IMPORTANT NOTE FOR ALL UPDATES: All RollBack Rx updates, patches and version upgrades require any previous version(s) of RollBack Rx to be uninstalled prior to the setup of the newer builds. This process will delete all existing snapshots except for the one chosen to be the uninstall state (snapshot).
Rollback Rx v9.1 is an update release of the instant PC recovery software, Rollback Rx v9.1, from Horizon Datasys, it contains some minor updates and small bug fixes. For those who have Rollback Rx v9.1 Build 2695045130 - there is no need to update/upgrade. The minor updates were made strictly for the use of the Remote Management Console and not to the stand-alone client build. If you have a single user license or a multiple stand-alone PC with RollBack Rx V9.1 Build 2695045130, there is no need to update. To install this latest build of Rollback Rx v9.1, users should first uninstall any previous version of RollBack Rx.
Rollback Rx v9.1 is an update release of the instant PC recovery software, Rollback Rx v9.0, from Horizon Datasys, it contains some minor updates and small bug fixes. For those who have Rollback Rx v9.0 setup on a Windows XP or Windows Vista system, there is no need to update. To install Rollback Rx v9.1, users should first uninstall any previous version of RollBack Rx.
The following are new features and updates in Rollback Rx v9.1:
Windows 7 compatibility
Updated device drivers to support Windows 7 power management
New Windows 7 theme subsystem interface graphics
New Windows 7 theme application console interface graphics
Product activation during setup, one reboot for both setup and activation
Added a command line switch to disable/enable hourly snapshot defrag
Added a progress bar for take snapshot
Removed “Disable direct disk IO” from system security
Added a setup.ini configuration option for setup Rollback Rx beyond 128GB of hard disk.
Added a setup.ini configuration option for setup Rollback Rx on a Windows based server
Added a setup.ini configuration option for setup Rollback Rx without hooking system page file
Disabled application console Windows resizing
The following are problems and bugs fixed in Rollback Rx v9.1:
Rollback fails to reset hard disk "dirty bit" after rebooting the workstation during update baseline, which caused (on occasion) a spike in CPU usage. This was caused by PC's being restarted accidently, before RollBack Rx was able to completely reset the hard disk during snapshot defragging and/or Baseline update.
Setup XML auto-detection failure on some systems
Memory leak caused by subsystem mouse driver, which may cause BSOD if PC is left on with the subconsole (mini OS) open for extended period (over 10 hours).
The following limitations still exist in Rollback Rx v9.1:
Hard Disk Support – Rollback Rx can only protect one IDE/SATA/PATA hard drive. If a system has more than one hard disk, Rollback Rx will protect the drive designated as the “Primary.” Rollback Rx does not support SCSI, RAID or MIRROR hard drive configurations.
Server Support – Rollback Rx is a Windows workstation (PC) based product, it is not designed to support Windows servers.
Booting From an External Media (OS) – Rollback Rx cannot protect the hard drive when changes are made to the hard drive from an external or foreign (non-Windows) operating system bypassing Windows and/or Rollback Rx protection drivers. For example, booting from a CD-ROM will start a different OS before Rollback Rx is loaded, that could change the hard drive without acknowledging the existence of Rollback Rx snapshots on the hard drive and produce unpredictable results.
Disk Encryption Programs that Intercept Low-Level Disk I/O – Rollback Rx may conflict with some applications that proxy low-level disk I/O.
Dual Boot of Windows and Linux OS on the Same Hard Drive – Rollback Rx support MULTI windows based OS's. Rollback Rx does NOT support systems that have multiple Windows Operating Systems with non-Windows Operating System (like Linux) loaded on the same hard drive.
Use of Defragmenter Programs – Once installed, Rollback Rx blocks the use of defragmentation programs. The reason for this is that Rollback Rx tracks sector change activity, relocates some sectors, and maintains its own map of all sector locations on the hard drive. Defragmentation is the process of locating the noncontiguous sectors of a file and rearranging the sectors and restoring them into fewer sectors. As a result, once Rollback Rx is installed, the work done by a defragmentation program would not provide the desired result without knowing the sectors used by other snapshots. Thus, defragmentation programs are blocked. The need for a defragmenter varies according to file system and the amount of file creation and update activity on a hard drive. Horizon Datasys recommends that defragmentation be done before installing Rollback Rx. In addition, Rollback Rx has a build-in defragmenter as the alternative.
