Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

My backup needs are fairly simple, a auto backup at first boot would be great, followed by manual backup's if and when required.

One question, is it possible to merge/delete the baseline, I get a error message when I try. Using the latest version on windows 7 64 bit system.

Thanks

Kit1cat

 

KC, there's no problem doing that on a W7x86 system at all (should work on W7x64 also). BUT... users must realize that they will need at least enough FREE storage on their snapshot volume to accommodate a complete copy of their BASELINE snapshot as well as the snapshot being merged into. The MERGE operation uses a "temporary" file to make the merged snapshot, and when finished, deletes the two snaps being merged then renames the TEMP merge file to the name of the snapshot being merged into.

Most people don't realize this (I didn't) and when they do something like that, they wind up with an error that really means they don't have enough storage to complete this operation (cryptic as it may be). Isso and the boys should probably pre-allocate the needed space for the merge, that way they would know at the beginning of the operation if they have enough space to be successful.

 

Thanks, looks like space is the problem, my baseline size is 30GB but I only have 18GB free on the drive.

 

I would like a strategy that was based on snapshot sequence rather than on date. So snaps 1,2,3 would always be present as 1 hour snaps regardless how much time has passed between their creation and today. Snaps 4,5,6 would have merged to a 4 hour snap and when a new hourly snap was created the old number 3 snap would merge into a/the 4 hour snap etc. etc.

You are correct that new data is more important than old data but new and old in this case are relative terms. IMO it does not matter if the data was created 3 hours ago or 3 days ago. If the data/snap created 3 days ago was the last data/snap created it is the most recent data and therefor new (or newest) data. For me new means most recently created, not created within the last x number of hours.

Here is a scenario to illustrate the problem as I see it.

A PC is being worked on for 2 hours each day for a week. Auto snaps are therefor created 1 per day (possibly 2 a day in some cases). Then the PC is off-line for a week while the user is on vacation. The user returns and boots up the PC and finds a problem. At this point there are only 2 snapshots available. 1 1-week snap, and the last hourly (maybe there would be an hourly snap, maybe not, I am no longer sure). If selecting the hourly snap does not resolve the problem the only choice left is the weekly and if the problem originated sometime during the week it is now embedded in the weekly snap and there would be no way to to restore to before it occurred. If daily snaps were retained then it would be possible to restore to up to 7 different time periods until one was found when the problem did not exist. Then critical files could be pulled from the most recent hourly snap and copied and pasted where needed.

The problem gets more extreme if you think in terms of months off rather than a week or 2. Imagine a PC is used every day for a year and then for some reason is not used again for 6 months. There will only be monthly snaps to select from if there were a need to roll back.

Also, as important for me as having system restore points to select from is the ability that AX64 provides (or I thought provided) in terms of modified (versions of files) file access. If snaps are merged too quickly then this ability is severely hampered. On my PC with only weekly snaps if I want to recover a file I modified 2 days ago and then subsequently modified again I am out of luck. Yes, there are programs that will store versioned files for you and given how I now know AX64 works I will be adding one of these to my PC but with RX and what I though AX64 was about I did not see a need for this.

SO, my pref would be a strategy where more snaps are retained as separate entities. If the PC was used for 2 months then hourly snaps (3), 4 hour snaps (3?), daily snaps (5?), weekly snaps (4?) and in this case 1 monthly snap, would be available as restore points regardless of how long ago these were created. As new hourly snaps are created various snaps would merge but the basic set of snaps would be maintained. If the user wishes to delete some of the snaps to free up storage space (say a few monthly snaps) then the deleted snaps would of course merge into the backup set.

Perhaps there could be a default strategy that would/could be the current one and then an advanced strategy that would be something like I have described above. It would also be nice if the user could specify how many of each snap was retained (perhaps 5 hourly snaps rather than 3 for example) before merging.

PS: I create a weekly image using a different program (Paragon) for both my PCs and the drives these are stored on are rotated so that one set is kept off-site. The reason for this is because not only can drives fail, but they can also be stolen or damaged beyond recovery (a fire for example). So in my case its the snaps created during the week that are important with the last days snaps being most important and then daily snaps after that. Once the snaps are merged into weekly snaps they have much less value to me as I have the weekly images off site. I was surprised and a bit dismayed to see only weekly snaps in my set and fortunately restoring to the last (and only) hourly snap resolved my problem this time. Next time I may not be so lucky.

I don't know how I did not notice this before but I did not ,,,,,,, at a min a more detailed description of whats happening with the snaps and merges currently should be in the FAQs so users do not assume as I did that something else is happening.

 

Thats why we need to get a dedicated forum running. I currently have questions about how AX64 is working and these may or may not be problematic (its working as its supposed to which is not the way I thought it was supposed to work). I only posted my latest concerns here because others were experiencing the same thing I was. I had already e-mailed Isso and if no one else was reporting the same thing I was prepared to wait to hear back from him via e-mail.

An issues thread is good so readers can see if their issue is and isolated one or not but it can make the program look buggy.

AND by the way, I very much like AX64 and will continue to use it. It is important however to have a clear idea of what AX64 is and is not capable of doing and in this regard I completely misunderstood. Now I can take the steps I feel are nec to give me the level of protection I feel I need/want.

