Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

That sounds very reasonable (and by that I do not include the potential/possible discounts for WIlders members) to me too and at that price I would very certainly consider a purchase given what I am seeing in terms of features & practicality in AX64.

I have been keeping a close eye on your progress and you have just given me another good reason (amongst many) for a purchase.

Keep up the good work, Isso.

Regards


Baldrick

PS. Any ideas as to a potential launch date for the commercial product...want to start saving my pennies for it...

 

Count me in also isso.
Good quality software is always worth buying.Sounds a reasonable price too.
Good luck with your venture.

 

Tom, very good question, thank you!

Yes, AXTM uses VSS, and if VSS is non-functioning the program will fail.
For workarounds - this is something I would like to discuss with you folks:

I'm aware of two possible workarounds:

1) Create a proprietary snapshot driver
2) Not use any snapshots, but copy the drive as it is

First approach is quite complex, had been used by Acronis and some other programs before. As far as I know none of them was stable enough (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Second is very easy and will 100% work, but files will be captured in "hot" state, which may result in some of the programs refusing to work after restore (for example databases). I guess this is what most of the programs use as a fallback.

Is anyone aware of other options? Thanks

 

Baldrick, Beethoven,

Thanks a lot! We'll do our best to release a high quality software, in fact alpha testing on Wilders is a part of that process. I find this forum to be the best for it, in terms of technically advanced and friendly community

 

On my XP machine, I haven't had a functioning vss for a few years. Tried many times to repair it, but it never worked. However, I've been able to use Macrium Reflect because they include a proprietary driver that takes over when vss fails. Not sure it's the answer for every piece of software, but it has worked well for Macrium.

 

Thanks Tom, I'll check out how Macrium handles this...

 

Isso, your (2) alternatives are the only ones I have seen in wide use.

As to Alt#1, Terabyte Unlimited uses their proprietary driver, PHYLOCK, very successfully and has been doing so for many years.

Alt#2 is very dangerous for most users, and most don't really know the possible deleterious effects, one of the worst being the status of active databases as you mentioned.

Using VSS is a tried and true alternative as many imagers use that option specifically. Since its a supplied tool in Windows, there should be no reason why it can't be made functional for those who find it non-functional... I really don't think that should be a stumbling block. A good piece of documentation in the area of activating VSS, if need be, would be most useful with the product... that's usually what's missing with other imaging products.

 

Froggie,

Thanks a lot for your comments, I fully agree with you. The problem is that apparently VSS gets non-functional quite often, and that's one of the reasons Terabyte and others use their own implementations.

 

Users who can't find a workaround to make VSS work could fix the VSS problem with a fresh Windows install. Or they can keep using the easy solution of rebooting and performing a cold backup outside Windows. Incite a full backup or restore from within Windows and the program reboots and performs the operations, then boots back into Windows.

I'd love to see full backup and restore options on the start-up media, this would be good for when the computer won't start and you want to save a current "broken" system image for later testing.

 

.. or even for a later recovery of files/ data.

 

Thanks Cyberman, aigle, I see your point, it makes lot of sense. Will put it on the list.

 

IMHO thats an extremely reasonable price, I was expecting something more expensive. If the software lives up to what has been said about it, and I have no doubt that it will, then between bloggers and "just plain folks'' talking about it, revenue should begin to flow nicely. At that price, and with the functionality indicated it should be a no brainer for folks to get on board.

I do have a question ----- how large will the snapshots be. Rxs snaps are very small, will yours be as well or will they require more disk space?

 

110% agree with CyberMan969 !

Am a long time licensed user of Shadow Protect but have never installed it - always have preferred to do cold backup and restores outside of windows using the recovery media. It has proven very useful when a family member could not boot up his windows 7 laptop at all.

-cheers
feandur

 

ISSO -
I'm a buyer if the release is stable and "likes" my system...does it support Win 8 ? ..or just Win 7 at this time?...will there be a 'try before you buy' period ?

Would like to use AX64 on Win 8 x 64 - just as I use Defence Wall, Shadow Defender, Shadow Protect on various x32 bit boxes.

-cheers,
feandur

 

Hi Isso,

there is also a 3rd option:
You can create a native version of AX64 and use it during the BootExecute session.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc963230.aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897447.aspx

Maybe for your program is the best solution. It will solve the problem of not functional vss and, at the same time, will allow users who prefer offline backups to use AX64 without the need of bootable media.

Panagiotis

 

I just downloaded 1.0.796_2 Installed and rebooted. but when I start the program it says 1.0.795. When I try to make a snapshot I get "imaging error C1000000"
Have not had that problem before this version.

 

Same problem on my systems.

 

Thank you for the technical fill-in and useful links Panayioti, that's more or less what I meant with my previous post. Initiating or scheduling off-line backups from within Windows.

 

bgoodman4,

Thank you! For snapshot size: snapshot are basically just incremental images, so their size depends on how much data was written to the drive since the last backup. I.e. if you've installed a new program that took 100 MB on disk, then the snapshot will be approximately of the same size.

In fact the calculation is a bit more complex. There are two factors: first - the images get compressed, so for a well compressible data the snapshot size will be much less that the data size written to disk. Second: there is some overhead for small files, i.e. if a bunch of small files are written to the disk, then the resulting snapshot size will be bigger than the sum of those files.

 

Feandur,

Yes, the program supports Windows 8. And yes there will be "try before you buy" period of 30 days.
If you try the program on Win 8, please let me know how it goes - we didn't have much feedback on that OS.

 

Wow Panagiotis, you are an endless source of fantastic ideas!
This has very significant advantage over recovery media - it will support incremental snapshots.
One drawback of this approach is inability to save to network drives, but I guess majority will use internal or external drives anyway. Thank you!

Cyberman, sorry I didn't originally understand that you meant the same approach as Panagiotis, I thought you had recovery media in mind.

 

sukarof, Panagiotis,

Sorry about it. This may have something to do with incorrect update of the previous version. Please let me know which version you had installed before? I'll try to reproduce it. Also please try to uninstall and reinstall.

 

Thank you for the information,,,,,,do you have a release date in mind yet?

 

Thank you for the information,,,,,,do you have a release date in mind yet?

 

Yes, I'm planning to have the production release ready in the end of March this year.