This is a major build update that is available to all RollBack Rx Version 9 customers.
These are the updates of Rollback Rx v9 and Rollback Rx RMC v3.0... Because of the changes to the Rollback client, our development team also had to to update the Rollback RMC.
This is an important update and an email will be going out to all users on the week of April 27th 2009.
Firstly, the recognized bug is a new bug found in the first cut of Rollback Rx v9
One of the improvements in Rollback v9 is the pagefile virtualization.
Rollback uses device drivers to virtualize the Windows pagefiles for faster system bootup and system performance.
The pagefile virtualization has three modules:
The filter and redirect disk IOs to the pagefile
Be able to hook the pagfile on system bootup.
Be able to close the pagefile virtualization when system shuts down.
The bug is with the third module... When shutting down a PC, supposedly Windows should wait for all processes and threads to exit and complete before shutting down the PC.
But we found out on some cases, the Windows system just shuts down regardless of whether there are still running processes or threads. In this case it’s Rollback’s module to close the pagefile virtualization.
In the case when the system shuts down before RollBack Rx closes the pagefile virtulization, there could be data contained in the pagefile that has not been committed to the hard disk.
Theoreticallhy, the data on the hard disk could become inconsistent – missing the pieces from the pagefile... And because the data on the hard disk are inconsistent, the Windows chkdsk may appear on reboots….
This bug is certainly a level one bug. All users of RollBack Rx are being made aware of the security risk with the first cut of RollBack Rx V9, as it could make files become corrupted over time – without obvious reasons.
The development team have created a new build that should replace any previous RollBack Rx V9 installation. This is an important fix and we have been instructed to update all clients as soon as possible.
Download the latest RollBack Rx V9 Build 2694078476 - which fixes this issue.
Note: As with all updates and upgrades to RollBack Rx - All previous versions of RollBack Rx need to be uninstalled prior to the installation of RollBack Rx V9. During the uninstall process you will be left with a single snapshot - the state you would like your computer to be in once RollBack Rx is uninstalled. You will therefore, lose all current snapshots when uninstalling. View our Knowledge base article on upgrading RollBack Rx.
RollBack Rx V9 has made some significant changes from our previous version 8.1. In version 8.1 we had integrated a Drive imaging application for clients that wanted to be able to have true hardware disaster recovery. It was known as the "Drive Image" feature in Version 8.1. As we've continued to develop both the RollBack Snapshot engine and the Drive Cloning capabilities; we realized that the Drive Cloning projectt was becoming quite large. We need to continue to develop the product further to make it a fair disk imaging competitor to products such as Ghost, Acronis and the like. In version 9 we've come to that crossroad where we needed to "cut the Ambilical cord" from the Drive Image module.
In RollBack Rx Version 9.x we have separated the Drive Cloning capabilites and introduced it as a new product "Drive Cloner Rx". It will complete head on with products such as Ghost, Acronis and other hard disk imaging and cloning products that are available. We will continue to grow this product by adding features while maintaining a low cost point for our clients that need a cost effective hard drive imaging application.
With RollBack Rx V9 we've made it easy for our large educational and corporate clients to use our Remote Management Console. We've removed the separate pricing of our "Enterprise" version of the software and now provide the RMC as a free add-on. All RollBack Rx users that have more than 3 networked PC's can now use the RMC to remotely manage their PC's.
We have also made some significant changes to make RollBack Rx quicker to boot up and work with Windows Vista, both 32 and 64 bit.
Note: As with all updates and upgrades to RollBack Rx - All previous versions of RollBack Rx need to be uninstalled prior to the installation of RollBack Rx V9. During the uninstall process you will be left with a single snapshot - the state you would like your computer to be in once RollBack Rx is uninstalled. You will therefore, lose all current snapshots when uninstalling. View our Knowledge base article on upgrading RollBack Rx.
As many of the enhancements are not specific to the requirements of end-point users - Horizon DataSys is offering additional discounts and promotional offers for existing Silver and Gold support customers.
