http://www.shadowstor.com/products.html

Has anyone tried this - or been using it for any length of time? If it actually performs as advertised, it could go a long way towards solving the crapware/spyware problem for people.

The mechanism is certainly sound, if correctly implemented.

"ShadowStor uses a unique method called ShadowMode to ensure servers and desktops are protected. ShadowMode is the means by which computers can be protected. By placing a server or desktop into ShadowMode, users can feel confident the system is going to be protected no matter what happens. ShadowMode activates the snapshot technology where each new write is redirected to another location on the Hard Drive. These sector changes can be permanently saved to the Hard Drive, or completely discarded with a simple reboot of the system. With ShadowMode, there is no need to specify regions on the disk for backup, or use BIOS functions to reserve space on the hard disk for OS images. ShadowMode is the most efficient and intelligent way to protect servers and desktops from downtime."

"By placing your PC in ShadowMode, all changes that are being made to the computer are not really being saved to the disk. For example, if a spy ware application is accidentally or maliciously installed, with a simple reboot, all the sectors that changed during the period of time you were surfing the internet, they would all be discarded. This is the same for internet tracks, Cookies, viruses and worms. All of these changes can be discarded upon reboot and you are completely safe from harm to the computer."

"ShadowStor solutions have zero impact to the current configuration of your PC. There are no modifications to the Master Boot Record (MBR), Partitions or disk structure. ShadowStor technology captures a snapshot of your system and runs an exact duplicate of your PC in a virtual state. This virtual state, called ShadowMode, allows the user to use the PC without actually writing to disk. If systems changes and folder or files changes occur during a ShadowMode session, then these changes can be automatically or manually saved to disk or discarded. This gives full control back to the IT professional and PC user.



ShadowMode doesn’t allow viruses or worms to be written to the PC. If you run in ShadowMode, the virus may get written to the Virtual Volume, but it can be discarded before changes are committed to disk. This approach is the first line of defense to security, data protection and disaster recovery and prevents problems from ever existing. This method provides a disaster prevention layer to your system rather than trying to recover a system by applying virus or worm updates after the disaster has occurred.



The ShadowStor approach eliminates the ability for unwanted changes and intrusive and malicious files from ever being written to the PC. You can then install your operating system and applications and configure it once for maximum performance. Then, by only committing system changes, folders or files to disk when you choose, you control what actually gets written to the PC. This approach allows you to preserve the original optimal configuration of the PC.



By running your system in ShadowMode sessions, you can eliminate the need to track and manage what changes occurred at different points in time. By entering a ShadowMode session, saving files to a specific location on the disk or network, you can end a ShadowMode session and have your system in the exact state it was prior to the session with your personal data intact. This solution makes the management of shared systems and system change tracking very simple."

Okay, a couple of things -

Make sure, when you're trying to enter your registration information, that you have "ShadowMode" disabled - otherwise, it'll be gone when you re-start the computer.

Start-up and shut-down are much slower than what they were with ShadowSurfer installed (doesn't seem to matter if "ShadowMode" is enabled or dis-abled) Of course, this might be due to the fact that I've got everything on my "C" drive (they recommend partitioning, probably just because of that).

Also note that, here, when I used Eraser to delete a couple of Desktop items that were un-needed - while in "ShadowMode" - (zip files, deleting the zips themselves that were already installed) - that they showed right back up again when I turned "ShadowMode" off and re-started.

A couple of emails that I received also dis-appeared (I haven't quite figured out how to make it retain things yet! lol!), but that wasn't a problem in this particular case since I'd printed them out before doing the re-start.

It's going to take some getting used to, but it's still an intriguing little program. It's definitely "RTFM" all the way until you get used to it.

Also, they're absolutely right when they say that "Defrag won't work while "ShadowMode" is running (got to 14% and then hung). Pete

PS - Did I mention that you have to have the .NET Framework installed?