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Mini-Review of FirstDefense-ISR UPDATED as of 4/10/09

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urlwolf:
Looks like EAZ FIX and rollback RX are the same thing:
http://forums.techguy.org/all-other-software/493689-how-eaz-fix-pro-rollback.html

Hmm... confusing.

And here is a long forum discussion about rollback:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=119215

There seems to be yet another contender, restoreit:
http://www.farstone.com/software/restoreit.htm

It seems that restoreit gets good reviews; does an independent partition. However, it doesn't like hard reboots, i.e., holding down the power button to shut down a system that is frozen.

All these apps look a bit risky to me...

You can get 50% off with rollback right now... codes everywhere since the people reviewing it at download.com get that as a reward.

people seems to be liking rollback:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=681053&postcount=72

However, its installation depends on your hardware so license issues (what if you change your HD?) arise.

They have an active forum and a liveChat that seems to work well.

I highly recommend reading the wilder forums thread to anyone interested in buying one of these two programs.

I'm currently undecided. Please post your experiences here...

AdIyhc:
Urlwolf,

Uninstall works perfectly for FD-ISR. You can keep the snapshots after you uninstall.
Usually, Raxco's version will be a few weeks later after Leapfrog release.

This is how I use FD-ISR:

- Gaming Snapshot
I keep everything to a minimal. Since I play games offline, no AV, no real time monitor, etc. My snapshot size is only 1.5 gb after compression.

- Backup Snapshot
If the main snapshot gets screwed, I use this backup to recover.

- Main Snapshot
This is the snapshot I use for everything else. Surfing, BetaTesting, Work, etc.
I always backup before installing new software/updates. Backup takes about 1 min for me.

- Guest Snapshot
Everything locked down. :D

I don't think RestoreIT can let you have many different scenarios to work with.
Rollback Rx made me format my harddisk with their early version. After that, no more Rollback for me.

I recommend FD-ISR. :D You can trial it first since install/uninstall works.

cthorpe:
You can get 50% off with rollback right now... codes everywhere since the people reviewing it at download.com get that as a reward.

people seems to be liking rollback:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=681053&postcount=72
-urlwolf (February 12, 2007, 01:16 PM)
--- End quote ---

I mentioned the discount for reviews of rollback in my original mini-review.  It really makes me question all the good comments I have read about the program since I know that the company was essentially paying for press.

cranioscopical:
Two things about FD-ISR, which I intend to purchase.

1) I had no luck persuading those I contacted at Raxco that I might merit a discount. (c'est la vie).  They were very pleasant but not willing to bend.

2) Acording to Raxco, one can't upgrade to VISTA with the current version installed.  No big deal since it uninstalls readily.  A VISTA version is expected soon, and I was trying to hold out for that, so that my premium for "Upgrade protection" wouldn't be 'used up' immediately.  I think I'll probably just buy a copy and install it now, anyway, since I don't plan on putting VISTA on my current machine.  Anyone buying FD-ISR right now, and also planning to move to VISTA, would be well advised to take the "Upgrade protection" option.

cthorpe:
It's too bad that you can't get a discount from them.  Don't know how I managed it when I did.  Must have gotten the right rep on the phone.  I wish I could remember who it was who gave me the discount, but I can't.

Btw, for ISR fun, here's a little something I cooked up:

Put your ISR snapshot name on your desktop

What you need:
BGInfo: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Miscellaneous/BgInfo.mspx

Optional goodness:
Hidden Start: http://www.ntwind.com/software/utilities/hstart.html

Put hstart somewhere in your path, and BGInfo somewhere convienient.  Run BGInfo and set it up to your liking, but before you exit it, add a custom field called FDISR like this:
Mini-Review of FirstDefense-ISR UPDATED as of 4/10/09
Then save your config to a file called snap.bgi in the same folder as BGInfo

write this batch file:


--- ---c:\$ISR\$APP\isrcontrol list | find "*" > snapshot.txt
if ERRORLEVEL==1 c:\$ISR\$APP\isrcontrol list | find "#" > snapshot.txt
Bginfo.exe snap.bgi /TIMER:0

The if section deals with Frozen snapshots.  Frozen snaps are indicated with a # when listing, and non-frozen snaps are indicated with an *

Put a shortcut to the batch file in your startup folder or put it in your registry.  If you really want it to rock, use Hidden Start to avoid having the console window popup (I have the following in my registry)
hstart /NOWINDOW /D="C:\$ISR\$APP\Batch" "C:\$ISR\$APP\Batch\snapshot.bat"

The /D part tells it the working directory for the batch file.
I just happen to have a couple of ISR batch files in a directory under \$ISR\$APP\Batch for safe keeping since the $ISR folder persists across snapshots.

Reboot your computer

Behold, the snapshot name goodness:
Mini-Review of FirstDefense-ISR UPDATED as of 4/10/09


Other cool batch file tricks:

Hands Free duplication of a snapshot:

--- ---set times=%time%
set dates=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd COPY "Alpha" "Beta"
set timec=%time%
set datec=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd DESC "Beta" "Copy of Alpha.  Started at %times% on %dates%; Completed at %timec% on %datec%."
set times=%time%
set dates=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd COPY "Beta" "Delta"
set timec=%time%
set datec=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd DESC "Delta" "Copy of Alpha.  Started at %times% on %dates%; Completed at %timec% on %datec%."
set times=%time%
set dates=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd COPY "Beta" "Gamma"
set timec=%time%
set datec=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd DESC "Gamma" "Copy of Alpha.  Started at %times% on %dates%; Completed at %timec% on %datec%."
set times=%time%
set dates=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd COPY "Beta" "Iota"
set timec=%time%
set datec=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd DESC "Iota" "Copy of Alpha.  Started at %times% on %dates%; Completed at %timec% on %datec%."
set times=%time%
set dates=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd COPY "Beta" "Kappa"
set timec=%time%
set datec=%date%
C:\$ISR\$APP\isrcmd DESC "Kappa" "Copy of Alpha.  Started at %times% on %dates%; Completed at %timec% on %datec%."

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