COMODO Time Machine 2.2.121064.147 RC Released!

Discussion in 'sandboxing & virtualization' started by Dragons Forever, Nov 24, 2009.

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  1. Hey Everyone.

    CTM has gone RC. :)

    What's New in 2.2.121064.147?
    NEW! Updater function is available. You can keep all snapshots during update. Note: This function just works for RC and later version. BETA users can't use this feature.
    NEW! Help file is available. Note: Currently, Help file is not the final version. Please report bugs you met to bug report thread.
    NEW! Command line tool is available. You can get more detail informations about command line tool from help file.
    FIXED! More than 100 fixes of GUI. GUI will be more stable..
    FIXED! Can't work with removable devices.
    FIXED! Can't work with plugged-in card reader.
    FIXED! Bug of dynamic disk support on Windows 7. Now CTM could be installed to dynamic disk on Windows 7.
    FIXED! BSOD during snapshot defragmentation

    Which can be downloaded via here (must be registered comodo forum user): http://forums.comodo.com/beta_corner_ctm/comodo_time_machine_22121064147_rc_released-t47962.0.html or please PM myself for a copy. :)

    Cheers,
    Josh
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 24, 2009
  2. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    What's the difference between Windows Shadow Copies vs CTM?
     
  3. I am not too familiar with Windows Shadow Copies, But AFAIK, It only copies/saves files while it wouldn't actually save a system state. CTM is a full system virtualisation software (Think of it like a virtual machine and you can go back in time whenever you want to recover from a virus infection, etc).

    CTM is designed to save countless hours scanning with various signature-based anti-malware applications to get rid of a infected PC. Just a simple restore and your back. ;) You can also save any documents, etc while you do a restore so you don't lose that important data just because you got infected! - Keep in mind this is only one scenario why CTM is useful, You can use it to test software, etc.

    Cheers,
    Josh
     
  4. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

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    Does a program like this eat gigs of hard drive space to utilize effectively?
     
  5. firzen771

    firzen771 Registered Member

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    not really since it doesnt ACTUALLY create a backup of ur system for its snapshots, it works a bit different.
     
  6. Zero3K

    Zero3K Registered Member

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    What's the PrivateData folder in the main directory of it for?
     
  7. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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  8. TheIgster

    TheIgster Registered Member

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    Just tried installing on my system and got this:
     

    Attached Files:

  9. Hi Peter

    RAID should work if you only have one Hard Drive though.


    As said above, If you do have one HD, you can ignore the warning and install CTM. Let me know if you have any issues.

    Cheers,
    Josh
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 25, 2009
  10. pidbo

    pidbo Registered Member

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    Hi Dragons Forever
    I don't mean to disparage Time Machine as I have not used it but I have some worries having had major problems with other "restore to image" softwares in the past, problems with defragging going on forever, random re-booting constantly, conflicts with virus checking and system problem solving softwares, chhdsk etc which sooner or later results in a system that is mangled and inaccessible with "bluescreens of death" or won't/can't boot etc, the negatives ulimately undermining any (formerly perceived) benefits. In the past this has resulted to me having to do a complete new re-install of Windows suffering huge data loss.
    My question is does Comodo Time machine have a stable failsafe mechanism for glitch/conflict type situations?

    I know that these days most people will have a complete backup on a drive stored outside the pc (migrateeasy etc) but for a "restore to image" software to be a viable solution it needs to be not only stable but bulletproof.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2009
  11. coen99

    coen99 Registered Member

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    Does CTM work with Acronis True Image?
    Will the snapshots be saved?
    Or to put it in other words: what will happen when I make an image after CTM is installed and then restore that image?

    With Rollback you cannot restore the image before uninstalling Rollback first.
     
  12. firzen771

    firzen771 Registered Member

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    no it wont backup the snapshots, pretty sure it wuld only backup the current one ur using.
     
