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 Post subject: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 1:42 pm 
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Some of you know that I have sworn and lived by a program named FirstDefense-ISR for the past 10-12 years (I don't even remember exactly how long anymore). Just two weeks ago I FINALLY gave it up for the AX64 Time Machine program that I have posted about at the Haven: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=633

Wouldn't you know it, Raxco, the company that I originally purchased FirstDefense from, just reincarnated that excellent program under a different name InstantRecovery just days ago (different name but same original programmer).

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH :mad2:

Anyway, I personally am still using the new AX64 Time Machine program for the time being because it is so insanely fast (and for me has never failed, but than again, I've only used it for 2 weeks not 10-12 years). Yes, the new InstantRecovery is expensive (I HIGHLY recommend the business version for its versatility) but worth every penny. This 10-12 year old technology (ancient in computer terms) has still NEVER been duplicated and Raxco has an excellent reputation.

Acadia

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 8:20 pm 
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I never realized that First Defense was done by Raxco. Different program but I used to run PerfectDisk Defrag put out by them. That program worked well for me even though I have switched to Auslogic.

It would be nice if you could have the snapshots go to a different physical drive but that would defeat the instant recovery aspect as the snapshot would have to be copied back to the system drive. I do see that you can in fact store snapshots to a different drive but not for use as a re-boot restore.

I don't see where the price is all that high but would have to think about if it was worth it to me over a straight imaging program. One feature that I do like is the anchored files. Using that feature to cover My Documents, and any other folder that tends to change, you could use the freeze feature to go back to your basic snapshot without losing data. Of course you would have to make a new snapshot after a software install or Win Updates but I could easily see doing a clean install, all installs and updates, anchoring the necessary folders and using the freeze to reboot to the snapshot each boot with any new data added. Actually I'm not even sure if I would need the anchor on My Documents as I move my Libraries to a different partition.

Thanks for the info Acadia, looks interesting. The only thing that makes me cringe a little is the $14.00/year added cost for support and updates. I know it is only a $1.17/month but I tend to believe that purchased software should not include an added cost for support (Hear that Microsoft? ;) ) On the other hand I DO realize that, with piracy and such, the profit margin is not as high on purchased software as many think.

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:15 pm 
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Acadia...

FDISR vs Instant Recovery. Any difference?

Would you go after Instant Recovery if AX64 didn't exist?


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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:03 pm 
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I'd stick with AX64 even though it's still a bit feature limited. However, the developer is working on it and I think this piece of software really has great potential. Right now it can only backup the system partition but it does that job really well.

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 6:15 am 
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Smitty wrote:
Acadia...

FDISR vs Instant Recovery. Any difference?

Would you go after Instant Recovery if AX64 didn't exist?

Raxco appears to have added one or two more features to the new Instant Recovery but it/they are not features that I would probably ever need. The one that I can remember is that if your system fails to properly boot three times in a row, your system will automatically boot into the recovery snapshot, probably a nice feature for most people. Also, of course, Instant Recovery is compatible with Win7 and 8. I had to hack my master boot sector to get the old FirstDefense to work on my Win7. If for some reason both IR and AX64 ceased to exist I would happily return to FD since I have already done that hack to get it to work.

Like Manny I am going to use AX64 for the time being, its speed is truly addictive. By the way, Manny, are you using version 1.3.7 of AX64? That version has been extremely stable for just about everyone.

Acadia

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 10:02 am 
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Thanks for your reply, Acadia.

I've been using FDISR for over 9 years.
When I first learned of AX64 I almost jumped on it until I learned that I'd have
to give up Shadow Defense. Don't want to do that.
Using FDISR is plenty fast enough for me.
The only thing that takes a long time is in creating new snapshots and archives. Updating them just takes a few minutes.
Booting to a snap shot just less than a minute.
So, I'm staying with FSDISR.


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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:05 am 
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Smitty wrote:
So, I'm staying with FSDISR.

I don't blame you even for an instant, still possibly my all time favorite program, and yes, I still think about returning (I kept all of my old snapshots when I switched to AX64 just in case). The ONLY reason that I am now (for the time being) staying with AX64 is because with my solid-state-drive the speed of the hot restores have my head spinning.

By the way, Smitty, do you have your FirstDefense on XP or Vista, or did you do the hack to install it on Win7?

Acadia

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:41 am 
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Quote:

By the way, Smitty, do you have your FirstDefense on XP or Vista, or did you do the hack to install it on Win7?

Acadia


I've been using it on Win7 for 3 and a 1/2 years.


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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 12:05 pm 
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Smitty wrote:
I've been using it on Win7 for 3 and a 1/2 years.

:tup2:

I'm contemplating downloading a trail of the new version, InstantRecovery, and playing with it. I'll let you know if I do and what I think of it.

Acadia

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 1:12 pm 
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Acadia wrote:
By the way, Manny, are you using version 1.3.7 of AX64? That version has been extremely stable for just about everyone.

