Rollback Rx 9.1 - New Build (July 18, 2011)

I think its a cold all sector image, if I am incorrect about that my apologies for adding more confusion to an already confusing subject.

BTW, it should be noted that the developers of Rx did not intend that snaps be saved under any imaging circumstance. The official recommendation is to uninstall Rx before imaging. Doing this deletes all snaps (except the selected state). If you image with DC only the current state is imaged so the end result in terms of snaps is the same. Horizon is listening to its customers as evidenced by the fact that the next release of Rx and DC should be able to image saving all snaps. The release was originally scheduled for (if memory serves) late this year but it has been delayed until the release of Win 8 (again if memory serves).

 

Actually I never really gave the MBR issue much thought. I figured that if I was using DC, a program that was originally part of Rx, that it would work as you would hope/expect. After all, there would be no point in Horizon releasing a program in conjunction with Rx if it would not work. So I followed my imaging routine and simply did not worry about it. Then I had a situation where I thought I might need to do a restore and began to have doubts. I mean if the official position is to uninstal could I be sure an image made with DC while RX was installed would be OK. Thats when I began asking questions.

My feeling at this point given the answers provided by Jo Ann, Froggie, etc, is that I have no need to worry about this and I no longer do. I have backed up my MBR using Bootice (just in case) and I have gone back to expecting Rx to get me out of 99.9% of any problems I might encounter. My honest expectation is that I will probably never haver to restore from an image, but if I do I am confident I can do so without issue.

 

I believe that it is HOT imaging rather than COLD imaging. There is no need for PHYLOCK.sys and VSS.sys to come into play if it has to do with COLD imaging. Please refer to Dummies guide page 4 by Froggie T. Gremlin (Froggie - TheRollbackFrog).

I couldn't agree more with the above statement.

Best regards,

KOR! (aka aladdin)

 

Thank you for the clarification KOR!

 

Just thought I would mention that Graham has done a test of restoring a hot image that was made while Rx was installed, you can find his post at http://horizondatasys-forum.com/11161-post30.html

I should mention that he repeatedly refers to DS but I think he meant DC (which was the imaging program under discussion throughout the thread). I have asked him for clarification of this in a subsequent post.

 

Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

I ran some tests (which took the better part of my Sunday) to clear up some confusion as to the different opinions in this thread about the necessity of restoring the MBR when restoring a normal hot image of an RB system. TheRollbackFrog had stated it was necessary to restore the MBR while Jo Ann said that it shouldn't make any difference!

So here goes... all of the following tests were performed using Drive Snapshot and I took notes throughout the test. At the beginning of these tests I had several RB snapshots including my current snapshot. I don't have a dedicated test-system so I thought it best to play safe by first creating and verifying a raw cold image of my entire C-Drive (just in case)! Following that I restarted my system and created (and verified) a normal hot image.

After creating those two backups I did something I've never done, I ran 'Reset To Baseline', which deleted all of my other snapshots (including my current snapshot)! Then I again created a raw cold image of the reset baseline system so that for each hot image restore test I would be restoring a system with the same conditions.

Restoring the Normal Hot Image...

...with restoring the imaged-MBR, the system booted up uneventfully. My current snapshot had been successfully restored and checking the Programs folder I saw that RB's Shield folder and entries were still there (as expected). Next, I uninstalled RB, followed by reinstalling it; both went smoothly. My system was up and running with a new baseline representing my most current snapshot. I then restored the raw-cold image with the reset baseline conditions for the next test...

...without restoring the imaged-MBR, the system started-up and for a brief moment I saw RB's pre-boot console, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared and the system continued to boot-up, successfully restoring my most current snapshot. As with the previous test, the RB Shield folder was intact and I was also able to uninstall and reinstall RB without any issues.

Conclusions: Both restore methods did the job, although the first method resulted in a somewhat smoother start-up. Both methods resulted in a perfect restoration of my current snapshot and uninstalling-reinstalling RB went without a hitch.

Scott

 

Great info...thanks! Glad to see DS works with this as well.

 

I would think that most any disk-imaging program is capable of backing up and restoring RB's current snapshot in the same way.

 

Perhaps...I don't use this tool myself but from what I gather from the various RB threads, IFW and DS are two that seem to definitely work.

 

I thought you need to do cold imaging with DS if you want to preserve all snapshots, not just the current snapshot.

 

Brian, did you read my posts #156 & #158? My test (using DS) was all about preserving RB's current snapshot and in that regard, whether or not it was necessary to restore the MBR when restoring a normal hot image!

