Author Topic: Hello to All......a few comments from a new user of CTM (Read 22395 times)

Radioguy · « **on:** September 19, 2011, 06:45:43 PM »

Helllo to all on the Forum

I am new to this forum as of yesterday and also (obviously) a new user of CTM. First a few comments. I had been using Rollback for the last 4 years and although it has a few minor issues, for the most part it did exactly what it was supposed to do.....save my ass!...lol. Recently,however, I developed a problem with this machine that drove me up a wall for around a month. I was getting a BSOD whenever I would either stop using the computer for around 10 minutes or at various un-specific times while using it. It wasn't a RAM problem, not a hard drive problem and it wasn't being caused by another program either; it was being caused by Rollback itself. The ID on the BSOD said that it was having an issue with "Shield.Sys.".......which is a file associated only with Rollback located in the Window's / System 32 folder. As I said, Rollback has it's little quirks but it always worked well until this issue popped up. To make a long story short and cut to the chase, I finally gave up and decided to use another program.

As there are few other programs to choose from, CTM seemed like the best choice. Version 2.8 has an issue where it doe's not store scheduled snapshots, therefore I moved on to Version 2.9 Beta, the version I am using now. I know that some people are having different problems with Version 2.9, ALL computers have issues......EVERY situation is different and that applies to ALL software no matter what it does. I have to say,however, that on this machine it is working perfectly. The ONLY thing that I'm wondering about is why the operation to return to another snapshot takes SOOOOO long. Rollback would do a revert very quickly and this program is VERY similar. I did do a work a round of sorts by simply scheduling a snapshot for every five minutes, 12 in all, so the revert time is cut down to just a minute or two. So far the program appears to be extremely stable and very reliable. I like to experiment with different programs and "try" things..... THAT is why I find a program like this priceless. I'm just wondering when Version 2.9 will be out of the BETA stage (not that it really matters) and why CTM is NOT listed in the "free programs" section of the website. Just for the record this machine is a Dell 4700 using XP Home, with service pack 3, 3 gb of RAM, Pentium 4 processor a GT-240 video card and a 320 gb HD. CTM did have an issue with Norton so I simply changed to AVG free. For some reason, or reasons, after installing CMT I had a red "X" in the Norton tray Icon and could not enable it. Anyway, it's appears to be a great program and I will be following the forum from this point on. To the developers and all who are working on it.....GOOD JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Radioguy

hyatt69 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 19, 2011, 09:23:07 PM »

they stopped working on ctm,2.9 has been in beta for ever.your using a product that has not been updated in moons.

Radioguy · « **Reply #2 on:** September 20, 2011, 01:09:24 AM »

thanks for the reply........from reading the forum it looks like it came out last year (2010) some time......regardless.......all I can say is that it's working perfectly on THIS machine with no issues at all. Just wondering why they gave up on it.........everyone knows that there are ALWAYS a certain amount of people who have trouble with software.......free or not........not to mention the people who don't practice "maintainence procedures". I can't say that I'm surprised that PC sales are down compared to a few years ago. People buy these things and treat them like a home appliance with no idea whatsoever as to how to keep them running........THAT'S what keeps the repairmen in business

I should add that I ALWAYS have a recent backup image of the entire harddrive just in case something happens. These backups are ALWAYS made with a program like CMT or (previously Rollback) UNINSTALLED. I use a program called Drive Clone for those backups and it has proven to be 100% reliable. I just boot from a disc with Drive Clone on it plug in the external drive with the backup images and reboot......I'm then right back where I was when the backup was made. Having said that, if CMT starts giving me problems it won't be on this machine long enough to give me a headache...LOL

Radioguy

HeffeD · « **Reply #3 on:** September 20, 2011, 01:03:55 PM »

Quote from: Radioguy on September 19, 2011, 06:45:43 PM

The ONLY thing that I'm wondering about is why the operation to return to another snapshot takes SOOOOO long.

This is why I'm still using 2.8. 2.9 takes a long time to rollback even small changes.

Quote from: Radioguy on September 20, 2011, 01:09:24 AM

Just wondering why they gave up on it.........

They didn't. Development is on hold until we see what Windows 8 brings. It was rumored to have something similar built in.

Radioguy · « **Reply #4 on:** September 21, 2011, 02:42:01 AM »

thanks for the info......I tried 2.8 and found that the scheduler doesn't work...that;s why I'm using 2.9. I should add that as I mentioned, in an effort to cut down the revert time I simply schedule 12 snapshots 5 minutes apart......that work's, of course, BUT if the revert requires going back 10, 20 or 30 minutes I haven't accomplished anything. Most reverts, however, are done as soon as you screw up and it usually isn't necessary to go back more than 5 minutes anyway.

This program and Rollback have a LOT in common as far as appearance, function etc......I read a few posts with a possible explanation for that.....but who knows...LOL. As far as Windows 8 is concerned, I plan on using XP until AT LEAST April, 2014 when "they" stop supporting it. Besides there are adjustments that I can use to tweak Flight Simulator X that will ONLY work on a single core machine, not to mention the fact that this box runs like a champ and as they say "if it ain't broke don't fix it".......OR JUST REVERT IT

Radioguy

Tech · « **Reply #5 on:** September 21, 2011, 08:30:22 AM »

Is it safe to continue using CTM in a production environment knowing that it is not being developed? If anything gets wrong... well, better a full backup of the computer without CTM installed and regularly backup all documents and data...

