Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by Isso, Jan 18, 2013.

  1. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2010
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    USA
    Frog, thanks for that info; while interesting it's also disappointing because it says (for me) that it's time to say goodbye.


    What? I always thought IFW was your mainstay (go-to) 'fixerupper'! What does Macrium do for you that IFW doesn't?
     
  2. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2011
    Posts:
    4,946
    Location:
    The Pond - USA
    IFW has been my mainstay for many years... and it hasn't been supplanted just yet by Macrium :cautious:

    I decided to give Macrium a try just to find out what everyone is so excited about. So far, the UI is a bit more fun but both apps do my job very well. Being a geek at heart, I do like IFW quite a bit.
     
  3. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2003
    Posts:
    20,590
    Hi Cruise

    I user both IFW and Macrium and I can answer your question. IFW incrementals/differentials take the same time as the full image. Macrium has never taken more then a third of the full time. Both have been 100% on restores, so I back up TM with them.

    Pete
     
  4. twl845

    twl845 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2005
    Posts:
    4,186
    Location:
    USA
    Can someone give me the steps to follow in order when we do a restore with the recovery CD? I think I'm doing something out of sequence when I try it. Thanks in advance. :)
     
  5. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2010
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    USA
    Thanks for the feedback Pete; in that respect Macrium is similar to my go-to, Drive Snapshot. :thumb:

    Based on TRF's reply to my initial question re AX64 hot-restores I've decided not to 'play' with AX64 or TM any longer. As far as I'm concerned lacking dependable hot-restores makes AX64/TM unworthy of my time and effort.

    Cruise

    ----
    Ps. To all dads out there Happy Father's Day (whether or not it's celebrated in your country)!
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2014
  6. taotoo

    taotoo Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2013
    Posts:
    459
    I presume you're aware of the new warm restores - so out of interest, what makes the lack of usable hot restores a deal breaker?
     
  7. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2011
    Posts:
    4,946
    Location:
    The Pond - USA
    In the past I was a big Rollback user and really only used IFW for FULL images just to backup up my flakey Rollback system.

    In my testing capacity for AXTM and TM v2, I'm also using an imaging tool to backup my system during these tests... BUT, I'm using a lot more INCREMENTALS than I ever used before. As Pete has mentioned, Macrium is a much better (aka faster) INCREMENTAL tool than IFW is so I've been using that on my test systems.

    They're both very good imagers and have never failed me, especially during my IFW years. I've just started using Macrium recently.
     
  8. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2009
    Posts:
    3,237
    twl845 I do not have your ans but I would suggest that you search all of the posts that you made (just put your screen name in the search for posts by dialogue box) and you will find your original query for this problem. It would help if you have some idea as to the general time that you had the problem but if not a patient scan of your posts will eventually get you where you need to go.

    Sorry I could not be of more assistance.
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2014
  9. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2009
    Posts:
    3,237
    I do not understand this,,,,AX64 V1 is for most better than 95% reliable for hot restores, and in my case, when I adjust Applocker to medium protection level rather than high level, I get 99.5% reliable hot restores. The only failed hot restore I have had in the last 9 months was due to ESET running a system scan during the attempted restore. A cold restore using my "just in case imaging app" (Drive Cloner) set things right and I am still going strong with V1. AS for warm restore taking too long,,,,,,,what would you use in its place?
     
  10. twl845

    twl845 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2005
    Posts:
    4,186
    Location:
    USA
    Thanks for the suggestion. I'll do that. I remember the fix was something like doing a command in a different order or something. :confused:
     
  11. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2010
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    USA
    Hi BG,

    TRF said "the problem with HOT restores is not really version dependent in my estimation, it's system configuration dependent". Apparently my system configuration conflicts somehow with AX64s hot restores, which I have attempted over a dozen times to only realize success on 3 or 4 of those occasions. The majority of those attempts failed; either freezing-up during the restore or completing to a corrupted restore. Just out of curiousity, which build of v1 are you using?

    Cruise
     
  12. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2011
    Posts:
    4,946
    Location:
    The Pond - USA
    Cruise, I'll let BG confirm but I believe he's still using v1.3.0.7. That version is fine to try as long as you're not using W8 or W8.1. If you are, you need to use the current release of v1.4.1.24 or one of the later BETAs... I'm continually testing (using W8.1upd1 and W7sp1) with v1.4.1.48 and the v2 BETA (knowing its limitations).
     
