Windows SteadyState v2.5 beta for Vista

Discussion in 'sandboxing & virtualization' started by Osaban, Apr 26, 2008.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2005
    Posts:
    5,614
    Location:
    Milan and Seoul
    After trying Returnil (hard conflict with 'hibernate), DeepFreeze (quite happy with it, over all), I'd like to give Windows SteadyState a go, after all it's an in house product, it shouldn't create any conflict, and last but not least, free for legitimate users of Windows.

    Does anybody have any experience with it even running XP, how effective it is, and most importantly how tight is the sandbox to malware attack?

    I have a good feeling, reading the manual one has the impression of having to learn a lot, in practice setting up the program for only the administrator it simplifies the whole procedure. I'm also warming up to the idea of having Windows taking care of itself: Windows Firewall, UAC, Windows Defender, Windows SteadyState, not a 'suite' but well integrated in the OS (I know quite a number of people will probably cringe reading this).

    As usual it would be nice to have some feedback.
     
  2. QQ2595

    QQ2595 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2008
    Posts:
    159
    I tried Returnil, ShadowDefender, Deepfreeze, RollbackEX. all of them do not support Hibernation in my Vista Home SP1.
     
  3. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2006
    Posts:
    2,585
    Haven't tried the new beta yet. The last version had a fw performance issues and used to cause a long delay on system startup. I don't know how well it does against malware as i don't test that stuff but for standard software installs it works fine and even has the option of carrying sessions over a reboot so you can test software that would require a reboot.
     
  4. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 16, 2005
    Posts:
    9,455
    I tried SteadyState once on my WinXPproSP2-computer and after installation, I got a warning to activate my already phone-activated Windows within 3 days.
    I restored an image and that was the end of SteadyState. Typical Microsoft.
    Each time I try a MS Application, I get disappointed.
    Good luck with your SteadyState. :)
     
  5. Chuck57

    Chuck57 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2002
    Posts:
    1,770
    Location:
    New Mexico, USA
    I ran into both issues when I tried the last version of steadystate. I got the activation issue AND long, long start up thing. I had to restore an old image (Thank you, Paragon HDM. Saved me again).

    Thanks to Windows Steadystate, though, it took me a couple of hours to replace some software I'd lost with that restore, since I haven't gotten in the habit of backing up.

    I'll stick with Faronics AE, DeepFreeze and Sandboxie. I don't know how the latest SteadyState is. I'm cautious of trying anything that has Microsoft and Security in the same sentence.
     
  6. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2005
    Posts:
    5,614
    Location:
    Milan and Seoul
    Well I'm not so finicky about Microsoft, especially when my OS is from Microsoft.
    Returnil crashed my computer so badly I couldn't even reinstall or restore an image(I hate to think if instead of Returnil the name had been Microsoft). Time to recover my computer: 1 day with local support + 2 days to reconfigure my computer.

    Start up time (to see the desktop) is 50 seconds without SteadyState and 55 seconds with SteadyState. It is interesting to learn that it can carry sessions over a reboot. This feature alone could make it quite competitive if it's not too buggy.

    So far I haven't experienced any of the minuses mentioned, and I'm looking forward to reading some opinion about its effectiveness against general malware (Robodog, Killdisk etc. please save me from this kind of mantra, I'm not interested).
     
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2008
  7. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2005
    Posts:
    5,614
    Location:
    Milan and Seoul
    A bit of an update: There are no delays starting up, shutting down, or rebooting from one protected session to another. It takes quite a while to reboot from a protected session to a normal one, I haven't timed it yet but I can see this could be annoying if it is done frequently.
     
  8. Chuck57

    Chuck57 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2002
    Posts:
    1,770
    Location:
    New Mexico, USA
    I couldn't resist. Downloaded this latest version (for XP) and it's running smoothly. I've got DF disabled for the moment but am running AE without a problem. I had Sandboxie up - latest version and all went fine.

    Boot was slow, but not nearly as agonizingly slow as I remember from the past version. Once we got past that, I don't notice any slowdown in surfing or pages loading, using the latest version of Firefox.

    I've only had it on board a few hours. I'll give it a week or two before I decide anything. I do like it better than the ZoneAlarm thing I tried a while back.
     
  9. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2005
    Posts:
    5,614
    Location:
    Milan and Seoul
    I'm back to DeepFreeze. I find SteadyState very interesting as a concept, and it is a pity that MS doesn't make a version that works as a pure sandbox.

    It creates a virtual drive (cache), the size can be decided by the user up to half of the maximum capacity of C:\. The problem is that to switch from protected to unprotected mode is time consuming (depending on the size of the cache) the operation can last between 3 to 6 minutes rebooting, too long for a single user, but acceptable for many users (the program is designed for many users).

    I'm afraid the simplicity and speed of DeepFreeze so far has been unmatched, I should also say that the program is still a beta version for Vista.
     
  10. Coldmoon

    Coldmoon Returnil Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2006
    Posts:
    2,981
    Location:
    USA
    Hi QQ2595,
    We are testing the solution for this now. We plan to release a hot fix update for 2.0 (both editions) as soon as the patch is verified as stable. Keep an eye on the CCSP forums for the announcement...

    Mike
     
  11. QQ2595

    QQ2595 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2008
    Posts:
    159
    good news. I am looking forward to test it.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.