Drive Snapshot queries

I was finally able to get Drive Snapshot to work for UBCD. Thank you very much for that suggestion. But, in an effort to no longer hijack the 'frontend' thread I wanted to start a new one.

I must say I love DS. I like the fact that I can have everything I could ever need on one DVD; the restore software, backup images, custom folders, etc. That's awesome!! But I was wondering a couple of things about DS.

1. Is the registration data help in the system or in the actual DS .exe. That makes a difference in terms of portability.

2. Image for DOS has the ability to set restored partitions as active. That can be very important when dealing with system partitions. I see no such options with DS. Should that be an area of concern?

3. There has been a lot of talk in other threads about DS, especially 1.39, having the ability for 'bare metal' restores. I define that as being able to restore an active partition image to completely different hardware than when the image was created. Is that the case with DS 1.39.

Thanks.

 

Answering part of my own question, more information regarding #2 can be found here

 

Not to dispute that limitation because it is a deficiency missing in the purchase of DS, because it IMHO should already been incorporated as an alternative for the great image program DriveSnapshot, but doesn't markymoo's new front-end address this missing link?

I'm a noob where concerns DOS/Image Disk doo dah's, but boy do i get a charge everytime i use DS manually, because this image app is failureless for me so far in hundreds of images/restores so far, and i even do the unthinkable, i routinely add programs to my saved image thru DS's virtual drive setup to keep from overwriting the existing one, something like a manual incremental i guess?

I am all eyes for any informational contributions that i might be missing as to do with DS, and i certainly applaud & don't discount for one moment IFW/IFD for their excellent image app too although i depend strickly on DS myself. It's the fastest and easiest i ever worked with not to mention fail-proof for me.

Thanks EASTER

 

I think if you read the link I posted above that shuold answer anything lingering doubts about DS's ability to set a partition as active. As far as the frontend goes, I do not know because I have never tried it. I cannot download it.

I'm starting to get there myself. This is a great powerful tiny application. I love how I can have EVERYTHING I could ever need for any recovery/diagnostic situation on one DVD.

Although DS is still quite expensive (disount link anyone?) the peace of mind it, along with UDB brings is just great.

 

Thanks for the link: Useful!!!

Options Galore! Still i wish it had a DOS restore disk included in it's purchase.

 

Any idea on how to edit the ISO that UBD creates? I'm looking for an "easy" way to change out my image files, and then reburn the image. Building an ISO from the UBD directory doesn't work, the created disc is not bootable.

 

As I mentioned in one of my replies to you yesterday (in Markymoo's DriveSnap thread), most any iso extractor/editor (eg., magiciso, ultraiso, etc) can easily do that, but I don't know of any that are free. The two mentioned each cost about $30. They do offer trial downloads, but I'm sure there are restrictions as to what can be done with the trial version.

 

Sorry for the duplicate post. I dunno why that happens sometimes. Just lucky when i proofread my post later i catch it most the time.

Jo Ann is quite right, if you can borrow a friend's or even go out on a limb for one of those ISO apps, their really helpful when it comes to customizing your own CD/DVD bootdisks.

Hope all turns out as you expect.

EASTER

 

Maybe this Free will do the job - Pros and Cons first addy, latest version
second addy.

http://www.freewaregenius.com/2006/11/21/avs-disk-creator/

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/File-Management/AVS-Disc-Creator-FREE.shtml

 

I found a solution that works for me. It seems the .bat file "autobuild" in the UBCD4Win directory rebuilds the ISO from the set directory structure. so all I have to do is update whatever I want replaced and run the bat.

But, I have another question regarding DS. Is it possible to add DS entries to the drive context menu? When I add the following entry I get the below error.

 

n8chavez,

As a test, you could try using imagew.exe (from Programs Files) in place of snapshot.exe. IFW will run from a single file on a floppy, USB flash drive, CD or HD.

