AX64 - IMHO this is a real winner!

[clubhouse]

The other huge advantage of AX64 is the fact that the lead developer is VERY active on Wilders and answers any and all questions about AX64 and takes on board any ideas for further development. I actually bought AX64 and truly believe its gonna get even better than it is now.

I tried rollbackrx a few years ago...fantastic until it decides to crash at boot up and theres now way to get back into your system!!.....The snapshots of AX64 are stored on an external HDD, no worries there.

[Cyberboom]

@ locoJoe

Thanks for info ..

I like your view points :)

[smallhagrid]

Hi Folks.

Great, positive info about this app locoJoe !!

I find after reading about it and viewing their site, tour, etc - that I have questions and maybe someone here knows the answers ???

I've been using Faststone Driveclone 5 (it was a very good version) and it has 2 features which I value greatly:

- Hardware independent restore, so if your PC kraps out as mine just did, your image will restore & boot on different h/w.

- A pre-OS environment that can restore an image or snapshot.

- Images can be saved anyplace on or off the system HDD, snapshots are on the HDD and hidden.

Does AX64 have these things at all ??

Oddly Faststone crippled the newer versions (it's at v9.x now) and those lack the snapshot feature completely.

In the past I used Acronis B&R along with a small, bootable primary partition and BartPE to do a restore if I needed to, but Acronis lacked the snapshot ability and was not nearly as easy to use as Driveclone is.

I also wonder if there's a page someplace that has a good comparison of various apps that take & restore system snapshots ??

Thanks.

[locoJoe]

Hi Folks.

Great, positive info about this app locoJoe !!

I find after reading about it and viewing their site, tour, etc - that I have questions and maybe someone here knows the answers ???

I've been using Faststone Driveclone 5 (it was a very good version) and it has 2 features which I value greatly:

- Hardware independent restore, so if your PC kraps out as mine just did, your image will restore & boot on different h/w.

- A pre-OS environment that can restore an image or snapshot.

- Images can be saved anyplace on or off the system HDD, snapshots are on the HDD and hidden.

Does AX64 have these things at all ??

Oddly Faststone crippled the newer versions (it's at v9.x now) and those lack the snapshot feature completely.

In the past I used Acronis B&R along with a small, bootable primary partition and BartPE to do a restore if I needed to, but Acronis lacked the snapshot ability and was not nearly as easy to use as Driveclone is.

I also wonder if there's a page someplace that has a good comparison of various apps that take & restore system snapshots ??

Thanks.

Edited September 1, 2013 by locoJoe

[smallhagrid]

Thanks locoJoe.

The info you provided is what I saw at their site - and my questions are not quite answered...I'll try to 'splain:

This means...

- Hardware independent restore, so if your PC kraps out as mine just did, your image will restore & boot on different h/w.

Being able to restore to a different HDD -and- be used with a different mainboard.

And this...

- A pre-OS environment that can restore an image or snapshot.

At boot time a new option is added for their own, separate environment - no USB stick or CD required.

They say that...

- Images can be saved anyplace on or off the system HDD, snapshots are on the HDD and hidden.

Hiding the snapshots assures that they will not likely be infected, etc. in case of disaster.

Mostly I have avoided utilities that revolve around rebooting back to a previously normal state.

I think sandboxing is a great idea - but even SBIE is too complicated and/or invasive for my liking.

Thus far what I have found works best for me is a combo of an imaging/snapshot 'protection' as the fall-back for disaster, and for sandboxing the best/lightest/simplest method thus far for me is M$ VPC 5 running a VM of my own tweaked-out XP which has been made into a VM via Paragon GoVirt.

I can do whatever I want to that VM and if it gets messed up - just abandon changes quick & easy.

That is on my windows PC - on my Linux PC I do about the same but instead use VMWare player to run the VM.

Back 100% to the snapshot/image protection which is this thread's subject=> until I can be really sure that AX64 is able to adjust drivers to use an image on a new mainboard - I'll hold off trying it. That's a really important ability - more than anything else.

Thanks.

[Ponting]

You can make use of EasyBCD to create a bootmenu for AX64TM for the moment till they release a new version with the support.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2273984&postcount=4191
See screenshots

Source:http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=339999&page=168

Edited September 2, 2013 by NSFfan

[smallhagrid]

Truly Great Tutorial NSFfan !!!!!!!

Very, very helpful as I did not know EasyBCD did that...now I'll add some ISOs to my boot menu !!!!!!!!

So that's one thing covered - and for me the biggie remains:

....until I can be really sure that AX64 is able to adjust drivers to use an image on a new mainboard - I'll hold off trying it. That's a really important ability - more than anything else.

Thanks.

[locoJoe]

Truly Great Tutorial NSFfan !!!!!!!

