Off to a bad start with ShadowProtect - PLEASE HELP

....and from what I've observed, Drive Cloner Rx (Rollback Rx's companion imager) is no different in that regard (i.e. it doesn't have any special abilities to capture RB snapshots)!!!

I am one of those in the camp that swears by (not at) RB, finding it extremely valuable. Yet I recognize that disk-image backup is absolutely vital to complement it. So I 'capture' my entire RB environment (with all of its snapshots) by imaging all-sectors. As that would be time and space prohibitive with a large C-partition, I have a relatively small C-partition so that the backup time and external disk-space resulting from imaging all-sectors is quick and relatively small, respectively.

 

As I understand it you are correct that individual snaps are not captured but a restore from this program will return a system as if you had just done a baseline update (is that the word?). No problems with MBR and no problem with Rx (you would not have to reinstall or uninstall it and then reinstall --- I think).

 

That problem only seems to (sometimes) surface when running the backup program from within Windows and then attempting to restore the image. I have never had any MBR issues (or any other issues) when running the image-backup program from a 'live' Windows/Linux boot-disk (to create the image)!

 

Are you refering to an image program other than Rxs companion? - and - Are you refering to sector by sector images?

 

What I said (above) is relevant to every disk-imaging program I've tried, which includes Acronis True Image, Drive Cloner Rx, Drive Snapshot (my personal favorite), as well as the subject of this thread, ShadowProtect.

As I usually want to capture all of my RB snapshots including the system's current state, I do sector-by-sector (or the equivalent) backups.

Edit:
Come to think of it, when I 'trialed' Drive Cloner Rx (a few months ago) it didn't seem to offer a sector-by-sector mode, which I found quite odd for a disk-imaging product from the Rollback Rx people (since a sector-by-sector mode is necessary to fully image an RB environment and its snapshots)!!!

 

I may be confused here but I think I get your point, or rather we are making the same point after-all (I think) ,,,, I am pretty sure no imager will save Rx snaps but Rxs imager will save the current snap and the MBR etc. (but not the other snaps, just the current state). If you do sector by sector backups with other images you will also be able to get the current state as well as have Rx functional (and the MBR) too. There is no need for Rxs imager to do sector by sector as the purpose of doing this would be to save the current state - which it does already. At least thats my understanding of the situation ,,,,, I think. This is what I was trying to say above and I thought you were saying something different. And thats is why I was questioning you above ---- but I think we are really on the same wavelength.

Yes?

PS: I am sure about no program being able to save all the snaps as it was something I really wanted to be able to do. Before I bought Rx I researched the heck out of it (with guidance from the folks on this forum mostly) and it was made very clear that these snaps could not be saved.....period. So I had to learn to live without the capability.

 

Aaron,

I've never really taken an interest in this type of software. You are obviously impressed. What am I missing if I have frequent image backups?

 

I don't know if its already mentioned but imaging is IMO key in the light of complete protection,not only in case of software disasters but hardware problems as well.
FDISR,Rollback and their siblings and also the light virtu. softwares are complementary,and not your mainstay to build upon security.
There was heavy talk about these differences here on Wilders a few years ago and from what i can remember that in general they all agree upon the statement that imaging is the one and only where it comes to total protection.

Erik Albert liked to say that any other solution is a luxury,not essential.

 

Well compared to image backups/restores it's a huge time-saver. Consider the convenience of a mere 5-seconds to take a snapshot of your current state, 45-seconds to recover files from another snapshot and only about 90-seconds to completely restore your system to any other snapshot ...most likely resulting in less frequent image-backups (my frequency is weekly).

...are these IR programs a luxury? - probably so as they are incapable of a 'bare-metal' restore where only a disk image/clone will save the day, but then again isn't adding more RAM, upgrading WinXP/Vista to Win7, or even buying a new PC when the old one still works a luxury?

 

Aaron,

Thanks for the reply. Even though HD failure is a relatively rare event, I create two differential images each day. They are only 100 MB in size and are done automatically in the background. Am I correct in saying that I couldn't do differential images if I was using rollback software? I'd have to do a full backup including unused sectors? That would be 9 GB in my case, if only the OS partition was imaged.

I agree that restoring an image for software issues is done far more often than restoring an image for HD failure. But if there is a HD failure it is preferable to restore an image that is a few hours old rather than one that is a week old.

 

Brian, I wouldn't say that. I believe disk-imaging programs may differ in that respect. I backup with DS from a live WinPE CD (because I want to capture all of my RB snapshots) ...making 1 full and 3 differentials per month - all of them using DS' Maintenance Mode. However, I recall other RB users (appster/nexstar?) who were succesfully imaging just their current state snapshot by making full and differential image backups (of just the used Windows sectors) from within Windows!

Aaron

 

Aaron, thanks for clearing that up.