Acadia
I just updated to 1.3.7 a few days ago because of all the talk but the previous version was very stable for me.

I'm looking forward to setting up my SSD as the system drive. Every time I think I have time to do it something seems to come up. I'm just using it as a data drive at the moment but I bet it would be really quick with AX64. As for backup I also use Windows Home Server because you can never fully rely on one method for backing up.

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 1:37 pm 
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Manny Carvalho wrote:
... because you can never fully rely on one method for backing up.

Truer words have never been spoken. :happy62:

Acadia

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 4:06 pm 
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Couple of things

Jay. It really isn't Raxco. The original FDISR was done by Leapfrog Software, and there were 3 resellers. Raxco was a big supporter and actually has a financial in Leapfrog. Early users might remember when getting support you would often here "we will have to get with the developer" That was Leapfrog.

Leapfrog is also behind this latest version.

Are there difference between FDISR and the new program. One key thing I was told was the old FDISR had a vulnerability in that baddies could jump from one snapshot to another. That has been fixed.

Smitty. When you said you have to give up Shadow Defender. Did you really mean Defender or did you mean Shadowprotect.

If you mean Shadow Defender, I not sure whether they don't coexist or you just can't take snapshots while shadowed. I've never tested as with AX64, I don't need Shadow Defender. To compare:

SD. You go into shadow mode. Do what you want, except you can't reboot. When you are done, you exit Shadow mode.
AX64. You take a snapshot. Takes about the same time as going into shadow mode in SD. Do what you want, but now you can reboot. When you are done just restore the snapshot you made. Takes about a minute plus reboot. There is even a way you can sort of commit files if you don't want to lose them.


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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 9:58 pm 
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Peter2150 wrote:



Are there difference between FDISR and the new program. One key thing I was told was the old FDISR had a vulnerability in that baddies could jump from one snapshot to another. That has been fixed.

Smitty. When you said you have to give up Shadow Defender. Did you really mean Defender or did you mean Shadowprotect.

If you mean Shadow Defender, I not sure whether they don't coexist or you just can't take snapshots while shadowed. I've never tested as with AX64, I don't need Shadow Defender. To compare:

SD. You go into shadow mode. Do what you want, except you can't reboot. When you are done, you exit Shadow mode.
AX64. You take a snapshot. Takes about the same time as going into shadow mode in SD. Do what you want, but now you can reboot. When you are done just restore the snapshot you made. Takes about a minute plus reboot. There is even a way you can sort of commit files if you don't want to lose them.


I don't use Shadow Protect...I use Macrium Reflect.
I do use Shadow Defender which I learned at Wilders that it and AX64 don't play together.
Once in the Shadow Mode, I have to reboot to get out of it.
While in there, if I want to save something, I just save it to my second hard drive.
My "Primary Snapshot" only changes when I allow Windows updates and other applications updates or anything else I choose to add PRIOR to going into the Shadow Mode.

You said: "Are there difference between FDISR and the new program. One key thing I was told was the old FDISR had a vulnerability in that baddies could jump from one snapshot to another. That has been fixed."

That's interesting. Makes the new version more desirable.


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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 10:19 pm 
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Smitty wrote:

You said: "Are there difference between FDISR and the new program. One key thing I was told was the old FDISR had a vulnerability in that baddies could jump from one snapshot to another. That has been fixed."

That's interesting. Makes the new version more desirable.

Hmmmmm, interesting indeed.

Acadia

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 10:44 pm 
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Well maybe not yet. Did some testing on the new version tonight. To tired to post time details, BUT, after booting to the secondary snapshot, and doing an archive restore back to the primary, I was booting back to primary, and was treated to a non bootable system. It was inviting me to use the install disk and repair mode.

I originally intended to remove InstantRecovery before restoring the system back, but what the heck. I just popped in the AX64 recovery disk and did a restore. Bingo system back to normal.

Pete


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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:43 pm 
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I have a question on all this... For the AVERAGE, EVERYDAY USER what will this program do for them? Except for saving them 15 minutes of restore time what does this offer the novice over what Window's built imaging provides? OK, the user sets up a snapshot and sets up anchored files. Is the NORMAL user actually going to be able to make this all work without help or does it take someone that is savvy in the tech world to make all this work properly? Not putting anything down but just asking how one without ANY techy knowledge would fare with this software... I don't want to hear YOUR experience... I'd just like to hear about how you think that a person with very limited computer knowledge would do.

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 12:01 am 
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jaylach wrote:
I have a question on all this... For the AVERAGE, EVERYDAY USER what will this program do for them? Except for saving them 15 minutes of restore time what does this offer the novice over what Window's built imaging provides? OK, the user sets up a snapshot and sets up anchored files. Is the NORMAL user actually going to be able to make this all work without help or does it take someone that is savvy in the tech world to make all this work properly? Not putting anything down but just asking how one without ANY techy knowledge would fare with this software... I don't want to hear YOUR experience... I'd just like to hear about how you think that a person with very limited computer knowledge would do.