Very, very helpful as I did not know EasyBCD did that...now I'll add some ISOs to my boot menu !!!!!!!!

So that's one thing covered - and for me the biggie remains:

....until I can be really sure that AX64 is able to adjust drivers to use an image on a new mainboard - I'll hold off trying it. That's a really important ability - more than anything else.

Thanks.

Yes, I didnt know EasyBCD did that either. I cannot answer about if AX64 is able to adjust drivers to use an image on a new mainboard for sure. If you go to AX64 webpage the author has link for emails. He could answer for you I'm sure. As far as Hiding the snapshots goes, I believe that is to be added in comming versions. Again the author could answer this if you email him. g/l have fun

Edited September 2, 2013 by locoJoe

[Ponting]

For multiboot USB drives,take a look here.You can simply drop just about any ISO file on to USB and get it to boot.

https://sites.google.com/a/rmprepusb.com/www/tutorials/72---easyboot---a-grubdos-multiboot-drive-that-is-easy-to-maintain/e2bv1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA1U_3Z91AI

[smallhagrid]

Even more Very Cool Info !!!!!!!!!

I bookmarked that site for Easy2Boot.

Getting GRUB4DOS set up to boot ISOs manually is a real PITA, so I gave up on it, but this looks WAY easier.

I'll post my questions in the AX64 area at Wilders and see what sort of replies they get...

Edit/addendum - got a response, here:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2275324&postcount=4250

Re: Introducing AX64 Time Machine - hybrid imaging/snapshot software

Don't confuse ax64 with the other types of programs you listed it is not intended to compete with them. It is a different type of software altogether. It is not imaging program, but rather at imaging hybrid. These types of programs allow you to revert your system to a time before there were problems. Yes, it does this by using snapshots (some people might call the images), but it is still not to be compared with the likes of the products you listed. It is not a troll imaging application. Rather, it would be better to compare it with the likes of 1-click system restore Pro or rollback RX. The technology uses applications is different, but at least you'll get an idea of what I'm saying if you use them as a frame of reference.

If you want a full-blown imaging application, which I recommend in conjunction with rollback application, look at my signature. They are you will find links to image for Windows as well as how to restore those images using hardware independent technology.

Again a X 64 should not be compared with the likes of image for Windows, or acronis, or any other type of pure imaging software because that is not its purpose. It is a hybrid and should be compared against other hybrids that can revert the system.

All that being said, some of the features you asked about are present in ax64, such as the pre-boot environment, or the ability to save images to any hard disk local or internal. Snapshots can also be saved to a partition that is hidden from Windows Explorer.

n8

To which I replied=>

Thanks n8chavez.
OK:

Quote:

Don't confuse ax64 with the other types of programs you listed it is not intended to compete with them. It is a different type of software altogether. It is not imaging program, but rather at imaging hybrid. These types of programs allow you to revert your system to a time before there were problems. Yes, it does this by using snapshots (some people might call the images), but it is still not to be compared with the likes of the products you listed. It is not a troll imaging application. Rather, it would be better to compare it with the likes of 1-click system restore Pro or rollback RX. The technology uses applications is different, but at least you'll get an idea of what I'm saying if you use them as a frame of reference.

Then I guess what I have is already my best choice.

I see, but:

Quote:

If you want a full-blown imaging application, which I recommend in conjunction with rollback application, look at my signature. They are you will find links to image for Windows as well as how to restore those images using hardware independent technology.

Looks again like a case of 'don't fix it if it ain't broke' to me.

And BTW, IFW and it's variants make alot less sense to me than things that are alot more user-friendly.

I could not find confirmation of these on their site:

Quote:

All that being said, some of the features you asked about are present in ax64, such as the pre-boot environment, or the ability to save images to any hard disk local or internal. Snapshots can also be saved to a partition that is hidden from Windows Explorer.

But unless the dev or someone else chimes in with a totally different opinion, it's most likely that AX64 is a poor fit for my situation.

Thanks for the info and possibly saving me the time of trying it out !!

Thanks.

Edited September 2, 2013 by smallhagrid

[avmad]

This is where one of your questions is at http://feedback.ax64.com/forums/206143-general/suggestions/4314553-restore-to-dissimilar-hardware

[smallhagrid]

Thanks Avmad:

This is where one of your questions is at http://feedback.ax64.com/forums/206143-general/suggestions/4314553-restore-to-dissimilar-hardware

Sort of...not very encouraging though - contents are...:

Restore to dissimilar hardware
Add capability to restore image of system drive to new PC.
------------------------------------------------------
Scott Adams commented · August 26, 2013 7:32 am
I have readon the wilders security thread that one person has succesfully done this and that Windows 7 recovered itself nicely. Worth trying for yourself.

