Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

Aw, aw, aw, very interesting, and rather nerve-racking, discussion
Glad we have Mr Mikey the Frog to lead us into safety

I have the impression that they have previously thought this command line version would be just a nice icing on the cake.
Instead, they now have a can of worms...

 

Yes, but they never said it directly, even when we're discussing about more-than-1-partition.
Like: "If you really really so badly want it, you can interchange the source."
I believe it was because the answer for my last question to Iurie (above, which he didn't answer explicitly ) is also affirmative.

 

I know it does not need it but I concur, having just backed up, it is precisely as stated.
The message at the top under Backup in progress... is "This is the first backup..."

[Edit] The questions I cannot yet answer are...
I backed up D: with AXTMCmd and restored with the browser, would the same problem occur if I first backed up D: using AX64?

Would the same thing have occured if I restored using AXTMCmd instead of the browser?

An observation: There is no indication in the UI that the final (unexpected full) backup is not incremental and could form a new baseline without merging, or have I missed something obvious?

 

Hi mxyzptlk,

The source interchange and multi-partition incremental backup is relative new feature, it wasn't before. I'm sorry about my non-explicit answer. I'm fixing it now in AXTMCmd, after that I will check AXTMApp and the next task will be restore issue.

Best Regards,
Iurie

 

Please help, I'm confused!

W7 SP1, AX v1.3.0.7 hot restores never, absolutely never fail. I've tried booting from a CD several times (not this morning) and I'm reasonably sure it boots in to the AX GUI, but like some others the USB mouse is frozen, even in the port(s) that has the illuminated keyboard illuminated. Point being, it's not a power issue to/from either port.
So with some time to kill this morning I made a boot USB drive. It is a USB 3.0, so that might be the issue. Via both "F8" and my BIOS it is set to boot from that drive, however, it boots to the desktop. Everything operates normally, including AX, and the light on the flash drive is lit, as though indeed it booted from that drive. Is this normal? I mean if I ever had to do a cold restore, would this work or should it be booting into the AX GUI? Thank you!
I should also add that the drive shows up in "Computer" as TM Recovery, which also suggests it should work. I'm going to try it in a USB 2.0 port and see if that makes any difference.

 

Re: Please help, I'm confused!

As Peter is always fond of saying to me, "You'll never know unless you actually try it".

But that being said, I also have Win7 and AX version 1.3.0.7. As I understand it after doing some research, USB 3 is not FULLY compatible with Win7. Yes, as long as I am booted into Windows, they work fully. That is why I am able to restore backup Snapshots using InstantRecovery on my USB 3 drive, because whenever you do a recovery using IR, you are ALWAYS booted into Windows.

However ShadowProtect (version 4.2.7) and AX64 do NOT work in recovering images on an USB 3 drive (at least on my Win7 system). Yes, I can make images because when I make them, I am in Windows, and hot AX64 restores also work. But when experimenting I discovered that recovery using a recovery CD did not work. Both of those programs could only find my second internal and USB 2 drive when in recovery mode. With Windows 8 usb 3 supposedly became fully compatible.

Good luck,
Acadia

 

Re: Please help, I'm confused!

Hi Ratchet! It's not clear to me what you actually created when you say you created a "Boot USB drive"... that covers an awful lot of bases.

What I can tell you is this. If you are able to boot into almost any external Windows-based desktop (WinPE, WinRE, BartPE, and for sure, Active@ Boot Disk), if you run the AXTM Browser module ("AXTMImageBrowser.exe" from a standard installation in the same Windows type <i.e. XP vs W7/W8>), it will act just like the AXTM Recovery Browser module (although it'll have a few differences in the UI) and can easily COLD RESTORE anything you may want to... I have done this many times with my "Active@ BOOT Disk." The main "AXTMApp.exe" will run but cannot back anything up due to lack of needed installed drivers in the external BOOT disk configuration.

 

Enonod, I will be testing your first two questions in the near term (hopefully finished by later today).

As far as your observation... that FULL incremental that we see after coming back to the protected drive (upon reconfiguration of the AX64 TM UI), according to AXTMcmd (using its "List" command), appears to be part of the original BASELINE save set even though it's big enough to be a new BASELINE. It's acting as though the entire original BASELINE has changed and is creating an INCREMENTAL accordingly (which, of course, is wrong).

I think Iurie can easily see this problem and is "hunting" accordingly.

All should remember, though... this thread and the group following it, are still very much BETA testers if you feel you need to "play" with newly released stuff. If you don't wish to be involved in BETA testing, please only use the version available for downloading on the AX64.com HOME PAGE, not any other versions from the /beta, /test, or any other area on their web site.