View the Horizon DataSys upgrade policy.
Silver (Free) customers will receive a 25% discount on thier upgrade options, plus a free license of Drive Cloner Rx.
Gold customers will receive a 50% discount on their upgrade options, plus a free license of Drive Cloner Rx.
All customers should receive an email with their promotional offers within the first week of the official release.
All customers that have recently purchased RollBack Rx V8.1. Within 60 days of the release date for RollBack Rx V9 - will receive a free upgrade as per our upgrade policy. In order to receive this, you must submit a support request at http://support.horizondatasys.com
New customers can purchase RollBack Rx Home licenses and recieve the Drive Cloner Rx at a discounted price of USD$9.95 (at time of purchase - online only) - Buy Now
Contact our support team at http://support.horizondatasys.com for any support enquiries.
- Removed Drive Image feature from Rollback Rx v9.0 release.
- Created universal Enterprise Management Console (RMC) that is compatible with all RollBack Rx client installations
- RMC license and PRODUCT ID is no longer required.
- Add code signing to tray icon and application console executables.
- Removed "nagging" start screens for netreg.exe and shield.exe when launching
- Added a command line parameter for advanced users that wish to use file level defraggers such as Diskkeeper, PerfectDisk and Windows disk defragger apps. View our KB article on defragging and our most recent forum thread regarding defragging with RollBack Rx V9.
- System with over 4GB RAM support.
- Improved kernel device driver’s memory management.
- Setup Rollback Rx on some Dell machine produces a BSOD due to a BIOS reporting error.
- Extraordinary large snapshot size on Windows Vista PCs.
- Uninstaller did not remove all the registry keys.
- Setup of Rollback on a hard disk containing 2GB of unpartitioned space at end of the disk could produce a BSOD.
Rollback Rx v8.1 is an update release of Rollback Rx v8.0, from Horizon Datasys, it contains several major updates and important bug fixes. Rollback Rx v8.1 cannot be used to upgrade an existing Rollback Rx v8.0 installation as it requires a new product ID to install. To install Rollback Rx v8.1, user should first uninstall the existing v8.0 version or any other version of RollBack Rx. This Release Notes covers What’s New, What’s Fixed , Known Issues and Product Limitations.
The following are new features and updates in Rollback Rx v8.1:
A new and enhanced drive image feature replacing the snapshot backup feature in Rollback Rx v8.0 offers greater flexibility. The new drive image allows user to select partitions or disk to backup to drive image files, it supports multiple disks backup.
A new drive image explore feature that allows users to open a drive image file as virtual drive to recover files.
A new feature to dismount virtual drives created for drive image files.
A new media builder feature that allows users to create bootable CD/DVD or ISO files to restore drive image files.
A new drive image restore program based on bootable Linux CD.
A new feature for dynamically customize and load program interface in multi-languages thru an XML file.
Expanded snapshot loading buffer. This greatly improved the speed of schedule based snapshot restore. For example, in v8.0 restore a PC by restore at restart schedule might take 10 seconds. In v8.1, it only takes 3 seconds.
Compressed current snapshot table to improve system boot up time and system performance. (Our internal test reveals 15-40% of performance gain).
Compressed archiving snapshot tables to improve the performance of exploring a snapshot and snapshot defragment.
Added a post-rollback file recovery wizard that prompts user to restore latest data file after rollback to a previous snapshot
Added a program setting to set the aforementioned post-rollback file recovery wizard.
Improved program logs buffer. In v8.0 when users have a lot of logs, clicking on Event logs could take a while for the program to respond. In v8.1, event logs open instantly.
Added “Restart Now” or “Restore later” options to the program activation process. If user chooses “Restart later”, Rollback Rx subsystem will be activated during next restart.
Added “Set system security” user access right.
Changed the product ID to a shorter all-digits based product ID to better support international customers.
Modified Rollback Rx to auto-detect proxy server settings if the software connects to a remote management console thru a proxy server.
Added a log file, netmsg.txt, to track product activation related issues.