As stated above, you can boot to a PE (WinXP or Vista) and navigate to imagew.exe or snapshot.exe, stored elsewhere. They will run. They don't have to be on the boot disk although on the boot disk is OK. On a USB flash drive is fine.

 

Thanks guys. Any ideas on the drive context menu entries or how to add the time to an image filename?

Also, the DS 1.39 changelog says that users can now write to images...

...but every time I try to write to an image I careated it doesn't work.

Any ideas?

 

Are the images in 1.39 read-only?

 

Once you register Drive Snapshot, it injects the registration info so wherever it goes the license goes along too.

It is possible to install a different driver into the image from BartPe or virtual drive so it can be restored on different hardware sucessfully. I haven't tried this yet.

Do a search there is plenty of guides to create a BartPe or try creating a VistaPe.

 

n8chavez

The backup fails because %1 passes C:\ from the registry to Drive Snapshot when it needs C: . There isn't a way to remove the backslash with a reg entry.

Whenever you want to change the backup command you have to go into the registry each time, better to run a batch from the registry then all you need to do is edit the batch to change the command. There is no need to put Snapshot.exe in C:\Windows. Run it from it's default folder(or from a backup drive so not lose it when system partition fails).

Do this to get it working assuming you installed Drive Snapshot at default. Create a batch file in z:\Images called backup.bat containing the below which be in a safe place you won't lose.

then save the registry info below to backup.reg and run it.

When you right click on a drive and click Backup it will work because C:\ gets passed to the batch file which truncates to C: which then passes to the Snapshot command .

 

For whatever reason the above .bat doesn't work for me. DS doesn't even launch.

 

n8chavez

it works as i tested. delete the Snapshot.exe and download the full snapshot http://www.drivesnapshot.de/download/setup.exe and install to the default.

edit if you running x64 then change the C:\Program Files to C:\Program Files (x86) in the bat file but it might not work for x64.

 

Well, now I'm not sure what to do. I still can't get it to work at all. I've re-downloaded DS, installed it in the default location, and copy and pasted the above bat. For me, the .bat file does not work.

 

Check the command line works, by running the bat file directly from source. If it fails then the paths maybe wrong, best to open up a cmd box in z:\images and run the backup.bat so if a error appears you can see the error as the cmd box stays open. Goto explorer tools/folder options/file types and click Drive in the list then click advanced. if the registry info is merged you should see 'Backup' listed under action list.

I messed with what you trying to do as it a good option to have. It works on x86 XP that i tested but i can't get it running on x64 yet. 32bit programs load a dll to run context shell extensions but the dll is not 64bit so fails. One of the reasons you need a x64 version of the program but you can force a 32bit explorer to run in x64 for it to work. 32bit programs use a independent part of the 64bit registry. I not running a dll. I will keep messing.

 

I have no idea what could be wrong with the .bat. All the paths are correct, but still the bat shows nothing. I've even added the PAUSE command at the end of the .bat and still nothing is shown.

 

I got it working for X64 i had an error probably typo somewhere down the line. I will list an example here for all DS users benefit.

x64

reg info to match.

n8chavez's-
Then simply copy snapshot.exe to z:\images and get the bat file to point to there. just have "Snapshot" instead of "C:\Program Files (x86)\Snapshot\Snapshot.exe" If that fails then there's something seriously wrong at your end. Stick the below after @echo off you should see C:\ appear.
set /p %1%
echo %1%

 

i'm not sure what is going on. I know that the .bat doesn't work for me, but I am able to use bat files with IFW. That leads me to believe that there is an error in the file for x86 systems.

 

it maybe you have hide extensions on files. goto explorer tools options and untick hide extensions for known filetypes. then the extension will have bat otherwise you create a bat and it be called file.bat.txt and wont run.

 

The problem is not .bat files in general, it is this particular file. The .bat file below does not execute.

However, this one does.

This does not function as it is intended; no image is created but Z:\Images\image.sna tries to be verified, not created.