  13. ratchet

    ratchet Registered Member

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    Last edited: Nov 25, 2009
  14. ratchet

    ratchet Registered Member

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    I've not used CTM but have been using AyRecovery on an XP, SP3 desktop and on a Vista, SP1 laptop for 11 months now and can say these clones are one the most amazing and useful pieces of software ever developed! MS update or whatever nukes your pc, freezes everything for over an hour. Finally you just force shutdown with the power button. You reboot and tap the Home Key as its powering up and select a snapshot. Two minutes later you're back live as though nothing ever happened. You want to try some kind of new software so you make a snapshot (two seconds or less), install, use it for a while but decide you don't want it. Open the clone, select the snapshot (or any other one) and in two minutes there is no evidence of ever having it. Remove and or defrag snapshots at any time in just minutes. go for it!
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2009
  15. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Not sure this makes sense. What do you mean by one hard drive. Raid 0 always has more then one drive. Otherwise what would be the point.
     
  16. chris2busy

    chris2busy Registered Member

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    Well its not really a solution but if you plan to use a SSD drive the majority of fragmentation and clutter problems are solved as those do not need defragmentation , plus the seek times on ssd drives are amazing ( i am talking about 40+ times less that a normal hdd)
     
  17. BlueZannetti

    BlueZannetti Registered Member

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    Ummm, if I correctly understand how this application works, virtualization is really a rather unfortunate term to use. I say unfortunate since it is critical for anyone using this program to fully understand how the application works before they perform some untoward operation outside the environment and blow the file system away.

    Blue
     
  18. Searching_ _ _

    Searching_ _ _ Registered Member

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    Would you explain your understanding?

    How might I get in trouble, blowing away the file system?
     
  19. Greg S

    Greg S Registered Member

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    Yes, and one that comes to mind would be booting to Windows Recovery Console to repair/replace something
     
  20. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    I can answer that for you. When you create a snapshot with this technology, it is creating a table of sectors in use. If you then create a new file, the file system passes the file thru the software's driver, and the sectors are stored on the drive where there is room. So all the snapshots that you store, are simply snapshots in time of the sectors on the disk. When you restore a snapshot, you are simply going back to the appropriate sector table.

    Bare in mind the windows file system is not aware of all t his. So if something goes wrong, and these sector tables are corrupted, then it's all over.

    File recovery would be of no value, as the file system of windows knows nothing of these files.

    I'll go a bit further then Blue on one thing. This technology and virtual machines are as different as oil and water. Most good virtual machines can take heaps of abuse without impacting the host. While in fairness there are many users of this technology, who have had great success, there are also many who have had their systems trashed.

    I would not count on system restore but have a good imaging plan in place.

    Pete
     
  21. jmonge

    jmonge Registered Member

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    or just format c:rolleyes:
     
  22. BlueZannetti

    BlueZannetti Registered Member

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    Absolutely!

    I should expand a bit. One of my concerns in wading through multiple threads related to this technology is that many users implement it without really understanding what they are dealing with. That sets the stage for potential problems down the road. Even some of the descriptions used in this thread betray a fundamental lack of appreciation of what's going on under the hood. Peter captured the essentials well.

    As with any approach, there are tradeoffs. Here, you're getting speed in being able to jump between file system states and, ultimately, losing flexibility if the need arises in which you have to work outside the application environment. Depending upon how one uses their system, that loss of flexibility could morph into an inexorable instability. For myself, it's a poor tradeoff, so I don't use the approach.

    However, either using or avoiding this type of solution are both completely valid results. You do need to be able to rationally get to one or the other based on understanding the situation, the key details that are critical to your systems, and how it all meshes together. One issue with this type of technology is that the key technical details tend not to be transparently discussed by any of the current vendors/providers.

    Anyone who uses this approach and understands it's constraints should be fine.

    Blue
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 25, 2009
  23. dcrowe0050

    dcrowe0050 Registered Member

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    I tested the last version a little and really liked it a lot. Only problem I had was when I uninstalled it crashed Windows, but no big problem, all I had to do was restore the MBR from a backup and it was fine. But great job to Comodo as I really like the program.
     
  24. TheIgster

    TheIgster Registered Member

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    Um, isn't the warning in there for a reason.

    I feel a little uneasy about installing this if it might cause problems. Your "let me know if you have any issues" doesn't reassure me much either. :doubt:
     
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