Rollback Software

I discontinued using Windows Restore some time ago because of the inconsistency of the restore points; it seemed that it was a hit and miss game of whether the restore points would be there or not. I recently downloaded Comodo Time Machine but before I install would like to ask for feedback from users of the program. I have seen quite a bit of information regarding Rollback RX, EAZ Fix, and GoBack but basically aren't they all about the same. I do backup regularly with Paragon Backup and Restore but believe it would be somewhat less time consuming using a roll back program in certain situations. I guess I am asking whether or not the concensus would be to go ahead and install the program or not. And, if not then why. Additionally, will I experience any difficulty with utilizing Comodo Time Machine in conjunction with Paragon Backup and Restore. As always I appreciate all replies and would thank you in advance.

John

 

I have not used CTM but have used GoBack and RollBack Rx. CTM and RollBack are very different from GoBack. Much faster and the snapshots take up way less room. I stopped using GoBack a few years ago and have been using RollBack Rx for about a year now. It is excellent. Snapshots take under 2 seconds to create and full restores take a bit longer than a normal reboot of the PC.

As to using one of the rollback programs with Paragon there is one important thing you should be aware of. If you image with RollBack installed you must do a full sector by sector image or when you do a restore you will have a problem with the Master Boot Record. The MBR can be easily fixed via various methods but why add extra work if you can avoid it.

What I do is use RollBack Rxs companion imaging program weekly and then once a month I uninstall Rx do my regular PC maintenance (defrag, clean-up etc) and then create an image with Paragon. Once this has been done I reinstall Rx. The idea of periodically un-installing the rollback program makes sense as you should not defrag your drive with the rollback software installed so it makes sense to do this and create an image at the same time. It takes a bit of time but not so much that its an issue for me.

I can recommend RollBack Rx as I have used it for testing software as well as recovering from PC issues quite a few numbers of times over the past year and it has worked flawlessly. Its fast, efficient, and does not disrupt my work flow at all. I give it 5 stars.

 

Well it won't be long until you get the "Do a search, there have been extensive threads on this topic" answer. I finished an AyRecovery one year license at the end of December and have been using CTM since 1/4. I can honestly say that I have had "0" problems with either on the XP desktop nor on a Vista laptop. They have also bailed me out, in the time it takes to boot, numerous times during the past 14 months. I still store images on an external HD with Norton Ghost and Paragon and did a restore from a Paragon backup stored on DVDs after I removed AyR. On these forums, folks who know a lot more about these things than I do, suggest to make sector by sector or raw images. I haven't tried it, but my my theory is that the boot restore disks that the image programs create alter the boot order, so there wouldn't be a conflict with the snapshot software loading first or you could bypass them by entering the BIOS manually and then do an image restore. Like I said though, I've only done it after uninstalling AyR. The other prevalent theme are problems with snapshot programs. Has anyone ever gone to Acronis, Paragon or other image forums and seen the issues? Again, this is just my opinion, but I suspect there are not anymore compatibility issues with CTM than with any other software. I say go for it but don't blame me if something does go wrong! lol

 

CTM is great I haven't had any problems with it at all. I use it mostly on an old XP box that I use for various experiments and testing. Rollback RX is very similar and a good program although it is commercial but as for Eaz-Fix and theo other one I havent had much experience. I used Eaz-Fix for about a week and when I uninstalled it rendered my computer unable to boot, but no big deal I am sure it is a great program to.

 

If you can get CTM to install in your computer, it does work good. I tried it on 4 computers (all xp) it installed on 2 computers and failed to install in 2 more. On one computer I did have a couple of BSOD's, but I couldn't pinpoint it to CTM, though when I removed CTM I haven't had anymore BSOD's. The final computer with CTM never had any problems with it.
It does remove cleanly without doing any damage to your system. So if you try it, it probably won't do any harm to your system.

My prognosis for CTM is that it wasn't ready for primetime. I never encountered a program that would fail to install even after numerous tries. Some of the errors are noted in the CTM forums without any fixes. If you have multiple drives in your computer you might run into installation problems. The default is to protect all your drives, if one of the drives is not up to CTM specs it will halt the installation.

 

If you go to the RollBack Rx publishers web-site and look into the FAQ section (I think) you are told not to use any 3rd party imaging programs when RX is installed at all. Folks on this forum however have indicated that they routinely do sector by sector images and they are not having any problems restoring. They also point out that its not a good idea to do other than sector by sector images.

Personally I have not had any experience doing this one way or another as I always uninstall RX before imaging with 3rd party imaging programs.

