alternatives to firstDefense ISR

[urlwolf]

I own two licenses for firstDefense ISR.
Since I have moved to windows server 2008, they are not valid anymore; they ask for >$300 for a license.
I emailed support to see if I can upgrade. They didn't even bother answering.

Is there anything out there that does the same job, and doesn't cost a fortune for windows server?
Any alternative to take snapshots of your working install?

Thanks

[J-Mac]

I own two licenses for firstDefense ISR.
Since I have moved to windows server 2008, they are not valid anymore; they ask for >$300 for a license.
I emailed support to see if I can upgrade. They didn't even bother answering.

Is there anything out there that does the same job, and doesn't cost a fortune for windows server?
Any alternative to take snapshots of your working install?

Thanks

-urlwolf (April 10, 2009, 02:37 AM)

Horizon Data, right? I purchased FD ISR AND their alleged "Gold Support Plan". I never, ever received any response from them with support questions. A complete sham outfit. Personally I think the DC reviews for this product - which are very complimentary, and which also were written - I believe - when ISR was offered by a different developer should be revised to reflect the horrible nature of the current developer.

Sorry they got you too!

Jim

[urlwolf]

damn it!

[cthorpe]

I updated the disclaimer at the top of my review: https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=7189.0

I am very sorry you got burned by Horizon Data.  Perhaps try contacting the developer rather than the reseller.  The official forum for Leapfrog Software can be found here: http://www.wildersse...orumdisplay.php?f=84.  In particular, check out the links about Existing Customer Migration and new versions.  I do not know if you can take advantage of their offers as a Horizon Data customer, but it is worth a shot.

[cranioscopical]

damn it!

-urlwolf (April 10, 2009, 03:44 PM)

A while back now I had some really great help from the following chap when I had FD-ISR problems after it changed hands:
From my records,
Todd Lear
Leapfrog Software, Inc.
[email protected]

It might be worth your trying to reach him.

Try this topic, also: advice needed.....FirstDefense-ISR, ShadowProtect, ShadowUser, Rollback Rx???

[J-Mac]

IIRC, Leapfrog at one point had stepped back from this situation because over at the FD-ISR forums many long-time users were dissing the changes big time and I think Leapfrog was getting inundated with requests.

Darn, now I cannot even find that forum - looks like Horizon has a new forum as there are very few posts in it. The forum I was referring to was kind of odd looking - a relatively wide table on the left side with all their product links listed and the forum on the extreme right side. Hardly any room for posts; very narrow but long posts!

Maybe the crap has stopped flying as fast and furiously and Leapfrog has relented a bit. Can't blame them though since they aren't the cause of the users' angst.

My main problem was that the backup must be contained on the C: or system drive and my box has a relatively small system drive with very large data drives. (80 GB vs. 500 GB x 3, all internal). There is a feature that allows you to exclude certain directories from the backup, with a strong caveat about ensuring you properly backup the excluded data. I forget exactly what it was called now. Anyway, several of the directories I selected for such exclusion were not being excluded, and my system drive was getting way too full, causing problems. I requested support for that three times and never got one reply from them. Not going to spam filters either, as I capture all spam for review if necessary. They just were not responding, which was also evidenced by the multitude of other users who were getting the same silent treatment.

Thanks for editing the topic title, Carl.

Jim

Aha - memory loss took a short break and I remember the name of the feature now: anchors or anchor points, methinks. 

[urlwolf]

Thanks cranioscopical, mailed Todd.
If I get nothing back from them, time to start a boycott.
This is not cheap software...

[cranioscopical]

Thanks cranioscopical, mailed Todd.
If I get nothing back from them, time to start a boycott.
This is not cheap software...

-urlwolf (April 11, 2009, 11:46 AM)

Good luck, I hope you get some satisfaction!
Let us know, if you will -- there seem to be a few interested parties here.

[urlwolf]

Todd answered fast. He's good.
Unfortunately, no upgrade path, so I'd have to buy a license for server.
I'm looking into free alternatives, as this type of software doesn't come cheap.
Do you know any?

[cranioscopical]

Todd answered fast. He's good.
Unfortunately, no upgrade path, so I'd have to buy a license for server.
I'm looking into free alternatives, as this type of software doesn't come cheap.
Do you know any?

-urlwolf (April 12, 2009, 03:08 PM)

What a shame 

I don't personally know of free alternatives for what you want to do but I hope you find something.

[tinjaw]

Grrrrr. I can't find it. I remember there being a few wiki pages that compared FirstDefense, Returnil, Sandboxie, Deep Freeze, etc., but  can't find them now. Microsoft has SteadyState, but I doubt it works on Server 2008. I know it works on Vista and XP.

[PhilB66]

Grrrrr. I can't find it. I remember there being a few wiki pages that compared FirstDefense, Returnil, Sandboxie, Deep Freeze, etc., but  can't find them now. Microsoft has SteadyState, but I doubt it works on Server 2008. I know it works on Vista and XP.

-tinjaw (April 13, 2009, 08:44 AM)

I think you were looking for the wiki.castlecops pages, well they took them down.

[4wd]

NOTE: Only applicable to 32bit Windows XP/Vista, which possibly means it should work on 32bit versions of Home Server, Server 2003 and Server 2008.

There is a possible free alternative to these programs which I am using at the moment on my Acer Aspire One to save it's SSD, (which is only 8GB and rather slow), but it does mean some of your RAM is no longer available for program use.

Basically, you use Microsoft's own EWF, (Enhanced Write Filter), or FBWF, (File Based Write Filter), to redirect writes away from your system partition to a section of RAM.
Both filters are part of Microsoft's Windows XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007, which is a 131MB free download.

Once you have your system set the way you want, you activate the filter, (which one is dependent on the filesystem you're using, FAT32 or NTFS), all subsequent writes from the next reboot go to RAM.  Any subsequent reboots return the system to the state it was when EWF/FBWF was enabled.

My AAO has 1.5GB of RAM, 384MB has been allocated to EWF writes and the pagefile has been turned off, of course it doesn't run any really memory hungry apps like a desktop would but because all the writes now go to RAM it sure has sped it up a hell of a lot

There is also a couple of third-party utilities, (EWF and FBWF), available that allow you to:
- Enable and Disable the filter
- Commit any changes to the physical drive
- Commit changes and Disable
- Clear the last command

These commands are executed at shutdown/reboot - so if you choose to Commit Changes, when you shutdown the system any changes to the system drive are written from RAM to the physical HDD and will appear next reboot.

The EWF fully supports FAT32/NTFS and allows you to choose to send subsequent writes to either RAM or a separate HDD partition somewhere, (if you can't afford the RAM).
More info on it can be found here.

More info on the FBWF can be found here.

Info on the differences between them can be found here.

I think both filters work with Vista, the only problem being that they are most likely 32bit only.

Attached is instructions, (from MP3Car forums), for enabling FBWF on XP Pro and over at GranTuring you can find info on where to find and how to install EWF.

With EWF you can also implement HORM, (Hibernate Once, Resume Many), which can be found a little further down the GranTuring page above.

Anyway, it might not be suitable for what you want, (or even apply to the particular Windows OS you're using), but it does implement a similar concept to what Deep Freeze, Shadow Protect, etc, do without spending a lot - so maybe it will help someone else who has the requisite OS.

EDIT: It appears EWF does work with Vista as mentioned in this post from MP3Car.com.
        More info on installing EWF.

Added big NOTE at top.