Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

Having a ball with AX64 snapshot and restore features lately. Sorry for my absence but i been busy and trying to negotiate a new high data speed contract with a local fiber-optic ISP to boost my work as winter gradually comes up soon.

Have i missed the newest AX64 TM update yet or is there been any word on it's potential release?

Regards Easter

 

Hi again Sly! BG answered your question about the ADVANCED function (Thanks BG!). It's purpose is to allow you the option of restoring your Master Boot Record (MBR) and/or your SRP (System Reserved Partition) if needed.

Since your system came up booting just fine, sounds like you need to do nothing with an AX64 restore (AX64 RESTORE seems to be making the restored Windows System Partition ACTIVE if it finds no current ACTIVE partition on the disk). The reason I have to use System Repair after a manual deletion of the SRP is because when the system was constructed, the SRP partition was made ACTIVE and it was the mechanism (called from the MBR) that actually called the PBR (Partition Boot Record) in the Windows partition. When the Windows partition is created without the SRP (when building Windows), then it's made ACTIVE and the MBR will call the PBR to finish the booting. What the System Repair does is it finds NO ACTIVE PARTITION when it's run ('cause you deleted the SRP which was active) so it makes the Windows system partition ACTIVE (after checking some validation things) which allows the MBR to BOOT through that partition rather than the SRP. The MBR will always try to BOOT through the ACTIVE partition when its processing.

 

Thanks to everyone that has replied to me. I think I just might learn something from this. I might go ahead and put a blank hard drive in and do a test, this time using the advanced function, just to learn. Thanks for taking the time to explain all this. sly53

 

Great to hear you are learning the program sly53 Indeed, so many good folks here and so very helpful and gracious with their time and efforts.

I hope you enjoy AX64TM

Jim

 

I now have an external NAS drive on my network and was starting to have AX64 on all my computers to use it. Then I realized something.

Is there a way to restrict AX64 to the amount of drive space it uses for its backup area? I am afraid it might keep expanding backups until it runs ouf room!

I don't have an option to make partitions on that drive, just shares. Its a WD My Live Book 3T.

Is this something I need to ask on the AX64 "wishlist" instead?

 

AX64 deals with this issue on its own by merging snapshots. Isso had recommended that the backup drive have space on it that is 2 times the size of the drive being protected. I feel this is generally too much as many drives have only a small portion of its capacity actually used. For example I have a 500 gig drive on my laptop and have used only 127 gigs of space. If I used Issos suggestion I would need a terabyte drive for my backup drive but clearly this would be rather extreme considering I am protecting only 127 gigs of data. In this case 2 to 2.5 times the space of the used portion of the protected drive would/should be quite sufficient, so the backup drive could be between 250 and 300 gigs. And I expect even this would be more than nec. Of course you know your usage best and if you are doing a lot of large file creation, such as video etc, then you may need more than what I have suggested. The more files you create and the more often you create them the more space to properly protect the drive will be required.

BY the way, I also have a drive on another laptop, a 160 gig drive that I have partitioned and am using as you are with the AX64 images on the same drive. I have the partition set to about half the drive and have about 40 gigs of used space on the c: drive. Its been working with AX 64 for 3 months and the size of the AX64 image folder is only 48 gigs.

 

I have a question about imaging backup tools to be used along side or in addition to AX64. I assume most of you do use a separate imaging tool along side AX64?! I am curious what most people recommend and if there are any tools you don't recommend?

Personally, I use a free version of a Paragon program I got a couple years ago. I think it's Home free version 10. I just installed Macrium Reflect Free on my wife's laptop. But, the one thing I don't like about the free version of Macrium is no differential or incremental backups.

I am mostly interested in free options like Aomei Backupper or Easus To Do, but am willing to consider a commercial option.

Maybe you don't feel the need for another tool if you have AX64?

P.S. I do mean an imaging tool and not a file backup program.

 

Hi Alex. I don't use a FREE imaging tool currently and the only other tool I use other than AX64TM is "Image For Windows" (IFW). I was using it all during the ALPHA and BETA phases of AX64TM. The product has come so far since then that currently it's the main imaging tool I use for my family systems. My gut feeling is that it will emerge as the only tool I use in the future.

I still have IFW and do use it occasionally when I restore to different systems and or partitions (different size) or backup other than the system partition, but that's its main use at the moment. AX64TM has been VERY reliable imaging tool in my use of the application... and I use its snapshot capability A LOT as a side.

 

Like Froggie my main tool is AX64 but I also am using a 2nd program as extra insurance. I used Rollback Rx for years and along with it I bought Drive cloner. I have dropped RollBack Rx like a hot potato now that AX64 is out but still use DC to create images weekly "just-in-case. I have learned the hard way in the past not to trust a single imaging program (Acronis was the culprit), so will no doubt continue to use a 2nd program essentially forever.

Better safe than sorry ----


PS, yes, perhaps I do suffer from a paranoid personality ,,,,,, but ,,,,,, see my signature.

 

I was using Macrium Reflect before discovering AX64, so I now keep Macrium as my fail safe just because I paid for it, and AX64 is my number one.

 

So do you backup twice ?

 

Occasionally.

 

I do too. Macrium is my daily backup tool simply because I also have it to verify the backup after the fact. Then I can trust the result. AX64 doesn't do that yet so you can only hope that the whole chain is in a perfect state. AX64 is improving and will eventually replace Macrium.

 

And that's good enough for me because the product has proven itself and I trust it. AX64 just needs to reach that one additional step.

 

Being a programmer who has to deal with avionics and safety issues I will mention that it is Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) and not checksums being used. Looked them up, you will find a tremendous difference in the accuracy of change prediction for the two. I do agree that even a CRC can prove faulty, but then you have better chances of winning a lottery!

Of course all that is moot as you mentioned if the restore program has problems of its own.

 

Boy, its quiet around here...things must be going well in the AXTM community of users...

 

Yes, Isso must be working on the new release.

Did someone here tell me here that IFW can restore an image of a 250GB drive to a 160GB drive?

 

Yes, but if:

1. Your data is less than 160GB.
2. You make the image of a 250GB with the "compact" option.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

I really do care about Isso and how he's been doing lately. Last few posts (if I remember correctly) were about health issues and traveling. I hope all is well with him.

Isso, you don't have to retroactively reply to everything since you last post, but do come back to tell us that you're okay.

 

Let's say you have X GB of data in that 250 GB drive. You can copy it to a 160 GB drive without having to Compact if the sector spread of X is less than 160 GB. In IFW, "Information" lets you know the sector spread. (X is a number less than 160)

Edit... You can be unlucky and 20 GB of data could have a sector spread of 250 GB.

 

I used Macrium to do that when I moved from a 500GB HD to a 250GB SSD. As long as the overall data is less than the total capacity of the new drive.

 

Can a defrag & optimize (move files to beginning of disk, etc.) help with that?

 

Sometimes. But the problem is "immovable files" such as the pagefile and hibernation file which are usually in the middle of the partition. These are the same files Diskpart can't move.

 

still have had zero issues and have been using it A LOT lol. thank you isso!