Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

wajamus would be the one to contact btw

 

Hi Tyler,

Froggie suggested that you PM Isso, he beat me to it and that is the way to go. Isso is responsible for AX64 and Wajamus is for RealCopy, though both AX64 and RealCopy are one company.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

OK, FROGGIE, here we go moving from the FirstDefense thread:

what did you mean by "even the BASELINE is an INCREMENTAL of nothing".

I am still in the process of wrapping my mind around this AXTM, thanks.

Acadia

 

Wow, first time AX64 has completely worked on my system and the speed is truly amazing (w/MSATA SSD). Might have to get the wife to consider one more Christmas gift.

 

Just trying to save you time as I have already inquired about this. wajamus is in charge of finances now.

 

No problem, Chamlin...always happy to help if I can.

 

Simple really... the discussion was about AX64 TM being an INCREMENTAL imager. All its snapshots are an incremental of changes only since the last snapshot. Well, when you do the first snapshot, the original BASELINE... it gives you the differences between that time point and the previous. Since there is no previous snapshot, it has to give you everything on the protected volume for this "first" snapshot.

Since the snaps can be merged (all except the most recent), if the BASELINE is not the most recent, it may be merged also.

Sorry... I didn't mean to get things all confused.

 

LOL, not confused except my way of thinking on things. By the way, don't you EVER call me "Cap'n" again unless you are willing in your next breath to shout: "ABANDON SHIP"!!

Acadia

 

So what this means then is this, or So I'm understanding anyway. Unlike other Backup Software where you create say....an Installation backup of just the OS and updates should you wish to revert to a clean state in sometime or other, If you create an installation backup with AX64 and expect to be able to go back to that later in time, If you have hourly backups checked, eventually that will be impossible, because it would have merged with anything else that was installed YES or No! If this is the case then Speed means absolutely nothing, and it's pointless having a baseline if your using AX64 in this way.....Screw that! I'll stick with what I have been using at least I know what I have and don't.

Edit: I guess you can look at it this way, One Backup Software has an acronym WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)
So AX64 should have WYHOWBTN (what you had once, wont be there now)

 

This is incorrect. If you do not manually delete/merge the baseline it will stay as it is/was, at the time of creation. Any manual snaps that you create will remain unmerged unless you manually cause them to merge by deleting them from within the AX64 browser.

Here is how I get the best of both worlds (best of both worlds being retained snaps and hourly backups). I create a baseline. I turn on hourly snapshot, at the end of each day before I shut down the PC I create a manual snap with the current date and time.

So what does this give me?

It gives me fast daily system state snapshots that do not get merged unless I choose to get rid of one (or more) for some reason. Some folks will maintain a baseline and a rolling 7 day manual snapshot archive. Others will choose to, at the end of the week (or whatever), rename the AX64 snapshot storage folder and start a new chain (most will keep a set of these renamed folder "just in case"). In addition I get the convenience and comfort of having snaps automatically created on an hourly basis. These are merged automatically following a set protocol (see the FAQ files on the AX64 website for the schedule) so that space does not get gobbled up due to a massive set of snaps.

AX64 is quite versatile as to how you use it, some choose to only do manual snaps so there is no auto merging, some use only auto snap so recent (weekly, daily and hourly) snaps are available to revert to,,,,,,and some use a combination of these two to suit their needs.

ALSO

The ability to customize the merging process is coming. This feature has been requested by many and we have been told its implementation is not too far off. In the meantime, if you give AX64 a try, you will find that it really is head and shoulders above the completion.

In short, not only is AX64 faster than the competition in terms of snapshot creation and hot restores, its also pretty much a more flexible program than the competition even though the app is still in its infancy.

As the saying goes,,,,,'Try it, you will like it".

 

Thanks bgoodman4. I do have it installed just that it was only a few days ago I turned on the hourly backup, and thought it would merge into the Baseline, and that's what I didn't want to happen. But all's good now thanks for explaining

 

ISO or USB Creator

I'm still waiting for an ISO or USB creator for my Windows 8.1 systems.

Anyone?

 

Stigg,

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2317195&postcount=6138

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=339999&page=246

 

Let me tell you how I am using AX64 after almost 2 weeks, it is giving me nearly the same flexibility as FDISR. This is on a Win7 system.

