Toolwiz Time Freeze

I don't know for XP but on my Z68 Win7 system Rollback uses 80MB for its basic baseline snapshot (this was on a virgin Win7 install with just Windows. There were no 3rd party drivers and no Win updates or any apps installed when the initial baseline snapshot was taken).

I then added all my drivers (apart from nVidia) and took a new snapshot which is 875MB in size. I added the latest nVidia driver and took another snapshot, that was a whopping 1039MB, more than all the other drivers altogether. After that I added all my security apps and then I took another, that was 604MB.

Of course if you install games or large software suites on your protected drive, any subsequent snapshots will be much larger. For example, the snapshot containing my Assassin's Creed Brotherhood installation is 9609MB in size.

 

WOW!! That's what I was afraid of. Way too disk intensive for me.

On to Faronics DeepFreeze Standard . . . looks like they have a 1-yr subscription for $35.50. What happens after the year expires -- does the program stop working or are there just no more free upgrades?

 

Don't know about Faronics, tried it ages ago but never went back to it since Shadow Defender does the job much better IMO. I wouldn't use anything else for light virtualization protection.

I use Shadow Defender as well as Rollback RX. Rollback RX allows you to easily switch between different states of your protected drive in seconds, and undoes non-malicious system changes. You can also install and test different software safe in the knowledge that you won't have to uninstall them if you don't want to keep them: All it takes is a reboot and restoration of an older snapshot, and in a few seconds your protected disk is back exacly as it was at the moment you took the snapshot.

Shadow Defender on the other hand is my safety net against malicious software that Rollback will not be unable to withstand alone. Add Avast! free antivirus and Comodo Free HIPS/Firewall to the mix and you'll be sorted. Sandboxie, KeyScrambler, and MalwareBytes' AntiMalware are also good for a really paranoid mix.

Also remember this: For me it is always best to use a different partition or disk rather than C: for games or any large software suites. This way your future backups will take much less space and will be quicker to restore. I have a dedicated hard disk for all my games installs.

There's another benefit to this if your C: is a hard disk: Adding and removing games will eventually fragment your disk, and with snapshot software installed you can't defrag without unistalling the snapshot software first, and subsequently losing your snapshots. If you install all your games on a different disk you will be saving your hard disk from a lot of future fragmentation. Of course this is not really applicable to SSDs, in fact it is NOT recommended to defrag SSDs (Windows 7 should actually detect if your C: partition resides on an SSD and should automatically disable its defrag schedule for it).

I have also changed the paths for all my user folders to a different disk, this way any changes I make to the contents of my Favorites, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos folders are saved regardless of C: being in Shadow Mode or not. Again an added benefit to this is the fact that your future C: backups will take much less space as they won't contain large stuff like videos and music files. There are some malware that add their own Favorites entries though; so if you're using a partition other than C: for your Favorites folder, it's always wise to look out for any Favorite entries that you haven't added yourself. Another benefit to using another disk/partition for your user files is that any game settings and game saves that use those folders will be saved regardless if C: is on Shadow Mode or not.

All these options and much more are included on a Win7 setup guide I've written here:

http://thessdreview.com/Forums/software/2247.htm

Hope it helps!

 

Same setup here (great minds think alike)!

 

Thank you Scott! It always amazes me how many users (even experienced ones) can overloook the existence of such great light virtualization and snapshot apps that can fully undo so many software related problems and save us from a lot of extra work when bad things do happen.

I firmly believe that everyone should be using such solutions regardless of their level of computer competence. Working in the industry for the last 15 years I have seen so many users who have faced disasters and they still don't get it. Many users don't even know of something as basic as a backup, or they don't fully realize the necessity of having an up to date backup. I have also seen many users surfing the net in pure oblivion, without a proper firewall or AV software, or with expired AV protection.

Sometimes I despair at the ignorant idiocy of all those people who are hanging out there all exposed, ready to become daily fodder for malware writers and scamsters worldwide. When they get hit they then bitch & moan, despite the fact that the info is all out there at their disposal. People just don't bother to look for it and learn. We are a violent, stupid, unworthy species after all, we usually don't learn until we get burned, and some of us still don't learn even after that...

 

Many many users on this very forum,dont realize how easy it is to use a setup like mentioned here,they instead keep changing setups,bury themselves into the unknown,when it's soooo easy,but oh well,such is life.

 

You are so right Boost, it's dead-easy to learn from the collective experiences shared here and on many other places web-wide. Many people don't even bother to google basic stuff themselves, they just pop in and keep asking the same ultra-basic questions over and over again. It can get real tiresome, real quick. I'm pretty sure you'll agree that ignorance is NOT an excuse.

What I find most irritating is when you try to give them a dumbed-down, detailed answer based on computer principles that are non-debatable FACTS, and they still not get it. I used to teach in a computer college in the past, and I gave up because I realized that I have no patience for teaching: I just couldn't stand the blank stares I was getting when trying to describe even very basic stuff to people who couldn't compehend, or they just plainly didn't give a flying f*ck about what I was talking about.