Also, I am talking about RX because that is what I am using and have never tried CTM. I bought RX before I heard about CTM but probably would have gone with RX anyway. I kinda like the fact that I have access to tech support etc and that the program development is supported by a subscription base. But thats just me.

 

Hi

The singlemost issue u have to deal with here is this. Its OK everyone telling u that CTM is a fine product and it works for them, its if u have a problem with it.

I can say that CTM is a good product as good as if not better than the others mentioned in this thread. But I did have a problem and I did not understand about the difficulties of imaging with CTM installed. It is not as easy to image with any Rollback type software, and if u have a large installation to image the resulting file will be enormous and very time consuming to achieve, because you are imaging everything including empty space (Sector by Sector)

Forthis reason I will not use Rollback type products, I use a good good imaging program which is a bit inconvenient but virtually guarantees when you need help most - you get it.

Terry

 

I've used Eaz-Fix and CTM and came to the conclusion that I really did not need the snapshots as much as I needed a dependable image maker. Being able to defrag when and what I wanted, move programs around on the hard drive via UltimateDefrag and defragging the Windows system files on reboot won out. Macrium Reflect fills the bill right now. I also use the Acronis rescue CD on occasion for "cold imaging". Concerning the rollbacks, I had a little problem with CTM but Eaz-Fix worked as advertised.

SourMilk out

 

This has all been discussed and rehashed in this forum ad nauseum...

 

Hi Aaron Here

Agree with ur last post, BUT, people come and people go, and people prefer to post their current thoughts/problems rather than research the archives.

Thats life, thats why u can use the ad nauseum epithet.

Terry

 

Indeed, and I found this thread most interesting.

Acadia

 

You've assumed that these people are lazy.

That's why I'll choose not to reply and ask them to search in this forum.

 

Hi Nanana1

You can choose not to reply and to ask them to search the forum, that is your right, however I would be appreciative if you would not tell the the world what I have assumed. How can you know what I have and have not assumed, that is unless you have some psychic power?

I can remember being a newbie on this forum, it was a whole new wide world. I knew nothing, I asked stupid questions because I did not know the ropes. Some forgave me my ignorances, other gave smart ass replies............

That is why my view is perhaps a little more tolerant than some, in deference to those who understood my early difficulties.

Terry

 

Hi All

One reason for posting here is that often you can pickup information that might not just be picked up on a search.

My response to the guy who wanted information on Comodo Time Machine is currently to be very wary, and to go to the Comodo CTM forum. There are reported problems in some cases of the latest version "Trashing hard drives". Whether this is true or not needs some investigation and perhaps not rushing in to installing it.

Terry

 

Another reason why I sometimes need to see the same information repeated a year or so apart is because my over 50 brain is so darn forgetful!

Acadia

 

And, things and apps change over time. What was valid and useful a year ago may now be invalid and potentially disasterous.

The best suggestion here, apart from getting an idea of what's available, is to check the forums on the Vendor's site unless, like Leapfrog, the forum is here on Wilder's.

I use FD-ISR, see the forum section above.
I use Partition Commander for full HDD to HDD instantly bootable backup copies, see the forum on Avanquest.com.

Good hunting

 

CTM is free and works great

 

I am one of those that had trouble with CTM. Uninstalling it resulted in a trashed MBR. I tried two different versions, same thing happened both times. I would advise anyone trying it to have a good disk image ready, you will probably need it! I currently use AyRecovery and have had no issues with uninstallation.

 

Is First Defense-ISR no longer being produced by the publisher? -- I can't seem to locate it on their site

 

ISR is in the history books it appears and has been replaced with "Rescue" which is a severely dumbed down version of ISR.

You can only make "1 snapshot" and "No Archives"

 

This data copying/cloning technology of FD doesn't really make sense with these limitations.
The great ability to use multiple OS is gone, which was the real advantage over Rollback software.
So there is not much more left than even Baseline Shield or Drive Vaccine offer - a baseline and a snapshot.
It's pathetic.

Cheers

 

I don't even see "Rescue" on their site. Actually, I guess there is reference to it, but it doesn't go anywhere.

 

Is there just a fairly simple, but more comprehensive alternative to Windows XP's Restore Point option -- without being too involved or complicated?

 

I see you found the Rescue forum and if that's all you want then Rescue would be a good choice .

 

Hi, this program from farstone has a rollback feature.
http://www.farstone.com/software/totalrecovery-pro.php

Basicly you pre determine how much hard drive space you want it to use for the snapshot storage space. Snapshots can be taken manually or set automatically to as little as every 15 minutes.

Hope this helps