Solarlynx · « **Reply #6 on:** September 21, 2011, 09:37:06 AM »

Quote from: Tech on September 21, 2011, 08:30:22 AM

Is it safe to continue using CTM in a production environment knowing that it is not being developed?

Really, is it safe? COMODO should clarify that. As CTM is discontinued then they should clear announce is it safe or not to go on using CTM.

Radioguy · « **Reply #7 on:** September 21, 2011, 12:39:24 PM »

Well let's put it this way......I ALWAYS keep a recent backup that was made WITHOUT any kind of rollback program installed......do it at least a few times every month. That's done mainly because the backups can not be reinstalled properly from a snapshot and present a great risk of screwing up the entire set of images......learned THAT the hard way with ROLLBACK..... BUT...THAT"S not the issue here. All I can say is that I've been using CTM for 3 day's now with it set to take a snapshot every 5 minutes (to cut down on the revert time if I have to do that) and it's been 100% reliable. I still have perfectly useable backups that were made before I even found this program but at this point I really don't think I'll ever need them. This computer isn't being used for business......it's just a very fancy toy for me BUT being retired I have the time to experiment.....AND keep this thing running the way I want it to run. I can say, however, that if CTM continues to be this reliable then it can most likely could be used on any computer no matter what it's being used for. Really...a "production environment"........flight simulators, games, bill paying, Skype and most importantly, PORN.......life's to short!!!....LOL!!!!!! All kidding aside, I certainly understand how a company would have to be throughly sure that a program is safe BEFORE putting their name on it. I guess I'm just an un-paid BETA TESTER. My backups, BTW, are simply run from the Drive Clone disc that I originally created and when the process is finished (in about an hour) the machine simply boot's up like nothing ever happened......that's why that process is so GREAT! FWIW this harddrive presently has around 85 GB on it all together.

Radioguy

Solarlynx · « **Reply #8 on:** September 21, 2011, 10:34:55 PM »

Quote from: Radioguy on September 21, 2011, 12:39:24 PM

I've been using CTM for 3 day's now with it set to take a snapshot every 5 minutes (to cut down on the revert time if I have to do that) and it's been 100% reliable.

That's a great credit to CTM. One more proof for CTM to be developed further.

Radioguy · « **Reply #9 on:** September 22, 2011, 12:11:08 AM »

OK......I don't understand something here.....I would appreciate it if someone who is familar with CTM could tell me HOW to set the scheduler to continue taking snapshots UP TO A GIVEN DATE that has been set in the program (with the calender in the drop down box) I'm doing something wrong in the set up as it is taking snapshots but ONLY for a 24 hour period.......and THEN IT HAS TO BE RE-SET. How do I set it to continue the process (snapshots) until ...say.....January 1st 2020. The instructions are not exactly clear on how to do that. The schedule that I'm using is 1 snapshot every 5 minutes...12 every hour. Currently, after setting it up it STOPS taking snapshots after 24 hours. I see that the "clock" to adjust that only go's to 24 (END TIME) BUT the addition of the calander with the ability to set a date in the future seems to indicate otherwise........OR..........DOES IT, IN REALITY, ONLY ALLOW YOU TO TAKE SNAPSHOTS FOR A 24 HOUR PERIOD???......I WANT IT TO FOLLOW THE SNAPSHOT SCHEDULE UP TO THE DATE THAT I SET ON THAT CALANDER.......IN OTHER WORDS, INDEFINATELY. I can't believe that the schedule would have to be re-set EVERY 24 hours.........THAT'S why I think I'm setting something wrong.

Thanks!! Radioguy

HeffeD · « **Reply #10 on:** September 24, 2011, 01:59:38 PM »

Quote from: Solarlynx on September 21, 2011, 09:37:06 AM

As CTM is discontinued then they should clear announce is it safe or not to go on using CTM.

They haven't discontinued it. Development is on hold... There is a difference between these two states.

As to whether or not it's safe to use, not currently being in development doesn't magically make it any less safe to use than it has been while it was in development.

Tech · « **Reply #11 on:** September 24, 2011, 03:06:24 PM »

Quote from: HeffeD on September 24, 2011, 01:59:38 PM

As to whether or not it's safe to use, not currently being in development doesn't magically make it any less safe to use than it has been while it was in development.

Sorry to disagree.
In the actual stage, if *anything* goes wrong, you'll lose all your data...
If the software is being developed, we can trust in the program/company, features are being added, bugs corrected, solutions found, support opened (forum, email, etc.).

HeffeD · « **Reply #12 on:** September 24, 2011, 03:20:25 PM »

Quote from: Tech on September 24, 2011, 03:06:24 PM

In the actual stage, if *anything* goes wrong, you'll lose all your data...

Yep. This could be the case regardless of whether or not the application is in current development.

If you've had no problems running the software in the past, continuing to run it after development has stalled does not elevate the risks involved by running the software. The danger level is the same whether the application is being developed or not.

Radioguy · « **Reply #13 on:** September 25, 2011, 12:28:59 AM »

I think you guys (the last 3) are answering the WRONG POST