 

I would agree 100%

 

As noted by others Rx type back-up are a luxury not a necessity however you need to keep in mind the likelihood of needing to do an (unscheduled) bare metal restore versus an "Oh Oh" restore. The 2nd type would be anything from a virus to a software test, to an upgrade or install error, to a "I just want to open that e-mail and see whats in it but I know I should not" type of event. The OH Oh type of event can be very common, the bare metal type will be rather rare.

I my case I have added another layer of protection by having both PCs (the one with Rx on it and the one with SP on it) monitored by an on-line backup service (iDrive) because its also possible that your need to do a bare metal restore could be triggered not by hardware failure, but by hardware loss. If there is a theft or fire you are as likely to lose your backup images as you are your PC so my critical files are backed up automatically as they are created to an off-site location.

Also, one use of Rx and any imager (if used together) is if your PC melts down you can use the image to mount a virtual drive (from an image taken with Rx installed) once an Rx-less image (be it a weekly or whatever image) has been restored and then you can copy important files back to the new PC......so while Rx and imagers do not play as nice together as we might like its not necessarily a black and white, a one or the other, situation.

So to get back to the opening sentence in this post, Rx type backup software is a luxury not a necessity,,,,,,but a bit of luxury is a very, very nice thing to have.

That being said on my desktop I use SP, its only on my portable, where no regular, on the fly, images can be regularly (hourly) created, that I am using Rx. However, I have made it a point to, if I want to do software testing or open an e-mail I know I should not, do these sorts of things on the Rx PC as its more convenient to revert using Rx than any other.

 

So you ARE able to capture ALL your snaps this way? You have done a restore and everything, Rx, the MBR, all the snaps, etc, are there and in working order?

Please excuse me if you said this and I was not paying attention or misunderstood.

 

Absolutely, but when you quoted me in your post (above) you left out an important part ...the backups are made using DS's Maintenance Mode, which backs-up ALL SECTORS, not just those used by Windows!

I have restored several times and each time EVERYTHING restored just as it was when I backed-up, working perfectly!

No problem, and as this thread concerns SP, I should add that I have used SP (in a similar manner) and it also worked perfectly.

 

This is excellent news, I was sure I was told it could not be done when I was doing my initial research into RX. Thanks for the correction.

 

In responce to a couple of PMs that I received re the SP version I referred to in my prior post. It was a v3.3 evaluation copy.

 

Thanks to you both.

 

To add, IFW will also capture all RB snaps but must use "RAW" image save format: can lead to very large image files.

As to differential images with RB snapshots ( and then collapse into some regular image save) ... ..not sure that would work easily..unless someone can say otherwise.
( As noted in above post from Aaron: can possibly be done; complex)

@BrianK: Brian the user benefit of RB/EaziFix etc is (simultaneous) access to multiple versions of your current set-up: which can be quite wonderful: ie no boot out/in; just flick to different 'snapshot' in the same session.
This of course is NO protection for HD failure.
Still need images: full +/- differential.
Still need regular sync ( or frequent diffs) of important files: e-mails, receipts etc etc.

Agree that HD failure is 'quite rare' but from own bitter experience can be absolutely a gut buster.

FWIW, Lots of peeps like RB, my experience with RB was not great; happy with FDISR, VMs & Terabyte.
RB messes with the MBR = not happy me.
Setting up multiboot options can be tricky.
No support for MS/linux multi boot
Cannot have anything else at all in the MBR
One gives away a lot of control with RB
Then again, I'm still on XP.
(and still occasionally looking at SP unless Terabyte brings out BING v2.0 )
If you have a spare machine to give to RB: it can be interesting.
Regards

 

Longboard,

Thanks. I can see many folks are keen on RB/EaziFix etc. But they are not for me. I'm happy with what I'm doing with IFW. I can roll back to the most recent differential which is only a few hours old. Or younger. I might be wrong but these apps seem to require extra effort in creating special, large backup images. To save time, they cost time. Also, I need a unique MBR as I'm multi-booting numerous OS that depend on the TeraByte MBR.

As you know, BING ver2 is planned for mid next year.

 

Only if you use 3rd party imaging software. RXs companion does not require this,,,,,however the companion is very basic,,,,at least the version I am using is.

 

Brian, that conclusion may have merit for those with larger system volumes, but it really 'doesn't hold water' if you have a relatively small system volume. In order to facilitate disk-imaging with an RB environment I reduced my C-partition (WinXP) to 16GB. An All-Sectors full backup compresses to about 9GB and takes less than 10 min. Subsequent All-Sectors differentials typically consume about 5GB and usually complete within 6 min...
.....however your MBR requirements would probably impact an RB installation!

That's because their 'companion imager' just captures Windows current snapshot. Other disk-image backup programs will do the same thing! As far as I could tell, there is nothing special about their companion product and if anything, it lacks the ability to perform an All-Sectors backup! Sorry, but the RB companion imager gets my