Added a log file, client.dll, to track problems related to connecting Rollback Rx to a remote management console – Enterprise Edition
Added a command line switch “shieldcmd /ghost to temporarily disable Rollback Rx’s block of disk defragment. However we still recommend users to uninstall Rollback before running a 3rd party defragment program, that is the cleanest way to do it.
Reduced snapshot table’s delay write from 3 minutes to 1 minutes to improve system boot up time.
Change the time format on the Uninstall screen from d/m/y to m/d/y
The following are problems and bugs fixed in Rollback Rx v8.1:
Rollback v7.x product IDs can be used to activate v8.0
Rollback Rx screens are unreadable after change the display DPI to 120 or greater.
Snapshot at restart schedule continues to run after demo has expired.
Event based snapshot schedule continues to run after demo has expired.
Deleting six or more scheduled tasks at once produces a run time error.
Rollback Rx snapshot table’s delay write causes Windows more prone to boot up problem such as the corruption of c:\windows\system32\config\xxx files after a power-outage or abnormal shutdown. (The problem can be fixed by restoring to a good earlier snapshot).
Rollback Rx snapshot table’s delay write causes files more prone to damage after a power-outage or abnormal shutdown. (The problem can be fixed by restoring the files from a good earlier snapshot).
The combination of the following conditions together could damage Rollback snapshots other than the baseline snapshot.
A.The computer has hidden partition.
B.Majority of the hidden partition (70% >) is unused space.
C.Setup Rollback Rx to protect the hidden partition.
D.The hidden partition is opened as a virtual drive by Rollback Rx snapshot explorer.
E.Rollback Rx snapshot defragmenter defrags the hidden partition.
A user with reset to baseline right logs into Rollback Rx console and finds Manage Baseline feature is grey out.
Windows Vista produces a blue screen when entering hibernation.
Rollback Rx fails to detect SATA hard drive’s serial number to valid the authenticity of the license and cause extremely slow boot up.
Rollback Rx setup fails with the error message “insufficient disk space” when a) the hard drive is larger than 200GB and b) the first 137GB of the hard drive are filled.
Various typo and grammar errors in the program interface.
Known Issues:
The following are known issues in Rollback Rx v8.1 that will be addressed in later release:
Some Windows Vista PCs with Rollback Rx installed might have problem to hibernate. We believe the probability is less than 1% of all Vista based PCs. The reason is unknown. We have seen it that reinstalling the Vista system makes the problem went away. The practical workaround is to disable hibernation on those PCs.
Setup Rollback Rx on some PCs stops with “update MBR failed” error. Rollback Rx setup needs to write to the computer’s Master Boot Record (MBR) to install the subsystem model. Some other software on the PC is preventing the write to the MBR.
The following limitations still exist in Rollback Rx v8.1:
Hard Disk Support – Rollback Rx can only protect one IDE/SATA/PATA hard drive. If a system has more than one hard disk, Rollback Rx will protect the drive designated as the “Primary.” Rollback Rx does not support SCSI, RAID or MIRROR hard drive configurations.
Server Support – Rollback Rx is a Windows workstation based product, it is not designed to support Windows servers.
Booting From an External Media (OS) – Rollback Rx cannot protect the hard drive when changes are made to the hard drive from an external or foreign (non-Windows) operating system bypassing Rollback Rx protection drivers. For example, booting from a CD-ROM will start a different OS before Rollback Rx is loaded, that could change the hard drive without acknowledging the existence of Rollback Rx snapshots on the hard drive and produce unpredictable results.
Disk Encryption Programs that Intercept Low-Level Disk I/O – Rollback Rx may conflict with some applications that proxy low-level disk I/O.
Compressed Drives – Rollback Rx does not support NTFS compressed drives.
Dual Boot of Windows and Linux OS on the Same Hard Drive – Rollback Rx does not support systems that have multiple Windows Operating Systems with non-Windows Operating System (like Linux) loaded on the same hard drive.
