpose BOOTable UFDs... they wind up just like BOOTable CDs. I have that tool primarily because I modify a lot of ISOs and it just happens to create BOOTable UFDs as we'll. I believe the FREE trial of UltraISO has that capability... if you need to create the UFD quickly without cost to you.

If your computer(s) happen to have CD/DVD drives in them, you can always have AX64 make the BOOTable CD directly for you.

 

I'm using AX64 (b1.3.0.7) concurrently with the latest 10.2 version of Rollback Rx. They seem to co-exist without visible problems and Rollback duly rolls back or forward into the selected snapshot. The problem has arisen when I tested AX64 restore using a bootable CD.

This is what I did:

A) with a functional Rollback I made an AX64 backup snapshot.
B) next I fully unistalled Rollback having a clean system of it. Rebooted the PC.
C) I booted AX64 from a bootable CD and selected a restore of snapshot made within point A), when Rollback was installed and active.

While everything went fine from the point of view of disk contents reflecting the chosen snapshot, including Rollback's files in the Shield folder, Rollback's pre-OS boot loader did not load and Rollback stopped working until unistalled and reinstalled. Obviously the MBR has not been properly restored and probably even not backed up by AX64. I tried AX64 restore with both built-in "Restore MBR" feature as well as without it to no avail. Backing up the MBR with Rollback installed with some third party software and restoring it separately also did not work. My suspicion is that Rollback stores the pre-boot loader in some hidden format. Has someone come accross the way how Rollback's pre-OS boot info can be backed up and restored? I'd love to continue using both apps as each gives me a special level of safety and comfort...

 

Hi Selukwe

I think that using both together is workable...but IMHO not advised...as this is the thought of issue that arises periodically.

I think that the Frogster has written the definitive post on the topic (but I just cannot find it for the life of me at the money...@TheRollbackFrog, can you help).

Regards


Baldrick

 

The only way for you to get a copy of Rollback RX's pre-BOOT loaded is to do it from OUTSIDE of your protect6ed Windows system. I've done this often with almost any MBR tool (I use BootIce most of the time) while running under WinPE/WinRE, BartPE, etc.

When RBrx installs, it makes a copy of the current pre-BOOT loader (MBR) and stores it in a few places... one of them is out in the middle of Track 0, and the other is a file called 128.dat located in its installation folder. Whenever any app tries to copy the MBR on a protected system, RBrx hands out the original pre-BOOT loader rather than the RBrx pre-BOOT loader. That's why any restoration of a system image taken under the auspices of a Rollback protected Windows will always fail as far as ROLLback is concerned... that restoration will neuter the protection mechanism if the image's MBR is restored. Of course, if you don't restore the image's MBR, the RBrx pre-BOOT loader will remain in place. This may sound good but can be very dangerous if any imager other than a true imager (exact disk block restoration, not any sort of file restoration) is used for the restoration. AX64, I believe, is a true block disk restorer, and as such, if you restore it's image without restoring the MBR the image has in it, it actually should work just fine. I would never trust this, personally, as I don't know where RBrx maintains its protected database of snapshotted sectors and don't know what the status would be after that restoration as far as the database and its referenced sectors would be... but RBrx would be somewhat functional (if there even is such a condition).

Others who have contributed to this thread do have what appears to be an operational combination of AX64 and RBrx... hopefully they will chime in here. I would not run such a system configuration, mostly 'cause I don't know all the nitty gritty details of how Rollback does things internally.