Rollback Rx...

Hi guys,
After familiarizing with FDISR I just want to ask if FDISR works same as Rollback Rx in terms of creating, archiving and booting to snapshot.

If i have 2 snapshot....one is Rollback Snapshot (User) and the other one is Installation Snapshot (Baseline).

My question is if I'll create another snapshot, let say Games Snapshot, can i boot on Games Snapshot to play games then boot again to Installation Snapshot where all my application is installed?

Also what is "baseline" and what is "User" means in Rollback Rx.

Sorry guys new to this software.

 

Re: Rollack Rx...

fce,
A normal backup/restore doesn't work with RollbackRx, it will only backup/restore ONE snapshot (baseline or current), the rest of the snapshots is gone.
The only way to backup/restore ALL snapshots is doing a RAW backup of your 250gb-harddisk. I have no idea how much time it will take, but you better test this first with your image backup software, before you decide to buy RBRx.

FDISR-snapshots remain on your harddisk even after restoration and that allows you to create snapshots for specific jobs. I'm not sure if you can use RBRx this way. Test it out man !!!

 

Re: Rollack Rx...

Yes. When I had Rollback last year, I did that. From the baseline I made two snapshots. One for gaming. I booted to the to be gaming snapshot and uninstalled all the software that wasnt needed for gaming. And when I was done gaming I booted to the second (or twenty third) snapshot and did all my other stuff there. I did not use the baseline at all, just updated it now and then.
Rollback has the advantage that it is so easy and incredible fast to make new snapshots so it is a breeze to test new things.
Nowadays I rely on FDISR (I find it more reliable than RB) and dont experiment with new software and drivers as much because compared to Rollback the snapshots takes forever to make

 

Re: Rollack Rx...

Pete,

Yes, but Rollback v7 and FDISR work great together. They are very synergistic.

Silver

 

Hi guys,

I have a question regarding Snapshot.

I created Work Snapshot (43MB) without MS Office, etc.

I created a schedule that every startup Rollback Rx will create snapshot. After I installed MS Office and update some patches I restarted my PC and Rollback Rx created a snapshot (I renamed it Work-1 Snapshot).

When I boot my PC it's still in Work Snapshot (not Work-1 Snapshot) which is ok, but the capacity of Work Snapshot is 43MB compare to Work-1 Snapshot with 6189MB which I think is alright because I installed lot of software.

I'm log now at Work Snapshot with 43MB which means there should be no MS Office installed BUT i can run my MS Office at Work Snapshot.

If i can run new installed MS Office at Work Snapshot why Rollback Rx showing 43MB only? It's should be the same as Work-1 Snapshot which is 6189MB. Why is that?

 

OK, so what you have is a Work snapshot which, if you restore to that, will NOT have MS Office included in it. It will magically disappear! It is only there at the moment because that is your current snapshot and you have installed MS Office on top of that. You could install another 6GB of software in your current environment but that will only get set in stone when you take a snapshot and the Work one will still show 43MB as none of the new software is included in it.

It is only showing 43MB because that it is all the data that is associated with that snapshot. Restore to Work-1 and then back to Work and you'll see what I mean. BUT, if you have done any work that needs protecting then take a snapshot first because it will be gone otherwise!

The other thing I'd say is to treat the size of the snapshots as only a guide. The sizes do not get updated when snapshots get deleted so get less accurate as time goes on.

I see from the times of your snapshots that you are another sleep deprivation sufferer .

Graham

 

nexstar,

I boot using Work-1 Snapshot with 6.1GB and expect that MS Office should be there. But there's no MS Office installed?


See below pics.

 

nexstar,
now i boot using Work Snapshot....MS Office i installed and saved in Work-1 Snapshot is gone which i think it should be.

But where's my MS Office installed?

 

Stop rebooting! I can't keep up

As far as I can tell, the only snapshot that will have your MS Office installed will be the one called 'Scheduled Snapshot' with the size 1769MB.