  13. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2009
    Posts:
    3,237
    Hi Cruise, I am using 1.3.0.7. Have you tried disabling everything (security related programs) and then one by one adding them back? Isso had to spend a lot of time to pinpoint the source of my problem which, prior to being located, caused about 20% of my hot restores to fail. Also, Peter has a warm restore process that works with all versions of AX64 so its a warm restore that is not the same thing as the warm restore in V2. It may work for you better than hot restores.
     
  14. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2010
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    USA
    Hi guys,

    Firstly, I'm running Win7. Secondly, I did disable Shadow Defender which was found to conflict with AX64. Doing that made my hourly snaps work well but even so, hot restores were still unreliable. Finally (as an ex-RollbackRx user) my main interest in AX64 is its ability to allow me to QUICKLY create and restore snapshots (if that only worked reliably, I would have no remorse in permanently discontinuing use of SD). Since that has not been dependable (on my system) I prefer placing my trust in the far more reliable combination of Shadow Defender and Drive Snapshot.

    Cruise

    PS. I am willing to try v1.3.0.7 - where can I download it?
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2014
  15. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2003
    Posts:
    2,712
    Location:
    USA
    http://ax64.com/beta/
     
  16. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2010
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    USA
    Thanks Rainwalker, but is 1.3.7 (on that webpage) the same as what has been referred to as 1.3.0.7 ?
     
  17. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2011
    Posts:
    4,946
    Location:
    The Pond - USA
    Yep...
     
  18. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2009
    Posts:
    3,237
    I also am running Win 7 (64 bit). Have you tried Peters "warm restore" I believe it adds a min or 2 to the process,,,,,,, still pretty fast when you consider the alternatives.
     
  19. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2010
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    USA
    What is Peter's warm restore method? :doubt:
     
  20. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2003
    Posts:
    20,590
    I think what they are talking about is instead of initiating a warm restore from within the windows GUI which causes TM to remove the boot menu, I just reboot, and at the boot menu select Time Machine REcovery and let it boot into the RE from there. Then when the restore is done the system reboots, and the boot menu isn't touched.

    Pete
     
  21. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2010
    Posts:
    1,236
    Location:
    USA
    Pete, I'm sorry to say that I don't understand this. Atm, I'm running the current version of AX64 and when I initiate a restore from within its GUI isn't that a hot (not a warm) restore? I consider the warm restore to be from AX64's boot menu (giving me the choice to boot into AX64 or into Windows). While that is far more reliable (for me) than hot restores, it does not run to completion in the relatively short time implied by BG's reply above.

    I'm going to try the version that BG has been using so successfully, just to 'not leave that stone unturned' - but based on my experience so far, this app is still a diamond in the rough (with extremely rough edges)!

    Cruise
     
  22. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2009
    Posts:
    3,237
    You misread what Pete wrote, he wrote

    Thus no recovery media (disk or USB drive) is used. As I understand it this enables a quick restore just as you would get with the hot restore but only the bare min of what would be running from within Windows is running because of the reboot. I believe that others have found this largely prevented the failure of hot restores but it does add a bit of time to the process due to the reboot time being added. Pete mentioned TM in his post but this process was first applied to AX64 (v1) and thats what I am referring to.

    Am I correct Peter?
     
  23. normanbg

    normanbg Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2013
    Posts:
    122
    Location:
    Israel
    Great, but what do those do who cannot create a Boot Menu? When I try backup tools>Rescue Media>Startup Manager>Install, I get an error screen followed by a freeze. I posted to Waj but he told me to open a ticket. I did, submitted the requisite log files, answered a few questions, and was told that since everything else seemed to be working, TM support had no time to take care of my problem and I should just forget it.

    Anyone else have trouble creating the Boot Menu? (WinXP-Pro-SP3-32bit; TM 2.0.0.315)
     
  24. manolito

    manolito Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2013
    Posts:
    407
    AFAIK this is not correct. The latest AX64 v1 versions did implement the boot entry for AX64, but all you can do from there is a complete cold restore. Warm restore was introduced starting with TM v2.


    Cheers
    manolito
     
  25. manolito

    manolito Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2013
    Posts:
    407
    The Boot Menu does not work under WinXP. The BCD system was introduced with Vista.


    Cheers
    manolito
     
  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.