Dedicated FirstDefense Forum

Hello

I posted on another support forum and Acadia posted a link here.

I was critiquing RestoreIT and may have a new approach for some folks. Maybe an answer to the growing incremental point also.... create a 2nd copy at the same time and return to the first. Also when I 1st used restoreIT I once shut it of with startupCpl and lost everything... or so I thought at the time... maybe the static point was still there or I was using a trial version. I plan to check that out sometime when I feel like starting over.

That is a part of what my idea is all about. Creating a pristine (I've actually been using that description) Static restore point. I've been using RestoreIt for just over a year and this Pristine restore point idea came along as I tired trying to open unloaded software after using the static point.

The idea is to always return to the static restore point before adding software, tweaks and preferences that are wanted permanently. Then delete the static restore point and make a new one.

I can use my restore point with little lost.. in my case I think about whether I have new addresses or bookmarks that need to be saved to another partition.

anyone who saves data on C: would probably not like this plan.

There are work-arounds for snags I've ran into.. All interesting I've found.. for instance I keep a list of changes to be made the next time I want to revisit the Static restore point... I keep this list on D: but have a shortcut on the desktop so that it remains current as C: is rolled back.

I mentioned earlier about making a copy of incremental restore points, I was slow to realize this so although my restore point is good, it's not Pristine... It's filled with a lot of that debris from the growing incremental points mention earlier in this thread... not too much... but enough to annoy. These double restore points are for times when I want to try the updates without committing them to the static point. This allows me to return and make it permanent at a later date.

I run win2000 pro if that matters and I don't pretend to be a Techie, I do try lots of software at times though and RestoreIT sure works well there.

It may be that one of those other programs would work better for this idea... if so I would like to hear.

If anyone wants to read a bit more about my plan I was in a debate about it at another forum... not a tech forum.. and anyone bored might find it good read.

There are 2 threads starting with the top. I'm not sure if you need to join to read the threads or not.

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11125&page=1&pp=30

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12128

Thank you and thanks to Acadia for linking me here. Nice to hear some positive talk on the subject after running into a wall where those links lead. sorry I had that worded poorly before.

RonDon

 

Greetings all...this may be a bit off topic, but if anyone knows the answer to my question, you guys do........ i have long since removed FirstDefense, yet i still get that FirstDefense pre-windows load screen at boot ... this has become very annoying.....i have done a search and scanned, so as to remove it, but no luck......it does not show up.....how do i get rid of it ?

TIA

 

Rainwalker, you've got me on this one, I suggest that you contact Raxco tech support, good luck.

Acadia

 

You're welcome RonDon, by the way, what negative talk was there on that other forum? You can PM me if you don't want to post any links here.

Acadia

 

When I uninstall it I put FirstDefense in the search of the registry and delelted all that came up each time. Of course making sure it was from Roxco before I did delete. Then done a restart and it was gone.

 

Thank you Peter....i will contact Raxco first.........will post back later....

 

Acadia!

I was talking about a fellow I ran into at RetouchPro... the links in my post went there if they work.... I like the sound of everyone at Computer Haven... and most folks are nice at RetouchPro also just that this one fellow jumped all over my RestoreIT suggestion.

I don't really think I have much to offer a forum like this as I know just enough to keep my computer running... I did build it but I don't think that counts for a lot.

I never have cared for full time security as I connect thru a phone modem, As a result of that and trialing lots of software I often found myself formatting. Just being able to restore Windows and RAID was a treat but nothing like having everything installed. preferences tweaks and all.

I hope the folks at Computer Haven don't think I was refering to them... they were very cordial.
RonDon

 

Re: Acadia!

No, no, RonDon, I am probably the only one from CH who also read your post here, so everything is OK, and as you said it, those folks are so cordial that even if someone else from CH did read your post here and get the wrong impression, which I am positive did not happen, everything would STILL be ok. Take care and good luck, RonDon.

Acadia

 

Hello, I'm completely lost. It says I need around 35gb to make a secondary snapshot. I don't have that much disk space left. Also, should I uninstall True Image as it may not be needed now - and disable system restore? Thanks.

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/66/lost5bq.jpg

 

If you need 35gb to make a Snapshot, then your c:drive must be approximately 35gb, is that correct?

I still use True Image myself, keeping the images on another hard drive. Yes, if you are using Firstdefense, or any of the other instant recovery programs, you do not need System Restore; it is redundant and you are just wasting space (plus these programs can recover you from problems that System Restore can only dream about).

