Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

Hi Waj

Just seen this and as PD user I am stymied when it comes to testing. Please offer the option to install despite the presence of PD, as an option in the beta at some point soon. I for one am like zfactor...I online defrag but do not boot defrag or automatically defrag...in fact I make sure that I defrag just before starting a new baseline, just to avoid the very large snapshots that would generate.

Regards


Baldrick

 

Congratulations on the release of version 2!

Looking forward to the stable release as I'm going to pass on this beta release, going to stay on latest v1 beta in the meantime.

 

Hi Froggie,

V2, V1 backups as I have tested are interchangeable with each other!

 

Hello,

Congratulations on the new release! However, myself also being an user of Perfect Disk, I am stuck with the issue of deciding whether to continue using 1.4.1.48 along with Perfect Disk or removing Perfect Disk in order to use the new version 2 beta of AXTM. 1.4.1.48 has been working flawlessly here so I will have to stay with this version so I may continue using Perfect Disk. What I was looking forward to the most in version 2 was the multiple partition/drive capability. After the long wait and hype building towards this new beta, I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed in this incompatibility. I hope going forward it will be a priority to fix the incompatibility issue between Perfect Disk and AXTM. It was a major disappointment to find out I cannot install this newest beta.

For the time being, I am forced to stay with 12.4.1.48 but am looking forward to hopefully being able to use the new version sometime in the near foreseeable future once the issue has been fixed. Again, congrats on the new release and I hopefully look forward to trying it soon...

 

H

Thanks Baldrick as well as Puff, the next build will likely just have a warning advising user's what to be aware of. It's good to hear user feedback on these kinds of issues.

Please understand Perfect Disk caused an issue of the highest magnitude (cold restore failure) which is why we were so adamant amount disabling Time machine's install altogether.

We received our largest complaints as a result of the cold restore failures that resulted from this incompatibility .

 

Well done, and the patience was worth while. Please can you say whether the V1 recovery disks have to be replaced.
Thanks

 

I also like v1's UI more than V2's. I hope that you all change it back to the previous one and improve on it.

 

It's funny as it works fine with Diskeeper Pro 2012 and SSD's and I agree the UI needs to be more like v1 or better IMO.

TH

 

Hi Zero3K,

I appreciate your comment on the GUI. The old UI was good and I personally liked it a lot. However, we found that trying to work within the old UI with multi-partition as well as adding niche features, it all got very messy. The final decision was to revamp the whole GUI with a more modular GUI - one that could comfortably deal with multi-partition as well as section the features that were not related to backup and restore to another tab. This keeps things cleaner without becoming too cluttered.

That said, we have tested this with other users before the public beta. Some users that initially didn't like the GUI have become accustomed to it and now prefer it. I hope you will too. We will aim to always keep the UI simple and intuitive. Most importantly, the UI is easy to navigate and the app just works!

Cheers! And yes, if using this version - please create new Recovery Disks.

 

Hi Waj

Just a couple more comments.

Tried a cold restore from probably ver 1.3 and that restored ok. It also restored the graphical boot menu.
When the AX screen came up it had changed from manual to auto. It had been saved as a manual.

On uninstalling the Local Storage the options on the final screen are Previous or Cancel. Would it be better to change the Cancel to Close, otherwise it implies you are cancelling the remove of local storage.

I'll shut up and give you some peace now.

Incidentally I do like the new screens. Much better in practice that screenshots.

 

I think the new website looks very good. Well done.
I think i'll wait before trying the new version to see how everyone else gets on.

A couple of questions. What is a warm restore basically?
Will there be a way to merge backups manually? I have to leave my pc alone for a while if I want to merge backups, unless i'm missing some feature.

Well done on getting V2 to beta.

 

Fingol... any manual DELETE, done to any snapshot while in the BROWSER window, causes that snapshot to be merged to the one following it in the chain.

 

I forgot about that. Is that any different to the auto merge the program does?

 

The HOT RESTORE, which only restores the DIFFERENCES between where you are and where you wanna go to, is done under the LIVE Windows system. This has proven to be troublesome to some users whose system activity has caused those restores to fail, requiring a COLD RESTORE to remedy.

The new WARM RESTORE does exactly as the HOT RESTORE does as far as system movement is concerned, but instead of using the LIVE Windows system, it BOOTs into a RECOVERY version of the Windows system to do the restore. This external Windows system has no affect on the running restore task and allows it to complete without issues. BUT... this requires an extra BOOT sequence that adds about 45-60 sec. to the timing of the restore.

If you're one of those who has never experienced HOT RESTORE failures previously, that mode is still available under the Advanved Options of the RESTORE window.

 

The MANUAL DELETE will merge any snapshot (MANUAL or AUTOMATIC) forward in the chain, even the BASELINE... the AUTOMATIC MERGE only affects snapshots that were taken automatically, not ones that were taken manually.

 

Basically it's the AUTOMATIC MODE cleaning up after itself but it won't touch anything that you've snapped MANUALLY.

 

Thank you. Now I understand.
2 more posts since I understood, and I understand them as well lol.
Thanks Frog

 

I think that the "backup dashboard" and "backup tools" should be changed to "Backup Dashboard" and "Backup Tools". Also, the first letter of any error message shown in the Dashboard should be capitalized.

 

My pleasure...

 

so no chance of a beta where we could choose to install. if tech people like myself know the issues and we choose to install and not run the boot time (which is where the issues are from as far as im aware) then we should not have a issue. i would love to test it out on a real system not just a test system set up without any extra software. im not the only one on another forum many people brought up the same thing from perfectdisk users. they also were not happy about that.

 

A couple of v2 "first look" comments;
1. I would like the option to "close program (not minimize) on exit".
2. I would like the option to "view backup progress bar on screen", not just a static icon in the tray that shows the progress percentage - only if you hover over it. A visible progress bar lets others know a backup is underway, leave the PC alone!
3. I would like the option to start or not start TM when Windows starts - it seems to be auto-starting.
4. I would like to see the Backup Browser default to viewing the "C:" drive instead of a list of Desktop (?) .lnk files.
5. The tray icon does not have a link to the TM main window (backup dashboard - backup tools).

Thanks.

 

W7sp1x86
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Observation #4: the entire data field structure under your OPTION HEADINGS (Source/Destination/Size/Last Backup/Next Backup) is ACTIVE and when <click>ed upon, opens up the SOURCE and DESTINATION selection option.

I'm not sure that's what you want to happen... makes no sense, really.

 

Waj, I would like to test this on 32 bit XP to verify that the NEW RPELIB that Vitaly sent me a while back, has been included that fixed USB Mouse issues. So, if I d/l the Beta will I get my new Key BEFORE the Beta expires?

I will let the Forum know how XP goes.

 

Wajamus, Congratulations on the V2 beta. I'm looking forward to installing the Final release!

 

Hi,

Long time lurker and admirer, who's finally deciding to post now that v2 beta is up.

I'm running Win XP 32-bit with 4gb RAM.

After the first install reboot and attempting to make the initial image, it never passes the "preparing" portion!

It's been sitting there for 30 minutes with the same message.

I attempted to pull some logs, which essentially led to a freeze of the system.

Nor could I cancel the backup process once the "preparing" started.