* Phoenix FirstWare Recover Pro 2004
My wife’s Windows 2000 Professional-based computer crashed a few weeks ago. She’d been spending the weekend upgrading and adding software, patching and maintaining the operating system, and adding a peripheral or two (new R/W DVD player that required a new add-in USB 2.0 card).
Something didn’t go right.
The machine would freeze. She’d hit reset. The computer would freeze. She’d hit reset. Nothing would happen. She’d hit the power switch. The computer would freeze. She’d hit reset. Nothing would happen. She’d hit the power switch. Nothing would happen. She’d pull the plug. Now the machine wouldn’t boot at all. She called me.
I did the usual – safe boot, emergency recovery disk, recovery console with repair installation, etc. – but the machine would no longer boot. It appeared to be some sort of hardware error. Nothing would work except to re-install Windows as non-destructively as possible – then spend all day getting service packs, updates and patches, installing applications (and updating them) and so on. There should be a better way!
Last week, I spoke to the folks at Phoenix Technologies (https://www.phoenix.com/) about some identity and security issues for Network World’s Identity Management newsletter and happened to mention that I’d seen Phoenix’ copyright notice a lot while attempting to salvage my wife’s computer. (Phoenix is the company that makes the BIOS for most PCs – its name is the first thing you see on bootup.) CEO Al Sisto commiserated and told me how to avoid that problem in the future – Phoenix’s FirstWare Recover Pro 2004.
FirstWare is a neat little utility that works in the pre-boot environment (i.e., before the BIOS hands off to the operating system) to allow you to return to a known good configuration. As the Recover Pro blurb says: “Even if Windows won’t boot, a quick recovery is just 3 clicks away with our pre-boot GUI and on board, protected backup – no CD required!”
The utility works by claiming some disk space as its own and not letting the operating system know that it’s there. If Windows doesn’t know about it, then the viruses, Trojans and worms can’t find it, either! Back-up data is written to this space periodically (as chosen by the user/administrator). When a problem occurs, you’re presented with a list of previous backups, and you can choose the one you know is good – not hope that the only one you have might work!
Among the product’s highlights include:
* Protected backups – Provides a tamper-proof back-up space, protected even from viruses that compromise the entire Windows operating system and user data.
* Always available – Total recovery available anytime, anywhere – even if Windows won’t boot, the PC is not connected to any network, or the user has no recovery CDs.
* Just-in-time backup – Backup is continually done in the background as the user works; without interrupting the user, each and every setting and file are saved.
* Flexible – Laptop or desktop – back up to, and recover from, the hard drive, CD or DVD.
* Affordable – A complete package that does not require additional hardware, training or management.
For small to midsize organizations, it could be a lifesaver. Even for larger enterprises, it could be a very useful tool. Evaluation copies are available (after registration) at https://www.phoenix.com/freeevals/FWRecoverPro2004/ . You can try it out for 30 days. Do it for your own machine, if not for your entire organization.
