Paragon Hot Processing - Is it reliable?

I've been using Paragon BR11 for a while now and found that it has been very reliable. Recently, I've been encountering crashes using the VSS method during a system drive backup - due to a particular AV.

There is no such issues when using Paragon Hot Processing, therefore I'm happy to use this method if it proves to be just as reliable. I'd be grateful if any existing users can share their thoughts on Paragon Hot Processing. In a Windows 7 x64 environment, have you found it to be just as reliable when restoring a system image that was created with Paragon Hot Processing?

I did actually run a Paragon recovery to test it and everything seems fine. Unlike VSS, I noticed a PHP image also restored Windows Update history, Windows Index files and to my surprise, System Restore points. I didn't think it was possible to successfully backup system restore points using an "online" backup method, regardless of the backup application used. I might be wrong, however I thought there was good reason that VSS excluded such files. I therefore decided to test a couple of these restore points that were restored from the Paragon restoration process - but I got an error messages stating - "System Restore did not complete successfully - The data is invalid (0x8007000D)". My guess would be that certain metadata with the restore points was missing.

I don't have and never have had any issues with windows system restore, since I can re-create new one's and restore them successfully. Its only the restore points that were restored from the Paragon Backup using PHP that do not work. I am also fine with losing restore points if my backup preserves a stable system state. However, since the Paragon image restore did not completely and perfectly reset the image, then it makes me ask the question about whether it is actually reliable - Is there possibly anything else that it didn't correctly restore, which I am not aware of as yet. Perhaps there's no reason for concern, however, why would Paragon BR actually back-up "system restore points" if they are dysfunctional once they restored from a Paragon system recovery? Is this normal and is it a reason to be concerned? If it is normal, then I'm happy to just delete these recovered "restore points" and just be done with it. Perhaps it might have something to do with how Paragon hot processing was designed a long time ago - I believe in 2001, where it may have been designed as such to take a snapshot of everything.

I have read other posts on here, where others have stated the advantages of Paragon Hot Processing over VSS, including the fact that system restore points are actually backed-up. I'd imagine not too many people would actually need to use a windows system restore point once they have recovered from their Paragon system image, therefore perhaps this has not been tested by others and it therefore hasn't been raised. Has anyone actually tried running any of the "restored" system restore points and had any success?

Cheers,

 

Anyone?

Pardon me for providing what seems to be a life story, rather than a quick question. Perhaps this has thrown-off some readers from replying to this post. Let's try to be more specific:

- Based on your experience, does it seem like "Paragon Hot Processing" is reliable?

- Have you tried to restore any of your "system restore points" that was recovered from the Paragon backup image? If yes, did you have any success?

Surely, there must be someone who has been using Paragon Hot Processing for longer than I have and can briefly share their thoughts based on their experience.

BTW - I'm pretty sure the invalid restore points after image recovery is normal, but I'd like to hear what other uses think if they have tested it themselves, or have tested it with any other backup app. I also experienced the same error with restore points that was recovered from a Clonezilla image. I think this might be due to the concept of restore points becoming invalid or going missing if their is a lot of file movement/re-arrangement on your HDD.

 

Not really answering your question but I don't get concerned about the Restore Points being present or operational. I have much more confidence in an image than a Restore Point and that is one of the reasons I make images.

From reading this forum for perhaps a couple of years, I don't recall Paragon's Hot Core processing being very visible on the problem list although I image the vast majority of users use the default VSS so the experience with it may be light.

 

seekforever - Thanks for posting a reply

I understand - "system restore" points is not the most reliable method for protection and I do not use it as a substitute or alternative to image backups. My concern (becoming a slighter concern by the day) is more about whether a Paragon backup image created by PHP is actually an accurate/stable image. The fact that system restore points were surprisingly recovered, it made me test them, which only lead to an error. This made me question whether the recovered image is a stable one and whether it was possible that I might discover other invalid or corrupt files down the track. Hence the reason for my post, to see what other users thought. Or perhaps the vendor could shed some light if they still read these posts. The other cause for concern, is how the Paragon user manual references PHP as the hot processing technology recommended for NT+. This made me question whether PHP is suitable for newer OS's - in my case, W7 x64.

I'd prefer to use VSS, but its not an option until AVG can sort-out what is causing the Paragon App crash.

I appreciate your reply. Cheers

 

These topics have been discussed in the backup, image and disk mgmt forum, mainly with reference to other imaging programs.

As I recall, the general conclusion was that, when VSS is used, some non-essential files may not be included in the image. Some image programs “compensate” for this, other don´t. The functionality of Windows after a restore is not affected by the lack of these files, but the functionality of restore points may be.

 

Hi Volare! I have been using Paragon B & R for some time now and always use Paragons Hot Processing option. I run weekly image backups and find it totally reliable (I always do images of my complete hard drive) I have never had any issues when restoring images.

Can't specifically shed any light on your Restore Point question – but if the image restores OK, then I guess RPs should also be OK.

For what it's worth, when I first started using Paragon B & R - I initially used VSS but found the backup would frequently stop part way through and require the system to be restarted – this, of course, would rerun the backup process all over again, which was a real pain!

 

Excellent Replies

It definitely makes me feel more assured about using PHP.

Thank You