 

Hi BG

Agreed. But I think that merging is working as currently designed. Isso and the team are looking to add flexibility in this area...hence the request for examples of how we would like this area to work.

Perhaps you could draft out what options you are looking for and add them to the others already under consideration...either here or on the AX64 website.

 

Got it, thank you. So basically you need a configurable number of hourly snapshots to keep.

Isso

 

That's correct, if you take it manually it never gets automatically merged.

Isso

 

stapp, twl845, Baldrick, bgoodman

Thank you for your support! It really helps. Sometimes I'm starting to doubt that there is anyone out there who uses this software with no problems

Froggie, thank you for your invaluable help in answering complex questions! I didn't even think about not enough space when I read Kit1cat's first post Will add a space check.

Isso

 

Thank you for the idea. I think it makes lot of sense, will think about it. This concurs with bgoodman's idea too.

Isso

 

Hi Isso

Indeed, but what I also think is cool is that if you edit the description of an automatic backup, i.e., give it adescription...it is 'converted' to what is effectively a manual backup.

So, if you are reviewing your auto backups and decide that you want to keep one (because it represents a significant point in time) you just add a description...way cool.

Question; what if you 'remove' a previously applied description? Does that make the snapshot eligible to be merged

 

Thank you bgoodman, I'll have this information in mind. One thing I didn't quite understand - you mentioned:

How can RX give you access to any version of a file? It's supposed to take periodic system snapshots, no? I'm wondering what I'm missing. Thank you

Isso

 

Baldrick,

No, sorry it will stay manual. Maybe we need to specifically set that flag via a checkbox?...

Isso

 

Yes, you are correct but I did not know that until today.

I thought I did that above.

For what its worth I just downloaded and installed 12ghosts backup. IT has a feature called hyper backup which will keep versions of monitored files as they are modified and saved. For me this will go a long way to giving me what I want in terms of individual file protection and if anyone else is interested in this sort of protection I can recommend it highly. I used to use it before I used RollBack Rx and it worked very well. It has a protection structure like that of AX64 in that it will keep a set of backups (but they are not merged). See the attached.

More info and a trial may be found at http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/backup.htm

BY the way, the structure displayed would, IMO be just about perfect for AX64 minus the 1 per min of course and perhaps with a 1 per week added in.

Isso, perhaps you can take a look at this program and see if it has anything to offer in terms of backup set structure. It was my experience with 12ghosts that led me to believe that AX64 would keep snaps more or less the way I have described.

 

Rest assured many are using it without issue, my friends who use it are or I would have heard about it.

 

Hi Isso

Well, that would be the ultimate in terms of flexibility...but in the overall scheme of things not that urgent...perhaps you could add that to the features wish list...for when all the more important 'wishes' have been considered?

 

Yes, you can mount any Rx snap as a virtual drive and access all files that existed at that time.

FYI

The program I have in mind as a model for the backup set is called 12ghosts backup,,,,,its hyper backup strategy is pretty much dead on as far as I am concerned (I linked to it in my post above---but you already knew that). Adding the ability to specify how many of each before merging would be nice but IMO not critical.

Also, the thing that AX64 would add that 12ghosts cannot is the ability to get to any file that existed at the time of a snap. 12 ghosts, though more fine grained given its larger set structure, is more fine grained (1 per min for 1 hour for example), but you have to specify which files to watch, you cannot have the entire drive watched and even if you could it would def be a nightmare to use. AX64 makes this aspect of specific file recovery a dream and I actually prefer it to the way I would access an individual file in 12ghosts

 

Hi BG, I hear what you're saying, but I for one don't want to compare AX to how some other successful app does it. I think AX64's simplicity is something we have to preserve.

 

Since this is mostly just for emergency use, would it be safe to stay on 1096 unless I need the browser and revert to 996 at that point since snapshots appear to be taken reliably? i.e., if I have a set of snapshots taken under 1096, can they be read and restored by the 996 version browser?

 

Peter,

Yes, you can safely use version 1096. Version 996 will read the snapshots just fine. We'll never change the backup format unless there is a vital need to do that.

Isso

 

Don't worry Isso, a whole family here relying on your masterpiece with no issues whatsoever.

 

Dearest Isso,

My problem is worse since the latest version.

Sorry to come back a little late. You know that I have AX64 on 12 machines, therefore I was trying to collect information on all these machines.

4 machines with Windows 8.

Since I tuned off the "Fast Startup" with the old version, the things were working perfectly. Since, the new version, things are almost back to being not normal.

This has also been reported by puff-m-d. I confirmed with him that he has turned off his settings to for "Fast Startup". See his and mine posts #2867, #2868, #2870 and #2872 on page 115.

 

Dear Isso,

8 machines with Windows 7,

2 of the machines are as old as me or maybe older. They originally came with Windows XP, but I have upgraded them to Windows 7. One of them doesn't boot unless I remove AX64.

6 of the machines are only 2 to 3 years old. They originally came with Windows 7. Some of them occasionally don't boot into Windows 7 like Windows 8 machines. To rectify this, I have boot into AX64 and then they will boot into Windows 7 fine.

One of them has constant issue with automatic backup. If I manually backup, then the next automatic backup is fine.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Another user here without any problems.
I like it so much i have finally laid FirstDefense-ISR to rest.