The unofficial Shadow Defender Support Thread.

@sdmod
I understand. I support your sentiment fully.

 

@ sdmod:
Indeed, very well written your posting #2950.

 

Thanks Peter 123 and PIInfinity, your comments are much appreciated.

Patrick

 

Patrick's remarks are spot-on, but I would ask those of you who do appreciate his efforts to join and support the Official SD Forum!

TS

 

Yes I agree to it.. Since SD is a one man show and that particular one man needs to be active if not everyday then at-least once a week.. Can't expect more, if he has some problem...
I've had problems and posted there in the forum and "Patrik" "The Shadow" and others tried to help me out with the new versions but couldn't do much so I turned to older version.. In such cases the developer himself is very much knowing and could be helpful of what went wrong...
I'd say that if Tony can't give he's moderate time for the same then he should consider an equivalent side kick for help and address the difficulties...
Those paying or willing to purchase (eg. me) will stop and think back if considering a purchase is really worth it where in the future of the product is unknown...

 

Patrick, you continue to Champion Shadow Defender endlessly of which you far exceed expectations & accurately provide excellent support bordering on you being the developer yourself. Just saying. Appreciate all your tenacity and fierce promotion that's kept all our interest and satisfaction in Shadow Defender continuing at a steady peak.

We'll just keep sticking with you during however long it takes Tony to finally break his silence when releasing the next new update.

I expect he realizes we will never relent in our vigil of while watching and waiting for official announcements to land reports and releases your way, that we will continue to group around you and make your devotion worth every moment and effort that you put into it for all of us.

Easter

 

Thanks Easter, your kind words are much appreciated
Recently I've written to Tony from different email addresses just in case there are problems with particular emails but still nothing.
It's crossed my mind that maybe Tony just doesn't like me?
I get the feeling that it's a personal choice rather than a glitch in a system.
It's the strangest thing and has become frustrating and disconcerting over the years.
I know that Shadow Defender is near optimum development and I hope that the final few steps are taken to round off this classic software.
The thing is, Tony knows about this communication problem, I've been explicit over time and not minced words about how important good interactive communication is in the successful development of a software like this.
On the one hand he gives away hundreds of copies of Shadow Defender via a usurper supposedly to try to generate interest but when interest is shown is not available and then doesn't post to his own forum. I don't get it!
There is something fundamentally wrong and it irritates me that I can't put my finger on what it is. Every time there is a new release there is a little buzz on the forum that makes it worth while. That is my personal pleasure and what I get out of it. I'm not a developer by any means nor am I technically minded but I enjoy my input, just little things like "Shadow Defender The way to a safer world" was my idea to change it from what it was originally "Shadow Defender The way to a safe world"
Members and users being able to make these little inputs is important and makes the development a living and human thing which can celebrated. It's true (as seen in Isso's development) that a successful interactive relationship with users can be a hard horse to ride but it is a good horse if you can stay on it and it will faithfully take you to where you want to go if you just take care of it.

 

@sdmod:
Meaning no disrespect, and this is not intended as a flame, but is it time to put SD and 'Tony' mystery to bed, with a nice RIP cross over the whole matter...and just to walk away. period. And then see what happens under it's own merits without the free publicity and 'propping up' that Wilder's posters gives it!

Quite frankly, without Wilder's I would not have heard of Shadow Defender....And I wonder....without Wilder's would SD just have been some back-water app' unknown outside the Orient?

Without this thread by Cutting_Edgetech would SD just have died a natural death after "Tony" 'disappeared?'

And, frankly, although a user of SD, I don't rank it as God's answer to malware-free computing that I might, tongue-in-cheek, subscribe to, say, Defense Wall.

Taken together, I think 'Tony' [or the whole back room boys at Beiing Hackers Uni who are all called Bruce opps, Tony] have done a wonderful job of reverse psychology on Wilder's posters to gain exposure.

I'm reaching the point I would rather not use it at all, no matter if God herself opened the clouds and directed me to!

I don't have the respect for the developer, as a personality or company, that I have for others (can you respect the unknowable?)....and over and over again that has been the criteria for adoption referenced here in Wilder's.

This is my first and hopefully my last major rant at Wilder's...bring on the abuse if you must!

feandur!

 

To Feandur
No offence taken
Shadow Defender is a pet app for me, I fell in love with it the first time I used it, I still rate it highly and use it often. I admit to being a bit of a fanboy for this sort of concise utilitarian program and I would like to see it regain the status that it enjoyed at one time as a bulletproof app and then rest on it's Laurels. I always knew that it was not going to be one of those world changing apps but it has keen niche interest but there is nothing quite like it. The two apps that I use with XP sp3 which suit my tastes and that I wouldn't like to live without, are Sandboxie 3.46 and Shadow Defender 1.1.0.325. The reason that I like those two versions is that I feel that those versions were when the software was at it's succinct and utilitarian best for my tastes and system. I would love to see a new version of SD as concise as Shadow Defender 1.1.0325 that was just very, very, secure, full stop.