You are almost right. FDISR/IR is probably not for the average user near as much so as AX64. However I don't give high marks to the windows stuff either. When I got my first Win 7 machine, I wanted to take an image first thing. But the Win 7 stuff was not clear to me and I ended up not realizing I was taking a backup rather then an image. Wasn't clear to me at all.

But also lets be honest. A non techy user who isn't that interested in learning just won't be able to cope with anything that will get him out of trouble.

Pete


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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 5:43 am 
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Ok, being honest. When I first started using FirstDefense many, many years ago, I indeed had some trouble wrapping my mind around it. Raxco tech support was very helpful. The concept, the way this program worked, was so different than anything that I had ever used, or even used since. Yes, I think the average pc user will have trouble understanding it at first, heck, there are some folks at Wilders that still don't quite get the concept. It it just so hard to believe that one program can do so much, in fact, when I first read about it on Raxco about a decade ago, I simply did not believe it but I knew that Raxco had a good reputation so I tried it. Two weeks later I bought two licenses, one for me and one for GG.

For the average pc user there is no doubt that AX64 is the much, much easier program to use. In fact if you can't figure out how to use it then you should not be using a computer. The simplicity of AX64 is one of the things that makes me think the developer is a genius. Only smart people can make easy to use programs.

Based upon Peter's experience if I go back to FirstDefense, it will be the original FirstDefense which I have always used and found so darn reliable. But until AX64 gives me a reason to leave it, I probably won't.

Acadia

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 7:09 am 
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Lets face it, the average PC users has trouble with the concept of needing to back up in the first place.

So much in the new Instant Recovery is identical to the original FDISR, but clearly installing on a OEM install of Win7 x64 is brand new and the wrinkles need ironing.

Pete


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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 12:49 pm 
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I've been using Acronis for a few years now and the Windows offering when I got Windows 7 & 8, but I send them to external drives.

I have decided though not to bother updating Acronis anymore, been using it since version 8 and now have version 2013, but it's not really adding much to each new one.

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 12:59 pm 
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Honestly, Windows 7 backup is as clear as can be as to what it will do. Pretty clearly states the two options, Backup Your Files, and System Image.
Now if one did not know what a System Image was, then yes, you wouldn't understand it, and my clients do not know what a system image is
until I define it for them. (Even then they probably don't really get it, they only know it will save them in case of disaster.) System image is still there
and still works in 8.1, but you have to run it manually, whereas File History runs all the time.

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 1:01 pm 
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JoanA wrote:
I've been using Acronis for a few years now and the Windows offering when I got Windows 7 & 8, but I send them to external drives.

I have decided though not to bother updating Acronis anymore, been using it since version 8 and now have version 2013, but it's not really adding much to each new one.

Just so you're using something, Joan, like Peter said, most folks don't do anything, and like I have said many times, "Backing up is the single most important thing that you can do". The only advantage of the two programs that we are talking about in this thread is that they are usually faster (that is why they are called "instant recovery" type programs) plus usually allow for more flexibility.

But just keep backing up with whatever program you prefer, and in my opinion hopefully more than one. By the way what you are doing is correct, you DO want to keep your backups on externals drives; that's the best place to keep them for most folks.

Acadia

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 1:28 pm 
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A question to all of the users of the programs being discussed here:

What do you do in preparation of creating backups, system images, snapshots, etc.

Do you perform AV scans, malware scans or more or do you depend on those programs, or
yourself, to be kept clear of nasties?

I think I read that in AX64 you can do automatic updates every hour...you'd have to depend on your
anti-virus and anti-malware.

I do all those scans before using updating/creating in FDISR and Macrium Reflect.
For me it's just once a week.


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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 1:42 pm 
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Smitty wrote:

What do you do in preparation of creating backups, system images, snapshots, etc.


GOOD question, but you will get a different answer from every person. Me, I ALWAYS surf the Internet or open my email client in AT LEAST one sandbox or virtual machine, most of the time BOTH! Whenever I shutdown the sandbox and/or VM, which is quite often (I've created macros that help me speed this complicated process up), I feel very confident that my system is clean. Still, I have the usual anti-Virus and not-so-usual excellent HIP type programs to kill anything that might come in, even on my VirtualMachine.

So in short, I do nothing special to prepare for backing up/creating a new snapshot (and now with a solid-state-drive I no longer defrag). With AX64 I find myself making many more snapshots after even minor changes much more often because they are so quick. But this does not take anything away from FirstDefense which I will return to in a "New York minute" if AX64 starts to act silly.

Acadia

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 Post subject: Re: Life is funny
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:55 pm 
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Hi Smitty

Like Acadia, I don't do anything before backup. I don't rely on scanning software either. Once in a blue moon if I do scan, my machines always come up clean, so I backup, and image at will.

Pete


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