Unless & until there's LOTS more encouraging info, I'll stick with what I've been using as it does all what would otherwise require an imaging AND a snapshot utility.

Thanks.

[locoJoe]

This is how I look at it. I know my views dont necessarily reflect others, here goes.

1) A little background: I used to use Acronis 2010 plus pack. I didnt use any of the "fancy" features. I didnt use "try & decide". I didnt use Auto Backup, etc. I strictly used it to make manuel backups in case my system took a shit on me. It worked great. It saved my ass numerous times. Then about 6 mo ago I purchased a new laptop. New laptop has UEFI bios and GPT style disc partitioning. Acronis (even the new v2014) does not fully support this type of setup. Said goodbye to Acronis and was looking for something new. I found AX64.

2) AX64 does everything I used to do with Acronis and it does it much faster. It also doesnt do any of the things I never did with Acronis. For me its like having a version of Acronis that supports UEFI, GPT and without all the extras I never used. Its perfect for me.

3) Also with AX64 I get a program that can act as a "snapshotter" (after initial full backup is done). With Acronis all my backups were large. With AX64 only initial backup is large, subsequential backups only reflect any changes and are very small.

4) It is lite. It has no processes running other than when you actually are using it (unless you have the option "backup every hour" ticked, then only 1 process). It has none of the compatibility problems other softs such as Rollback RX have.

5) Most importantly I have actually used it to recover from a "disaster". It worked as advertised. It has passed the test for me, for my needs. At the end of the day I believe this software will do what I need it to do, when I need it to do it. Thats what matters to me. g/l have fun

[Ponting]

Reply from Wilders

Hi SmallHagrid,

Panagiotis has replied you excellently and he is one of the experts on this forum. AX64 is nothing but an imaging program. And, I will explain you what it can do and what it cannot do. But, since you already have a winner on your hands, then why change.

1. Is AX64, a pure imaging program?
A. Yes.

2. Is AX64, like Rollback Rx?
A. Thanks God, it is not.

3. Can AX64 take incremental images?
A. Yes, and as Panagiotis explained it can.

4. Can AX64 take differential images?
A. No, it cannot.

5. Can AX64 do a hardware independent restore?
A. No, not in its present form but it might do in future. I might be wrong here, and either Isso or Panagiotis can correct me.

6. Does AX64 gives you a pre-OS environment to restore an image?
A. At present it doesn't but it is planned for future. However, one can easily add this with EasyBCD or similar other bootloaders editors.

7. Are AX64 images hidden?
A. No, they are not.

8. Does AX64 has built in scheduler to take hourly incremental images?
A. Yes, it does.

9. Is AX64 easy to use?
A. Yes, it very easy to use, any fool like me can use it. I have found AX64 the easiest imaging program to use and have found Terabyte, Image For Windows (IFW) the hardest imaging program to use.

Now where does AX64 differs from other imaging programs?

1. One can initiate the restoration of full images within the OS (Windows). In this AX64 is not unique, some other imaging programs can do the same, such as Drive Snapshot, Keriver 1-Clk Restore and so forth.

2. Now here is where AX64 shines, and no imaging program has achieved this breakthrough technology so far. With AX64, the single increment can be restored within the OS (Windows), where no others can do so far. However, one cannot achieve this feat outside the OS (Windows). Dearest Panagiotis has already explained this to you in post #4256 on this very page, and I cannot do better than the expert.

Another ability that AX64 has and no imaging programs has so far, that AX64 can take the initial FULL Image very, very fast and the subsequent incremental images very, very fast too!

Hope the above answers all your questions, and please stick what works for you. It seems that you already have a winner on your hands.

Best regards,

Mohamed

[uffbros]

NSFfan...I have a question on the #2 point that states "However, one cannot achieve this feat outside the OS (Windows). I did a restore with the boot disk of the entire image???? Can you explain further what this means then? I have the original image and I have one snapshot. I can pick which one I want to restore to from within windows or from the boot USB I made. So what do you mean you can't from outside Windows then? Thanks for clarifying this for me.

[avmad]

Maybe it means you can't yet backup from outside windows.

[Ponting]

AX64 is exactly like the other imaging apps = it creates incremental images of your system.
The BIG difference with the other imaging apps is that can perform a restore from inside the OS and restores only the modified/changed sectors and as a result you have an extremely fast restore.

This is what #2 point is related to.

What it means is that whenever you restore outside windows(using USB/EasyBCD method),AX64TM performs a full restore of the disk instead of restoring only modified/changed sectors.

Hot restore(within Windows) = Only Changed sectors

Cold restore(outside windows) = Full restore of the snapshot

Also you can choose whichever snapshot you want to restore to.

Basically AX64 backs up only the changed data since the last backup, and restores only the changed data from the backup that is restored.