Could you have deleted one or more scheduled snapshots? The reason I ask is that you created 'Work' and then went on to create 'Games' a bit later on. To get back to 'Work' you would have had to have restored to it and Rollback, by default, will take a snapshot when you restore. Also, the 'Work-1' snapshot was a scheduled one originally, as you've installed 6GB of software is it possible that something else required a reboot and 'Work-1' was created prior to MS-Office being installed?

The bottom line is this....I think you need to restore to 'Work-1' and install MS-Office again. Then manually take a locked snapshot called 'After MS-Office' (or something). I would then clean up by deleting all other snapshots that you haven't locked. If you'd created any documents in MS-Office then you can still get at these by browsing the 1769MB snapshot, so do that before you delete it!

I hope this makes sense .

Graham

 

i'm getting confused how snapshot scheduling works so i disable it for now.
you're correct i deleted schedule snapshot and that might be the problem.

 

Yes, it can be a bit confusing as you not only get the scheduled snapshots on rebooting but you also get them when you change snapshots. This is obviously a protection measure in that you may have made changes which you meant to save but didn't and so RB takes a snapshot just in case.

I do now only tend to make snapshots manually and you do tend to feel a bit more in control that way. Still, at least you've find out how easy it is to remove software. Had you been trialling MS-Office then you would have removed it completely without any problem .

Graham

 

How can i change the schedule to manually?
When i installed RB i select to do the backup every restart but now i want it do manually because it confuse me. Maybe after couple days i change it to daily or during start up but as of now i think its better to do it manually.

Rollback is quite fast, when i use windows system restore it take me more than hour....i really surprise that RB take it less than a minute. Maybe i'm doing something wrong with my set-up?

 

another question....if my hard disk fail to boot, how can i upload my saved snapshot at external hard disk?

i guess i need to use bootable disc and then install Rollback RX software before restoring my saved snapshot?

 

In RB's main window, select 'Scheduled tasks' and then you should see, in the right-hand window, your scheduled task. Highlight it and select 'Remove'.

The only other time then that RB will try to take a snapshot is when you change to another snapshot. If you restore via right-clicking in the systray then it will automatically do this anyway. If you restore via the main window then you can uncheck the box which says 'Take a snapshot of the current PC before rollback in case I want to come back'. Just be certain it's what you want though .

Fast is good . Also, you will find that taking a snapshot is quicker for some reason via the right-click on the systray icon rather than the main window. Don't know why, it just is....on my setup anyway.

If it fails to boot because your system was messed up then, as long as your Rollback pre-boot menu is available, you just restore to a working snapshot as normal.

However, if you are asking 'how do I create an image of my Rollback partition so that I can restore it in case of hard disk failure?' then that is a whole new topic in itself which has been done to death around here. A search on 'Rollback imaging' should keep you up even later with plenty of reading material .

Graham

 

Open Rollback
Under advanced tasks click backup snapshots
Next choose backup snapshots in the main Rollback window
Follow directions from there.

You can repeat this to store multiple snapshots in case your drive messes up. To restore these you need BartPe and install the Rollback plugin or you can wait maybe a week or 2 and the update to Rollback will include a disk to restore your backups http://supportcenteronline.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4443 .

Thanks,

Chris

 

thanks nexstar. I'll try to remove my schedule task next time i'll create updated snapshot.

thanks chris i already got it.....btw, can i create BartPe to my external hard disk?

 

If there is I am not aware of any. In a couple weeks if that you will not need the BartPe for restoring Rollback snapshots that are saved somewhere else. Rollback will have its own restore disc (which I'm glad they are doing).

Thanks,

Chris

 

I created three snapshot, i'm little bit confused why snapshot-2 capacity is more big compare to snapshot-3?

Snapshot-1: Clean install..... (133MB)

Snapshot-2: Clean install + Driver..... (12.4GB)

Snapshot-3: Clean install + Driver + Security (KIS7) .....(3.6GB)


snapshot-3 should be 12.4GB+++ right?