On my system I have 3 extra drives not counting the primary. With FDISR I would rotate my archived snapshots among those three drives. I usually had between 12-18 archives. This required careful record keeping (Word doc) so I would know what archive contained what.

With AX64 I partitioned my extra drives with partitions to contain ONLY the AXTM snapshot folder. I allowed 125gig for each one, in my case this turned out to be much more than enough since I only do 12-15 snapshots, all of them manually, usually once a day. After the partition gets a bit past 1/4 full, I rotate to the next partition on whatever drive. I DO NOT NEED TO RENAME ANYTHING. I simply go into the main AX64 gui and change the drive/partition. With rotation when it comes time to go back to the very first AXTM partition (after just two weeks this has not happened yet), I will simply REFORMAT the entire partition. No need to delete or defrag. Reformatting usually takes 3-4 seconds (I use the default "Quick Format"). Also, with the space that Isso allowed us to define each snapshot ... THERE IS NO MORE ANY NEED FOR RECORD KEEPING. I know what each snapshot contains by simply using the "viewing" feature.

Kudos to Isso for such an excellent (in my case, perfect so far) program.

Acadia

 

I had a failed hot restore today for the first time in a long time and I must say that if I had any doubts about the trade off between very fast hot restores and fast hot restores that were guaranteed to succeed I def would go for the guaranteed restore.

Basically I sat here and watched the PC for the last 1.5 hours while the cold restore was taking place. At last it was done and I can now get back to work (and its now 3:21 am local time).

Looking forward to the release of the bullet proof version,,,,may it happen sooner rather than latter.

 

Ok, Aladdin, thanks for following me here from the FirstDefense thread:

I searched Wilders for the info on creating a pre-Boot screen with AX64 but retrieved 20 gazillion hits. Could you please direct me to the exact posts that explain how?

Thanks a ton,
Acadia

 

Hi Acadia,

It is very simple, once you have created an ISO of AX64 Recovery Media.

Now, de-compress the AX_Recovery.iso, with either WinRAR or 7-Zip (FREE). You will now have a sub-directory called, "AX_Recovery". You don't need the ISO anymore, and you can delete it if you want.

Start EasyBCD, go to third menu on the left called, "Add New Entry" and then go to third item on the bottom called, "WinPE". In "Path" browse to to the AX_Recovery > Sources and choose "Boot.wim". Give it a name, such as "AX64 Time Machine" and then at the bottom click, "Add Entry".

You are done and you don't need EasyBCD anymore, unless in future you want to delete the entry or create entries for some other imaging/partition/virus programs.

Again, in future, if there is an upgrade to AX64, then make a new ISO, de-compress the ISO, and replace the new "AX_Recovery" directory with the old "AX_Recovery" directory.

Please see attached image.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Hi Acadia,

Also download and install EasyBCD from this link:

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownloa...oad-45820.html

For more information, please see the following thread starting on page 2:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=356882&page=2

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Hi Acadia,

It is not pre-Boot screen. It is Microsoft dual/multiple bootup, which Microsoft calls BCD Store. What is Boot Configuration Data (BCD)?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770770(v=ws.10).aspx

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the above reply. I just realized the significance of the above. One can have more than one operating system based on the above. For example, have 4 directories for each of the operating system called:

1. Directory called, "AXTMXP" for Windows XP
2. Directory called, "AXTMVista" for Windows Vista
3. Directory called, "AXTM7" for Windows 7
4. Directory called, "AXTM8" for Windows 8

Then boot into each of the operating system, or need be one operating system but different requirements, i.e. Game, Work, and Other machine.

Wow, the potentials are great!

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

I downloaded the trial version of AX64 (1.2.0.1120) a few days ago. Whenever I select 'mount' I get an error message. I opened a ticket and attached the log file, but so far have had no reply (other than the automatic acknowledgement). As long as there is so obvious a problem, I am reluctant to proceed further.

Is there another version I can try instead? I am working in XP, and the destination disk is an internal NTFS HDD.

 

Works fine now, with version 1.3.07.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
One would have thought that version 1.3.07 would appear somewhere on the AX64 home page download site.

Norman

 

I Appreciate Your Post

Hi Brian K.

I appreciate your post, but it doesn't make any sense to me.