 

Dear Feandur,

Well said and I couldn't have said it any better. Tony's treatment of SDMOD is the main reason I have moved away from this program. Another being on the latest Windows it is not as good as it is hyped to be. In fact, on two of my machines it destroyed the Task Scheduler, which no one on this forum was able to help me to fix the problem, short of re-installing Windows 7 again.

If one looks at the very first page, one will find my post #8 being a fan boy, since then I have moved on.

Best regards.

Mohamed

 

Dearest Patrick,

Windows XP was obsolete long time ago. Then I moved on to Windows Vista. Windows 7, Windows 8 and now Windows 8.1.

Tony needs to wake up and smell the roses and give the due respect where it is well deserved.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

I don't mind admitting i am a SD fanboy but more then that. Like the previous member just posted, i used version 3.46 on XP a long time like most and i even tested it with dreaded MBR destructors and besides everything else it's proven to be shockingly solid, stable, and remarkably reliable far surpassing all expectations imagined.

I am eternally grateful it didn't stop like many XP apps for 32bit but performs every bit as flawless also now on Windows 8 64bits not to mention the new improvement of committing changes to the registry.

Unlike almost ever other app of it's kind with the exception of Sandboxie and couple that with SD's amazing flexibility in compatibility with every other security software alive, i can safely say Shadow Defender is never hung once or blue/black screened me ever in all this time.

That says a lot to me in how very efficient and well coded this unique virtualization app is proven itself to be and deserves all the attention it still enjoys and the popularity standing on it's own merits alone.

Regards Easter

 

Patrick's frustration is certainly understandable, as is Feandur's 'requiem', but regardless of Tony's problems SD has simply become my preferred way of computing. I did not abandon SD during Tony's 2 - 3 year disappearance, so I am not about to do so now.

Tony's lack of participation in this forum or the Official SD Forum is (obviously) very disappointing, but nevertheless I will continue to use SD because imho it is the very best of the 'LV breed' and especially since it is being developed further and supported (via direct email).

TS

 

Hi Easter,

I see your main program is AX64. Are AX64 and SD compatible with each other?

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Hi Mohamed,

I can tell you categorically that they are most definitely incompatible! With concurrent use of the two programs, AX64 does not impair SD operations, but Shadow Mode totally messes up AXtrack (AX64's sector-tracking mechanism)!

TS

 

Greetings Aladdin

For me it's been compatible in that i run SD strictly on-demand only WITHOUT AX64 auto incrementals engaged (manual backups only) and with that enjoy not having to choose between the two.

Regards Easter

 

Thank you Easter for your prompt reply!

Regards,

 

Hi Easter,

I'm sorry to have to tell you that if you continue to use SD along with AX64, (regardless of auto-backup or manual-backup) AX64 incrementals will either become full backups or in the worst case, will be corrupted!!!

TS

 

Dear TS,

Yes, I saw your posts in AX64 thread and Isso's response to it too!

I cannot live without AX64 snapshots. But with Windows 8.1 it is incompatible, so I had to uninstall it. Waiting for the fix. I am afraid of trying SD again, as it thoroughly trashed my computers in the past.

Is SD compatible with Windows 8.1?

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Hi again Mohamed,

With the caveat that I decided not to upgrade to Win8 (I prefer W7), here are Tony's latest version notations:

TS

 

Thanks TS,

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

Greets The Shadow

I don't ignore or deny that potential issue does exist but so far for me on standard windows 8 i not found my AX64 backups corrupted, at least not yet. I run SD far more then AX64 backups so i been trying to keep a safe range between making my AX64 backups only on occasion and avoid (if possible) that issue where they can clash and thus tarnish my AX64 backups i store in safe keeping. I am very aware of the dirty bit conflict proven earlier in our discussions and results here due to the coding mismatch between them.

Regards Easter

 

I'll continue to use .325 as long as my XP rig holds out. After that...?

Regardless, Patrick has always shown himself to be one of the good guys in my book and for that I will always be grateful. He's been a tireless champion.

 

Easter,

I would heed TS' remarks (as I found out when attempting to restore my AX64 snaps)! As a fellow DS user, I would suggest returning to it...

Cruise

 

I completely understand the caution you mention but i run into similar can't-work scenarios before and found it takes exhausting all tries before throwing in the towel. Sometimes just like with high level scientific experiments solutions or work arounds can and do surface completely by accident.

I'm certain as AX64 and Real Copy continue to be rewritten and tested that at some point this issue will eventually be resolved in time. It's already been accepted as worth examining more in depth.

I do welcome your express of concern of the risk but i always been a risk taker especially when a challenge of this nature is already been dismissed as unattainable by normal means.

Regards Easter