 

Thank you for the replies! I eventually did make the AX boot drive on a USB 2.0 drive too and again it appears to still boots normally. I just tried several snapshots and restores and all were normal so based on, "will run but cannot back anything up due to lack of needed installed drivers in the external BOOT disk configuration." my PC is not really booting from the flash drive. I may have to dig deeper into my ASUS motherboard but it is pretty clear how to change the boot options.

 

Ratchet, "most" mainboards, regardless of their internal BOOT order, offer an F-key option to take you to a BOOT menu rather than the BiOS SETUP menu. If it has it, this will take you to the list of all BOOTable options available in your system. You should see any inserted BOOTable CD/DVD, any inserted UFD, etc. in its offered list. You should be able to select the device you'd like to boot from and go. The device will have to be in place before you use the F-key... it usually doesn't learn after its up and you do an insertion.

 

So I was choosing "Flash Drive" but it was actually labeled as one of the UEFI device. I did get it to boot into the AX environment and no cursor/mouse nor keyboard functions so the whole experiment was useless. Thanks again for the help!

 

Re: AXTMcmd.exe

For those that may still be playing (I would hold back 'til we hear from Iurie)...

If you try and use the cmd=restore function on the protected partition that AX64 TM is currently protecting (my test was on my Windows=based SYSTEM partition), you will receive the following error...

Restore failed, error -99967

AXTMcmd and the GUI version of AX64 TM are not mixing very well at the moment.

 

One other interesting thing! When I format the USB 3.0 drive and install the Paragon boot media, it boots into Paragons GUI with perfectly functioning keyboard and mouse. Really odd behavior that they don't work in the AX "Cold" environment! I could try a later version I suppose, as I have the link to the version download server. How do you install and/or revert back versions?

 

Hmmm, interesting. What I have always done when experimenting with various Recovery programs, is make a backup with ANOTHER program that I can then use to restore back to the older version of the one I am testing. Of course this means that you have to be using two compatible programs but I have never had any problem finding another Recovery program that was compatible with the one I was testing.

Play all you want and if you aren't satisfied, simply restore, no need to uninstall or reinstall the older version. (I just have to remember to create my backup on USB 2 unless I am using InstantRecovery.)

Acadia

 

The AXdev team is working feverishly on this inoperative mouse problem... it's a major PITA.

You don't uninstall anything if you want your backup chain to remain in tact. Just install whatever version you'd like to run with (on top of whatever you have installed) and the installer will take care of everything for you. I have done this hundreds of times already.

 

Ok Iurie, thanks for the clarification.
I wish AX64 and its companions (AXTMCmd and the rest of the family) to be the best there is in the imaging department

 

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I wish AX64 was back in Isso's hands. We might have a working product by now.

 

I am sure many have been thinking the same thing.

 

Dang! That's harsh! I can't believe someone actually wrote that?! I can understand thinking it, but writing it, in my opinion, is quite callous.

It is obvious that the AX64 team is hard at work. Not only are they trying to fix issues with AX64, but they are also responding relatively quickly to people's concerns and posts. They appear to be responsive and trying to improve an already great product.

Give them a break for gosh sakes!

 

Alex is right. Remember, the last items before a genuine solid release are the hardest to identify and the toughest to solve... this is the toughest period for the DevTeam.

 

I bought the 4-pack earlier today but got no key yet.How long did it take for you to get it ?

thx

 

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Callous? How about having a program for almost a year (4 licenses purchased in May 2013) and still can't use it on 3 systems backed up to NAS drives. Also the list of user requested improvements have mostly been ignored. Seems like a breach of trust - now that is indeed callous.

 

My understanding is that many times pure idealism just doesn't work, and this includes both sides: for one who's doing it, and also for others who share/enjoy/support the same idealism but weren't directly involved in the work/project.

Previously (someone correct me if I'm wrong) Isso worked almost alone (there were probably 3 of them, I think). This thread started in early 2013, but for sure Isso has been working for some times before 2013.

Along the way, Isso's original idealism just couldn't work, and he had to do this merge or whatever, for whatever reasons. It was his/their call.

I believe no one beside Isso & the team knows what were their considerations, or what problems they had. And even if we knew it, many/most/all of us wouldn't be able to do anything.
For example, let's say it was funding problem. Can any of us become his benefactor?

Last time he posted that he's still involved, so maybe some of the newer codes are his? Who knows.

I see that there are improvements being made, though maybe not as fast/much as some of us want.

Have you contacted them & explaining the condition you had? Maybe they can give you refund, or extended licences, etc.
It seems to me that the developers are quite reasonable persons.

 

Very well put, thanks for saying it for me.

 

I agree with bgoodman4. Very well put mxyzptlk.