 

So do I understand this right..TTF claims to have MBR protection, but in reality it does not? Has anyone told the developer? lol

 

It will take a while for them to get it right - IF they possess the coding talent to get it right of course...

Personally I'm fed up of all the software developers that claim crap like that without even testing their code on a TDSS rootkit first... Good ol' SD is still the way to go as far as I'm concerned.

 

Yup,I've seen NOTHING that compares to it. I've got a copy of ShadowDefender and it's one of the best pieces of software around-period.

 

But ShadowDefender ain't free.

 

Updates are free for one year but the sofware will run forever.
It's the same thing for Anti-Executable.

 

But we have also agreed that Shadow Defender will not work on SSDs. The reason it is working on your computers with SSDs, it is because you have Rollback Rx installed. For the TRIM to work properly, Rollback Rx puts your SSD in RAID array and therefore Shadow Defender works on your system.

Best regards,

KOR!

P.S. We have to be careful that luck has nothing to do with science!

 

You are right. It is the best for SSDs.

 

In life,nothing is free,sometimes you gotta pay to play.

 

I don't understand this, it's driving me nuts. How can it be that my brother runs SD without any problems on his Z68 system without Rollback? His system is definitely on AHCI mode with a Crucial M4. And he's not the only one, one of our fellow members here at Wilders (darray) has also used SD on an SSD without major problems. BTW, I don't know if daray is using AHCI or not. I have just PMed him for details. Here's his post:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2055419&postcount=5

 

Sorry...I don't use...also in the past...Deep Freeze. Currently I'm using SD and WTF, earlier only Returnil but I've tried such "gadget" like Virtual Ptotect...very...very small, really don't write changes to real system but I don't know how is its efficiency of protection.

 

BTW, Deray is saying that he had problems when exiting the Shadow Mode. Here is what he says:

The above is what I encountered too! Even on my wife's and son's laptops which both of them have hybrid hard disk, 8GB SSD on front and regular 500GB, it had the same similar problem.

Luck has nothing to do with science. Yes, I do believe in luck.

Has your brother existed the Shadow Mode yet?

Best regards,

KOR!

 

I noticed the probs daray has had with Wnnamp and Firefox. My bro's PC doesn't have Winamp or Firefox BTW. I have built his system myself last year and have seen it working many times on AHCI mode, coming in and out of shadow mode. I don't know what to suggest...

 

So, we only have one system and that is your brother's. However, six systems in my home don't work. Four on pure SSDs and two on hybrid SSDs. Same with Daray.

Best regards,

KOR!

P.S. How about a test?

Uninstall Rollback Rx from your computer. Come out of Shadow Mode. Then image your computer. And, then boot into Shadow Mode. Test is for 2 days without coming out of Shadow Mode, and then come out of Shadow Mode and see what you find.

 

I'm prety sure you're right King, but it bugs me so I will test this. First of all I'm gonna take a sector-by-sector backup of my whole disk including free space (so my existing snapshots will be preserved). Then I'll restore an older backup which was taken with only Windows and drivers freshly installed, with no additional software added at that point. I'll add SD to the mix and try it like that, with only Windows and SD on its own. I will let you know guys of the results

 

The above is excellent. However, you have two snapshots, one for WIN7 and one for WIN8. Restore to WIN7 when you uninstall Rollback Rx, so that you can test it in real environment with all the software and drivers installed. If you don't use Firefox, install it too and start using it for a day. Then boot into Shadow Mode for 2 days, and then come out of Shadow Mode. And, then see how both Firefox and Wimamp behave.

And, then report.

Best regards,

KOR!

P.S. Maybe, another test is to come out of Shadow Mode in your brother's computer. Install Firefox and Winamp. Use them for a day. Then boot into Shadow Mode for 2 days, and then come out of Shadow Mode. And, then see how both Firefox and Wimamp behave.

 

I'll try it both ways, take a sector-by-sector backup first then uninstall RX to my latest Win7 snapshot. Then I'll add Winamp and FF and see what happens. Finally I'll restore the older backup and try it with just SD and Windows.

Unfortunately my bro lives in Greece and I won't be visiting him until August.

 

Not good.
Just look at the bug section at the comodo forum and you will see it is a pretty bad and dangerous program to use.

 

Is timefreeze still ineffective with rootkit infections?.
As an earlier italian website has stated this program is unsuitable as protection against malware.
It seems to be a program more suited for software developers to test products rather than home users.
I never install programs blindly.i always do heavy research on a program before considering installing them.
I was under the impression that TTF is to protect from system modification and malware alike.but it seems this program is not fully protecting the end user.
A typical user will not find any use for this program in terms of protection.

Regards.