Windows System Restore, introduced in Windows Me, is a life saving feature that allows for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc. to a previous state in the event of malfunctioning or failure. System Restore has helped me numerous time to recover my system due to corrupt files and faulty application programs.
Windows System Restore however suffers from one drawback – it cannot rollback changes made to user files such as documents, images and the like. This kind of ability is available only on Comodo Time Machine (CTM), a powerful system rollback utility.
Comodo Time Machine, like Windows System Restore, allows users to quickly restore their computers to an earlier point in time. But unlike Windows System Restore Points, a CTM 'snapshots' includes complete record of your entire system (including the registry, critical operating system files and user created documents), allowing complete rollback of the system.
Comodo Time Machine is pretty advanced and nothing like Windows System Restore. It gives the user a fine control on the restore process. For instance, you can set CTM to take a snapshot every time Windows starts, or always take snapshots before restoring to an earlier time, or synchronize files between folders when restoring and other such robust security features. You can also schedule automatic snapshots at regular intervals.
The only option I couldn’t find is setting the maximum disc space CTM can use. This is an essential feature that seems to be missing, because as CTM takes complete snapshots including user files you can quickly run out of disk space. CTM recommends at least 10 GB free space, which is a lot in my opinion.
An interesting feature of CTM is the ability to mount a snapshot and browse it’s contents to recover or extract individual files from it. You can also right click on any file or folder in Explorer to synchronize it with an earlier snapshot version. For example, you can synchronize the contents of a folder to a snapshot you took last week so that when you rollback to that snapshot, the contents of the folder stays the same as present. Wonderful!
Windows System Restore is no match against Comodo Time Machine. What’s more? It’s free.
Similar program: Returnil Virtual System
[via BlogsDNA]
Unfortunately CTM doesn't support systems with more than 4 disks (It fails at setup because of this restriction). Mine has 7.
ReplyDelete?? I need to disable CTM service to defrag my drive, if not windows won't boot after restart..
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a cool idea, similar to "GoBack" from a few years ago. On my Windows XP SP3 system, I could not get the software to completely work after attempting install it twice. The UI part never worked (dll errors) and sometimes I would get a memory error from the program at boot time that would halt the boot process.
ReplyDeleteOf course, this could just be something on my system. I'll likely try it again in a few months as I like the idea - and the price.
For Windows 7 better try Macrium Reflect or Paragon Backup & Recovery™ 10 - both free edition!
ReplyDeleteBeware of this software. Try Rollback Rx instead. Get it at http://www.horizondatasys.com/
ReplyDeleteI have used Comodo Time Machine for almost two years now and it has saved my arse on numerous occasions. I have never had any problems with it whatsoever. Maybe I was just lucky ??????
ReplyDeleteMy OS is windows XP PRofessional Special Pack 3.
After testing system restore tools for more than 3 years now, I would not go with anything else than Rollback RX. The rest are just under performing. I am on Win 7, with a Dell machine and it works just fine for me.
ReplyDeleteI agree Rollback rx would be the better choice. from what I've read and heard - cmd time machine is a hacked version of rollback rx.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder time machine is free. you get what you pay for. Rollback rx is the best. Period.
Rollback Rx is the real deal. I just found the CMT is based on a earlier version of Rollback V8. CMT has still not been made compatible for 64 bit Windows 7 machines; while RollBack Rx is now on version 10 and will be supporting Windows 8 next month. If you want more insight on the development process follow their forum at http://horizondatasys-forum.com/rollback-rx/
ReplyDelete