Acadia

 

thank you. Where does first defense store these snapshots? I only have 3gb left in my C drive.

 

The regular Snapshots, which are all bootable, are stored on the same hard drive and partition as your c:drive. The Archive Snapshots, which are not bootable, can be stored on another hard drive or partition.

Also, please note folks, FirstDefense is ONLY NTFS compatible.

Acadia

 

thanks again. It appears that I do not even have the primary snapshot as I do not even have that much room. It indicates - "snapshots: 2 of 10" but I don't see it anywhere in my C drive. Time to do some rearranging.

 

Whoa!! The c:drive that you are currently using, RIGHT NOW, is the Primary Snapshot, it is considered the first Snapshot. As soon as you install FD, your c:drive automatically becomes the Primary; the Snapshot that FD asks you to actually take the time and create is your number 2 Snapshot; then you can switch back and forth among them if you wish, but your Primary does not need to be created, your "old" c:drive becomes the Primary.

Acadia

 

Ok well, I definitely do not have the room. I wonder why it's called a snapshot when in fact, it's not really a snapshot - the copy of it is.

 

Actually it is a Snapshot. Each and every Snapshot in FD has equal weight. Whatever Snapshot that you are in at the time is quite literally your real c:drive, all of the others, for all intents and purposes, cease to exist. When you boot into your number 2 Snapshot, it IS your c:drive, your Primary Snapshot has now disappeared.

Acadia

 

Do you use multiple partitions such as c: d: and e: on the same HDD?
I'd recommend doing that, with only the OS and programs in c: you'd have about a 2GB Primary snapshot. Your data can be stored in d: and e: according to what the data is. For example I keep all my installation files in d: and my documents and music in e:.
That way, I set the c: partition size to 10GB and have ample room for 3 snapshots and lots of free space for defragging. The other partitions are sized accordingly.
My 3 snapshots are the Primary, and 2 test snapshots. I also have a pristine W2K with only hardware and core security required before I connect to the Internet saved as an Archive in the d: partition.
You could eliminate the multiple partitions by using the Anchor Files feature and still have ~2GB snapshots. To do that, run the Tools > Data Anchoring... option and specify folders (generally) or individual files, such as outlook.pst, for anything that's "data" and doesn't need to be copied in each snapshot. Generally 'data' changes infrequently, especially music files and would best be backed up to CD/DVD as just plain old files.

FDISR is meant to recover your operating system in the event that you suffer some catastrophic attack/failure or just want a safe 'VM-like' space to test new programs and wipe clean easily if you don't like them. You don't even need to uninstall them, just copy you good snapshot over the test snapshot.

Hope this helps you,

Jim

 

Hi Pete, I did say OS and programs, i.e. all the DCS stuff, OA, PC-cillan are in c: so that I can then beta test any of them in another snapshot. My raw OS takes up only .85GB, with core/essential apps 1.61GB and Primary 2.26GB, so the test snapshot(s) are about 2.xxGB. I'm not aware of anything that tries to install to my d: or e: drives that would then compromise any/all of the snapshots, since most default to c:\program files.... When I tested the kernal version of OA, I did so in the test snapshot, and when I was done, I just copied the Primary over top of the Test and the kernal mode OA was gone (until the next test..).

Hope this clarified your concerns,

Jim

 

Thanks Jim, this is the size of it. C and E are primary. D and F are slave. True image is on E but was unable to write on first attempt I think perhaps I need to increase the secure zone size.

http://img424.imageshack.us/img424/909/parts1nw.jpg

 

OK, I think that you're saying that you have 4 hard drives with one patition on each, with 35GB on the c: drive/hard disk. My guess then is that that's a 40GB drive since you only have 3GB free. I'd move some of the contents to one of your other drives and keep only the OS and installed programs on the c:. That would include archived FDISR snapshots which don't need to be on c:.
In my example I meant that I have 3 partitions on one hard drive. And the c: partition contains normally 2 but occasionally 3 snapshots of 2.3GB each, total 6.9 GB in a 15GB partition. I have lots of room for additional snapshots, but the way that I use my system, two is plenty.
Jim

 

Jim, what I'm saying is I have two hard drives. The master contains partitions C and E. E is incoming downloads and large media files. The slave drive contains partitions D: media/music and F which are other misc. storage.

 

Here are my 3 main folders. I suppose I should move contents of my desktop and documents out - correct?

http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/7262/size1my.jpg