Edited September 3, 2013 by NSFfan

[smallhagrid]

Thanks Very Much NSFfan:

Reply from Wilders

And my reply to that - having finally seen all my questions answered concisely:

Thank You Very Much Mohamed for such a thoughtful and detailed reply !!

Thank you:

Panagiotis has replied you excellently and he is one of the experts on this forum. AX64 is nothing but an imaging program. And, I will explain you what it can do and what it cannot do. But, since you already have a winner on your hands, then why change.

Precisely where I stand - I'm a happy XP user whose ONLY plan for 'upgrading' the OS will be going over to Linux (using XP in a VM), os I see no need at this point to change.

It was just that AX64 has been getting such rave reviews that I got interested to see if it does what I prefer as well as what I already have - and your reply really is very wonderfully detailed & helpful !!

1. Is AX64, a pure imaging program?
A. Yes.

2. Is AX64, like Rollback Rx?
A. Thanks God, it is not.

3. Can AX64 take incremental images?
A. Yes, and as Panagiotis explained it can.

4. Can AX64 take differential images?
A. No, it cannot.

5. Can AX64 do a hardware independent restore?
A. No, not in its present form but it might do in future. I might be wrong here, and either Isso or Panagiotis can correct me.

6. Does AX64 gives you a pre-OS environment to restore an image?
A. At present it doesn't but it is planned for future. However, one can easily add this with EasyBCD or similar other bootloaders editors.

7. Are AX64 images hidden?
A. No, they are not.

8. Does AX64 has built in scheduler to take hourly incremental images?
A. Yes, it does.

9. Is AX64 easy to use?
A. Yes, it very easy to use, any fool like me can use it. I have found AX64 the easiest imaging program to use and have found Terabyte, Image For Windows (IFW) the hardest imaging program to use.

Now where does AX64 differs from other imaging programs?

1. One can initiate the restoration of full images within the OS (Windows). In this AX64 is not unique, some other imaging programs can do the same, such as Drive Snapshot, Keriver 1-Clk Restore and so forth.

2. Now here is where AX64 shines, and no imaging program has achieved this breakthrough technology so far. With AX64, the single increment can be restored within the OS (Windows), where no others can do so far. However, one cannot achieve this feat outside the OS (Windows). Dearest Panagiotis has already explained this to you in post #4256 on this very page, and I cannot do better than the expert.

Another ability that AX64 has and no imaging programs has so far, that AX64 can take the initial FULL Image very, very fast and the subsequent incremental images very, very fast too!

Perfection !!:

Hope the above answers all your questions, and please stick what works for you. It seems that you already have a winner on your hands.

Mohamed, it is the kind helpfulness you have shown here that one hopes to see when asking for help in an online forum.
Very often one gets snippy, contentious replies when asking innocent questions, which can be discouraging.
Now and then though, there are helpful & affirming replies such as yours and Legacy's - and that truly is the best of it !!!

Thank You Folks, for answering my questions so very helpfully.

So I think my curiosity is at an end for this wonderful (for others) backup app.

Simply stated - it is indeed a case of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' and it is obvious that I will do best to keep what I have that works well for me.

At the very same time I also think that AX64 looks wonderful and I will be very curious to see as it matures, what things get added to it - or not.

Best Wishes to All !!

[uffbros]

Thanks for the clarification.

[AlexCross]

Is 100% sure that it doesn't work In W8.1? Because since RollBack RX managed to destroy all my filles that were very important to me, filles that I urgently needed, i'm searching for a better software do to it's job. I have tested Ax64 all day, it works fine, but since I want to upgrade to W8.1 in ~1 month, I want to know if this beauty works on W8.1 too, to not have the same result as with RollBack.

Edited September 14, 2013 by AlexCross

[Ponting]

Is 100% sure that it doesn't work In W8.1? Because since RollBack RX managed to destroy all my filles that were very important to me, filles that I urgently needed, i'm searching for a better software do to it's job. I have tested Ax64 all day, it works fine, but since I want to upgrade to W8.1 in ~1 month, I want to know if this beauty works on W8.1 too, to not have the same result as with RollBack.

Since i have problems with Win 8.1 driver support for my PC,i can't test AX64TM on my PC now..I have asked Isso about Win 8.1 support,once i get reply i will post here...

[ns870152]

In Windows 8.1

set up......ok

backup....ok

restore....reinstall windows :s

[fuzuli]

I use outside windows(using USB/EasyBCD) method for restore.. :)

[AlexCross]

In Windows 8.1

set up......ok

backup....ok

restore....reinstall windows :s

More details? X64 of X86? What happened while restoring? what kind of error did you get? the OS didn't boot or?

[lyldz]

I use outside windows(using USB/EasyBCD) method for restore.. :)

can you explain easyBCD METHOD? ^_^