Shadow Protect: How do you use it?

If KR is all that good then so it must be possible

 

and here another one

 

I was thinking on incrementally imaging my data partition on another hard disk but have read comments about possible corruption of images (not referring directly to SP). Do you think SP is the right solution for storing data? I will evaluate SP v3 when it is finally out and it looks like it is going to be the imaging solution for my OS partition, but I have yet not decided if I will use SP on my data (docs, pics and videos) or just a replication (sync) app like the ones named on this thread.

Thanks.

 

OT for a question please. Does Karen's Replicator backup directly also to DVD? If not, thats OK, i use Nero and can always digitally record the final tally myself but just curious. I'm intriqued quite a bit over all this satisfaction with Karen's program since it's been around awhile and in fact i used to exchange emails with Karen back on Win 98 in expressing gratitude for her other efforts. I never dreamed she would make the limelight with this one. Nice job Karen.

Thanks for that info, i never considered that Enterprise groups were so into piracy as suggested. I was under the impression it was a minority of small groups who took up such shady ways on softwares.

I still can't help but think that StorageCraft WOULD indeed benefit, no matter how little SC's consideration to that end is being afforded right now, if they did ALSO make more serious provisions in the direction of home/end users too.

Not to mention Power Shadow and now perhaps Returnil. There is no monopoly in software programs, unless you build O/S's and your Microsoft

I don't mean any of this as some note of sarcasm, but rather think of the impression if SC "did" decide to accommadate home/end users as they have long expected now with ShadowProtect after a successful first run of it and the lucrative benefits from nice and regular quarterly returns on such an investment.

 

For me among others to get KR on my desktop is in the first place,it works as expected and then some more,also its completely unbloated just like a Leica M series,there is only functions in it what the average user really need,but if you dig deeper there are many opportunities to get the most out of more complex backup jobs as there are file filters and use of wildcards and more,so this KR will suits the novice as well the proff.and yes its free for home use.

 

While the enterprise is our primary target audience, we do a lot, I think, to accommodate home/end users. What makes you think that we don't? I'm curious to know where we (in your opinion) fall short there. We try to be as responsive as possible to any issues that come up, no matter who reports them (home user or enterprise user). Forum participants here can vouch for that fact. We add features all the time at the suggestion/wish of the home/end user, even though they may not benefit the enterprise customers (such as the recent addition of CD/DVD/Blu-ray burning capability). I don't see any developers of the other backup products participating in this forum so I think we're doing a remarkable amount to communicate with the home/end user crowd. Our products aren't perfect, and we do have issues now and then, but we do our best to respond to them, which is about as much as you can expect from anyone.

We won't give our stuff out for free, or on the cheap, because we simply can't survive as a company that way. On the same note we have to lock our stuff up so that it won't be stolen. I personally don't feel that these things mean that we're not accommodating the home/end user.


@HUUPI -> Thanks for the Karen's Replicator screen shots. It looks like it would indeed make for a very nice offsite replicator. Do you know what it uses as a transport when syncing data between two machines? Does it simply use SMB/CIFS (regular network shares) or can you set it up to use FTP or does it require software to be installed on both machines (indicating that perhaps it uses a proprietary/optimized protocol to transport data over the network). FYI - remote syncing (syncing contents across the network) would be rather slow with SMB/CIFS, particularly over a WAN. FTP would be a much better option. Some proprietary transports achieve much better performance than FTP.

 

I didn't test this, because I would never backup directly to DVD with an Image/File Backup software, even when it is possible.
I use DVD/CD's always as a second backup, but not for data, only for softwares.
For instance :
1. I have two DVD's with all my free and paid softwares
2. I have two DVD's with all ISO-files of the CD's, I use to install my computer
3. I have an extra copy of these CD's also, in case the original is worned out or gets damaged.
The ISO-file of each CD is an extra backup, so I can reproduce these CD's as many times I want, but only for PERSONAL use, I'm a good guy.
I did this because when something happens to these CD's, it will be very hard to get them back. I always handle them carefully, but accidents happen.

I also use DVD's to store movies, documentaries, ... because I don't want to keep them on harddisks, they take too much space.
Storing movies on harddisks is not a permanent solution, one day your harddisk will be full and then you have to buy another harddisk or copy them on DVD.
So I store all my movies on DVD and no where else. If I lose one, it's not a disaster, it's just annoying. I can always get them back.

I also tested all my cloned CD's and they work like the original one, including WinXPproSP2 and MS Office 2000.
I created all ISO-files with "Alcohol20%", which does a better job than "CDBurnerXP Pro".
Unfortunately, "Alcohol120%" requires also activation and I expect the same problems, like ShadowProtect.

I have to find a solution to avoid these begging emails for re-activation in the future. I hate begging.
If that Activation Code is hidden on the harddisk and I think it is, the chance is very big that crack writers will find it one day. As an application analyst, I would never have done it this way.

 

Agreed.

Acadia

 

I second that.

 

Erik. Watta guy. I feel so silly now to admit that i haven't even considered creating .ISO files to retain ALL my data/programs over the years. That's yet another very INTELLIGENT approach, and simple one i might add to boot. Sometimes i think i've lost perspective on many other USEFUL precautions available to Windows computing, and your reply (Thanks BTW), was another stellar suggestion as always.