 

That's some driver you've installed there . I'm assuming that there are also a few applications installed as well(?).

Wrong, I'm afraid. The snapshot sizes are incremental and are based upon the changes made since the previous snapshot.

However, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, they should be treated as a guide only. Supposing you haven't changed anything since snapshot-3 and you then delete snapshot-2. The 12.4GB of data that was associated with snapshot-2 is still on the drive and will stay there as it is also linked to snapshot-3. The size displayed for snapshot-3 will not change but is now not accurate. I have mentioned to the developers that it might be nice to update this information when snapshots are deleted. I don't think it would be a major exercise to do it but I think they are probably busy with other things .

Graham

 

thanks nexstar for the info.

as of now i'm very satisfied with this Rollback Rx V8....i don't know if i will update this when the new version release. It's working good for now.

i keep returning to my clean install snapshot and go back to my new snapshot...all is working without any problem.

btw, did you hear re: rollback issue with chkdsk? i forgot where i read that re: rollback issue with chkdsk. If that is true, i have two monster (rollback and kaspersky) installed in my PC

 

This issue has been discussed many times here. I myself have not had this problem. Very few users have experienced it. As with any software there is always a flaw somewhere. Just look at the Acronis threads, another one is registry cleaners with First Defense and I could point out many others. Just remember that no software is perfect and just as in security software layers are the best approach.

Thanks,

Chris

 

The restore disc would be well worth having but shouldn't need you to upgrade the the software at the same time.

I'm gradually moving all of my systems now to getting RB to automatically restore on reboot to the latest snapshot. All the regularly changing data is moved to the D drive. I can then trash the system with rogue software, reboot and it is all fine again . By reverting to the last snapshot, it means I can still update the system if I know it is ok and keep it current. It needs a little bit of preparation but I find it works really well once set up.

I may just be lucky but, like Chris, I've never experienced the chkdsk issue. One thing I never do is to defrag the RB protected drive with RB installed. Because of the way RB works, I just sense that there is the potential for conflict with a third party defragger which I'd sooner not risk.

I do use RB's own defragger on the snapshots though, especially after deleting snapshots as that tends to free up some space. Because of my semi-frozen system setup, defragging the system drive is much less important anyway.

Graham

 

sounds good but i prepare to do it manually and save it to my external HD since it eats a lot of space.

i'll leave only 3snapshot (clean install, Primary (working) snapshot and Primary backup)....the rest i'll save it to my external hd.

actually i never experience it yet and i never use yet chkdsk so i really don't experience that problem.

btw (Chris and netstar), how often you use your defrag-snapshot?....do you think it might create a problem if i will use windows defrag for my whole HDD?

sorry for this question, what do you mean by semi-frozen system? is that included in RB feautures?



Btw, i'm playing Window Media Center and trying to change play with the DVD...suddenly got BSOD. Reboot my system and use my previous snapshot problem is gone! This Rollback Rx is advisable to install specially when your OS is Vista.

Still Vista is buggy OS, so better to install reliable/good system restore software.

 

I do not manually defrag. I create and delete many snapshots so after 4 deletions or 4 creations it automatically defrags (which is the default if i am not mistaken). I and Rollback support do not recommend any type of defrag besides Rollbacks built in defragger. Not only does it really not do much but it may actually cause problems. Although soon you should be able to disable rollback run a defragger and then restart Rollback if all goes well with development.

He means he sets Rollback to restore the last snapshot he was using at reboot. Lets say you are working in your primary snapshot and you surf the wb and catch a virus or whatever as soon as you reboot it takes you to your primary snapshot again except the virus is gone because that snapshot was taken before the virus. Just make sure you have your work that you did after you vreated your primary saved somewhere else or you will lose it. Or you could use the keep these files unchanged option in Rollback settings.

I agree. But just remember to always back up your important snapshots just in case something goes wrong.

Thanks,

Chris