Use of Defragmenter Programs – Once installed, Rollback Rx blocks the use of defragmentation programs. The reason for this is that Rollback Rx tracks sector change activity, relocates some sectors, and maintains its own map of all sector locations on the hard drive. Defragmentation is the process of locating the noncontiguous sectors of a file and rearranging the sectors and restoring them into fewer sectors. As a result, once Rollback Rx is installed, the work done by a defragmentation program would not provide the desired result without knowing the sectors used by other snapshots. Thus, defragmentation programs are blocked. The need for a defragmenter varies according to file system and the amount of file creation and update activity on a hard drive. Horizon Datasys recommends that defragmentation be done before installing Rollback Rx. In addition, Rollback Rx has a build-in defragmenter as the alternative.
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Version 8.0.1 Build 2691946514 - March 28th 2007
Install requirements: Supports Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, VISTA
Rollback Rx V8 is a new version of RollBack Rx - It’s not an upgraded version from Version 7.x. For Previous version please contact our support team at our support portal
Users MUST uninstall any previous versions of RollBack Rx prior to installing Build 26919884
Major Enhancements:
Vista support
Snapshot Backup
Snapshot Restore
Enhanced GUI interface
Version 7.2.1
The following are new features and updates added to Rollback Rx Build 26919884:
Updated the subsystem startup splash screen.
Provide users the options to save the program logs before clearing.
Rollback tray icon will appear grey when the demo is expired.
Program logging for enable access control and change passwords.
Optimized the file synchronization process to speed up the file transfers.
Rollback uninstall dialog windows will automatically dismiss without requiring user input.
Added command line switch ‘rollbackcmd.exe /restore /n "snapshot name” to restore by snapshot name in batch file.
Added command line switch ‘rollbackcmd.exe /lock /unlock /n "snapshot name"” to lock or unlock snapshots in batch file.
Allow user to set a “recommend setting” on Rollback post-setup configuration wizard.
Added “Favorites” folders to simplify the snapshot synchronization.
The following are problems fixed in Rollback Rx Build 2691424265:
Incorrect display of baseline size in earlier versions.
A problem that could cause orphan snapshots.
Subsystem setup problem on systems that has incorrect partition size and mother board limitation of 128GB.
Snapshot showing as empty when browsing a snapshot that has NTFS fragmented bitmap
Version 7.2.1 Build 2691291147 - October 5th 2006
Install requirements: Supports Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP
Users MUST uninstall any previous versions of RollBack Rx prior to installing Build 2691291147
Here’s what’s fixed in this release of Rollback Rx:
Fixed: "CHKDSK" issue with extended testing and configuration changes
Fixed: "Rollback installation issue with systems with 2Gb or more memory".
Fixed "pagefile stepping over bad sectors issue" - which potentially could cause a CHKDSK error.
Fixed a uninstall and save current system - overflow memory buffer issue.
Fixed the NT blue screen issue caused by multiple page files on more than 2 partitions.
Fixed the uninstall issue caused by Rollback’s been installed on more than 2 hard disks in the same system.
Removed some of the “error-like” warning messages in the subsystem. No user intervention is needed when such warning pops up.
Fixed the subsystem display issues.
Fixed the current snapshot defrag might delete Windows cache bug.
Here’s what’s new in this release of Rollback Rx: Build 2691248141
Implemented command line switch for uninstall Rollback Rx from batch files.
Added a program setting to allow users to change the subsystem hotkey from HOME to other keys. (support for intl keyboards).
Added the "suspend" feature to "Reboot to Restore" schedules. This is a feature requested by Rollback Rx's educational admins. They have Rollback Rx set on Restore by Restart but needed to perform Windows update from at set times on a particular day of the week. Windows update may need to restart the PCs in the process. With this suspend feature, they can create Restore on Restart schedule with suspending the task from say 3:00pm to 4:00pm. That will provide a chance to apply certain Windows updates.
Change the space display info on Snapshot properties. It's a suggestion by several Rollback Rx home users.
Added snapshot size column to the view snapshot screen, it makes easier to see the snapshot sizes.
Added a program setting to automatically delete unlocked snapshots when disk space is running low.
Added a compatibility check for crossed partitions during setup. If detected, setup won’t continue.
Added system resource check before running hourly snapshot defrag. If the system resource is at “busy” state, the hourly defrag will skip until the system returns to idle state.
Integrated Rollback driver support with disk defragmenter utilities.
Added logging to the product activation process, the log file “netmsg.tx” is created in the program installation directory after running product activation.