It's obvious to me now that too much time devoted to spyware/virus removal & research efforts definitely has cheated me in some respects, from accummalating the FULL aspects of what's available to preserve & conserve my valuable data as well as discovering other matters still to be explored in Windows Systems.

You are a True Apps Analyst

Thanks Again
EASTER

 

Erik, Code can be hidden everywhere,a big Vendor used to put there "secret" somewhere on the Video card !

 

That could be true, but most softwares are cracked due to hidden info on the harddisk itself.
I'm not 100% sure if SP has a hidden Activation Code (Machine ID), but StorageCraft has the Machine ID of each customer and they have to compare it with something on the customer's harddisk.
As long the customer doesn't format or zeroes his harddisk, he probably can re-install SP as many times he wants, until he reaches the limit of the counter.

I don't know what will happen if he formats or zeroes his harddisk. I'm afraid that he will have an activation problem, because SP will create another Machine ID, that won't match with the Machine ID stored by StorageCraft and StorageCraft will consider this wrongly as a case of piracy.

In fact all these software companies, including M$, moved all activation problems to the USER. The users are the true victims of activation, not the companies.

If a software company wants to do it right, they have to store the real hardware information of one or more components of each customer in their own customer's database.
Can you imagine if M$ would store that information of 600+ million computers or more in their own customer's database. That is a big volume.
That's why M$ stores that info in the file WPA.DBL/WPA.BAK on the customer's harddisk and when something happens to these files, the user will have an activation problem.
All these activations are based on that and that's why they are so vulnerable at least for the customers.

 

Maybe its not reasonable but if you copy this WPA.DBL/WPA.BAK file to a save location ,then if you abuse this file for whatever reason you can copy it back,let it overwrite the old file ?

 

I did this in the past, even when the activation of my WinXPproSP2 was still working properly and based on a published procedure on the net.

1. First I copied WPA.DBL/WPA.BAK on a diskette of my actual Windows.
2. Then I installed Windows from scratch.
3. Then I renamed the new WPA.DBL/WPA.BAK.
3. Then I copied the old WPA.DBL/WPA.BAK from diskette to my harddisk.
But that didn't work, because Windows kept on asking for activation again.
Maybe in some situation it will work, but not in my case and I tried it already two time.

Now, I can't activate anymore, because M$ counts your activation, even when the hardware is the same. I couldn't believe my eyes.
I still have to call M$ in Brussels.

I think the only safe way to avoid this in the future is to make an image of a fresh installed and ACTIVATED Windows and use that image, if you want to re-install Windows from scratch.
I wanted to make that image during re-installation of Windows in September, but I'm TOO LATE.

 

I agree with you that an image is probably the only way to avoid activation problems and that will solve my activation problem with Windows also.
Once M$ in Brussels re-activates my WinXPproSP2, I will keep an image of an activated Windows and use that image, each time I want to re-install my computer from scratch on a zeroed harddisk. I can do the same for FDISR-archives.
But that's not the way I wanted. I just have to learn how to live with these annoying activations and take my precautions in the future. I'm certainly not happy with this.

 

None of us are ever completely happy with these pc thingies and that's the way that it will always be, that's life and human nature.

Acadia

 

Completely? Even with all of the software?

Acadia

 

besafe: To answer your original Q, I use mainly use SP right before and right after MS's update Tuesday. Then if an update messes things up, I can revert back. I will also do images when I am testing new software, but this is a rare thing. So far, this basic setup has worked great for me...

 

The problem right now with StorageCraft is that they are taking the same business approach as Lavasoft moved into, in focusing strictly on Enterprise & Corporate environments specifically at the expense of perhaps losing reputation from the rest of the global Home/End Users that are not in their Target Audience so-to-speak, And now look at how very Lowly Lavasoft has sunk into the murky depths of near oblivion not to be taken seriously, perhaps never again to redeem themselve in the eyes or hearts of the multitude millions of global users who once catapulted them to their once lofty positions.

Theres a very valuable lesson right there that SC had better pay close attention to rather then discounting or partitioning, for lack of a better term, their target audience to a single entity. That is a remedy for further diaster far worse than some piracy they've experienced in the past IMHO.

 

That really depends on just how much saturation you distribute your product within reasonable reach of this vast global spectrum of Home users.

Time will no doubt dictate the final outcome. The fast big Corporate dollars are natuarally beneficial in the short run of course but in order to stand the test of time and reputation over the long haul, the most superior & successful businesses "expand" their boundaries to ALL markets/audience and not just to some select few for the quick profit. Their model is a catch up plan to make up for lost revenue and so Corporate/Enterprise is the lift they are expecting to quickly make up ground, but then what.

And then what about the new developments yet to come into play? Competition is fierce and from somes standpoint the MORE quantity you sell the more you stand to reap the quantity of those benefits.

It's called patience.

And those who practice it are still very much in this game of chance and are doing even better than before.

 

A big bank in Belgium uses Norton AntiVirus on their PC's, so many of their employees also use NAV at home and these home users convince their friends to buy it too.
After a major outbreak of a virus, the news on TV warns people with yellow NAV boxes in the background.

Home users have jobs at companies, that use ShadowProtect as backup system, so home users want also ShadowProtect, because they know it's reliable and they spread the word.
Don't underestimate the impact of the home user.