Scott

 

Dear Brain,

The only Imaging program which can preserve all snapshots is only IFW, due to locking the hard disk with PYSLOCK.sys and not VSS.sys

The imaging has to be HOT imaging and not COLD imaging and has to meet certain conditions. One of the condition is that in the registry in the UpperFitlers the PHSLOCK.sys (IFW) is to be above SHIELD.sys (Rollback Rx), and few other conditions.

Best regards,

KOR!

 

Re: Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

The above statement is not what I understood.

TheRollbackFrog had stated that based on the imaging program used, it might be necessary to restore the original MBR. So, he advised for everyone to be cautious based on their imaging program, and to make a backup of the original MBR just in case.

Jo Ann had stated that it is not necessary with DS, as she has been using it for a while and she didn't have to restore the original MBR.

Please go back and check each respective statements.

Best regards,

KOR!

 

Re: Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

Dear Scott,

I am confused. Are you saying that COLD imaging will preserve the current snapshot on restore rather the baseline snapshot.

According to TheRollbackFrog COLD imaging will preserve only the baseline snapshot and not the current snapshot.

Please confirm?

Best regards,

KOR!

 

Re: Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

How is my statement incorrect -- I don't see a discrepancy in my summary of what TheRollbackFrog and Jo Ann said.

Scott

 

Re: Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

KOR, TheRollbackFrog's comment refers to a normal cold image which only backs-up the baseline snapshot. A raw cold image backs-up all snapshots!

The first raw cold image that I created in my testing (above) was to preserve the entire RB enviroment, including all snapshots, so that if my system got messed up during the hot image restores I'd have a fall-back position!

My second raw cold image backed-up my reset-baseline state and I used that image to restore the system after my first hot image restore, so that the second hot image restore would backup the same system-state as my first hot image backup!

Does that help you understand what and why I did what I did?

Scott

 

Re: Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

I think there is a bit of confusion on your part KOR and I think it may be cleared up by the above. In short, the baseline was the current snap.

 

Thank you very much Scott, your tests and report is most appreciated.

 

Yes, Scott's hot-image testing demonstrates quite clearly that imaging an RB system drive doesn't have to be any more complicated than imaging a non-RB drive!

Thanks very much Scott.

 

Re: Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

This is what I wrote earlier about Imaging and Rollback Rx, and on which TheRollbackFrog commented on:

Within Windows:

1. Any imaging program will capture the current snapshot of Rollback Rx and after restoring the image, Rollback Rx has to be re-installed. Basically, any imaging program will capture the current status of the computer when imaging was done. This will result in a regular image.

(Comments by TheRollbackFrog)
In step #1, under Within Windows, I would state that following an image restoration, Rollback would have to be uninstalled (a little slower than normal uninstall) then reinstalled for successful continued operation. This should insure no further complications with the active Rollback-enabled system.

2. If one needs to capture all snapshots and Rollback Rx is to remain intact, then one needs to use IFW for imaging, with PHYLock and registry tweak. Imaging has to be done on all sectors basis, thus resulting in a very large image of IFW and consuming a lot of time.


Outside Windows:

1. Any imaging program can be used to capture all snapshots and Rollback Rx is to remain intact, provided this imaging is done on all sectors basis. Again, this image done by any imaging program will be result in a very large image and will consume a lot of time.

2. Any imaging program can be used to do imaging, on a non sector basis. This is a very dangerous situation, as it will capture only the baseline snapshot of Rollback Rx, which can be two months old. This will not only result in a small image, but back to two months old image. After restore the image, Rollback Rx has to be re-installed.


Best regards,

KOR!

 

Comodo Time Machine, which is no longer being developed and doesn't work on SSDs.

Best regards,

KOR!

 

Re: Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

KOR,

I ask (again), what have I said that contradicts the above (i.e., where do you find a problem with my test results)?

Scott

 

Re: Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

Nothing!

You are just re-branding which is already said previously and might be confusing people.

Best regards,

KOR!

 

Re: Hot-Imaging RB v9.1

KOR,

Judging from the positive remarks I've received from others it seems to me that you are the only one confused here.

Because of the contrary statements I had read previously - re how to restore a normal hot image of an RB system from Jo Ann, TheRollbackFrog, Pandlouk, and others - I simply decided to run the test in order to prove to myself what works (when using Drive Snapshot).

Sorry if this confused you!

Scott

 

Hey Scott,

Up until reading your interesting test results I was under the impression that Image for Windows was the only app that could reliably backup a RB partition by hot-imaging. As I use (and like) ShadowProtect I wasn't about to get IFW just to backup an RB system. Before I order RB, do you see any reason that SP wouldn't work as reliably as DS to hot-image an RB system?

Thanks for sharing your tests!

Cruise