Is there a program similar to FD-ISR?

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by Birdman, Mar 20, 2010.

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  1. Birdman

    Birdman Registered Member

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    I used to love the "classic" FD-ISR program that allowed me to create mutiple snapshots and switch back and forth between them in just a matter of seconds.

    Unfortunately I purchased a new system (w/ Windows 7 x64) and FD-ISR no longer is compatible. There's a 'bootleg' way of making it play nice with Win 7 but it's too complicated and not something that I want to explore.

    My question is if there's another program out there that basically has the same features as FD-ISR, allowing you to create more than one system snapshot on your primary partition?
     
  2. silver0066

    silver0066 Registered Member

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    RollbackRx
     
  3. Birdman

    Birdman Registered Member

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    The reviews of Rollback Rx is not too favoable from what I've read in various software review sites.

    Any Rollback Rx users here that can give their own personal experience with this program?
     
  4. guest

    guest Guest

    Comodo time machine, free alternative RollbackRx

    Both are good, i am using comodo, both have some limitations; defrag, full disk encryption
     
  5. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    You might want to explore the new FDR from Leapfrog, not quite as functional, but still is good.

    Pete
     
  6. Birdman

    Birdman Registered Member

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    I thought tat you are unable to create secondary 'snapshots' with the new FD-R. Is this true?
     
  7. tobacco

    tobacco Frequent Poster

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    Rescue = 1 recovery snapshot only. No archives.
     
  8. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    It's not all that bad. I used FDISR that way for a couple of years before the introduced archives. Always just had a primary and secondary, and it worked great.
     
  9. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    I have used FirstDefense PC Rescue which has the limitations already mentioned in this thread (I have abandon it for other reasons though, and I don't know how the new version compares with the old one).

    What I have been using instead with similar results is ShadowProtect Desktop, as it restores images very quickly one could very well treat an image as a snapshot of the system. It may not be as versatile and fast as the original FD, but an acceptable surrogate IMO (also one that will work even with a new HD).
     
  10. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    I have been using RollBack Rx for just under a year now and I have found it to be excellent.
     
  11. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    ShadowProtect and RollBack type programs are very different. For one thing the so called snapshots produced by SP are huge compared to those created by RollBack Rx and similar programs. BTW I use both programs and my suggestion would be for you to decide exactly what you want the program for and on what type of PC you will be using it on. If you are going to be using it on a laptop then the clear winner would be RollBack as you have backups being created regardless of where you are. If its going to be used on a desktop then its a question of preference. In my case I do all my software testing on my laptop. The ability to revert to a prior state with a simple reboot cannot be beat. On the desktop all I am interested in is drive images in case of disaster, not quick flips back and forth.

    You can keep as many Rx snaps as long as you want but at some point you do need to clean house or the system performance will slow down.

    I hope this helps.

    As to the quality of RollBack Rx search this forum using RollBack as the search term. A very highly thought of program as you will see for yourself if you try it.
     
  12. Birdman

    Birdman Registered Member

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    Do you have to uninstall FD-Rescue in order to defrag the drive (as the case with certain restore/backup software) or can it be left alone and installed?
     
  13. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    Not sure about FD-Rescue but its def a good idea with RollBack RX.
     
  14. Tony

    Tony Registered Member

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  15. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    The short answer is no. The reason. With FD-Rescue, the snapshot, is just a copy of your files and is part of the windows file system.

    In Rollback that is not the case. Rollback files are kept in sectors on the hard drive unknown to windows, but known to Rollback. So the windows API can't see them.

    Pete
     
  16. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding: ShadowProtect produces compressed images e.g. my OS= 20 GB > Image= 8GB; FirstDefense PC Rescue produces a rescue snapshot e.g. my OS=20GB > Rescue snapshot =20 GB (I presume, as I have never used it, that FD-ISR Original would use snapshots similar to the PC Rescue type).

    I believe RollBack snapshots are much smaller than any of the above mentioned as it is a different technology altogether, but considering the thread topic I find that ShadowProtect is more similar to FD-ISR than RollBack Rx.

    Now, whether one finds one more useful than the other it is a matter of personal choice. Although I don't think one can use Rollback Rx to store snapshots on a different drive, or can you?
     
  17. Birdman

    Birdman Registered Member

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    Well I bit the bullet today and purchased FD-Rescue. For now I can live with just 1 snapshot (for testing new software and other things). The support, company/author reputation, user familiarity and the possible additions of new features down the road made it hard for me to pass it up.

    I'm hoping, at least, that we are able to EXPORT and store the backup snapshot to an external hard drive. I should probably ask this question in the FD forum, but Peter can you confirm this?
     
  18. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    There is a reason why Todd not provide his new incarnation with ability to archive snapshots,i guess its something between him and horizondata ? o_O
     
  19. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    You are correct, you cannot use Rx to restore snaps to a different drive.
     
  20. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Hi Birdman

    I don't know as I haven't tried it. I still use FDISR, the classic.

    Pete
     
  21. Birdman

    Birdman Registered Member

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    Classic, Legend, God of System Restore......Simply the best!!!

    If not for Win 7......I'd still be using that bad boy. Thanks for all the info you provided Peter.
     
  22. silver0066

    silver0066 Registered Member

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    I have been using RollbackRx now for several years. In the beginning it had many bugs, but in the last year or so, they have fixed the problems and it is faster and uses less disk space than First Defense Rescue and you can have several snapshots, although not on another drive.

    I also use ShadowProtect to backup my system partition to an external drive once a day which only takes seconds to do an incremental. I still have the Classic FD-ISR, but I quit using it in favor of the above combination when Windows 7 x64 came out.
     
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