"Deep Freeze"

[Bob Lenahan]

A tech explained this program as a much better program than any anti-virus program because 1) it uses much less compute power and 2) it "takes a picture" and automaitically re-starts the last good configuration on new boot-up; says if I lose or corrupt files, files it will boot up in useable condition.
So, can I get this and eliminate my anti-virus?
thanks,

[Saab Dastard]

Errr, no - at least I wouldn't. Not unless you don't mind losing everything done since the last "snapshot" was taken.

Prevention is ALWAYS better than cure.

AV software works in 2 ways (usually) - one is to do a periodic sweep thru the entire system searching for viruses, the second is "on the fly" inspection of files as they are read and / or written, doing a real-time inspection for virus signatures.

Frankly, I think your adviser should learn more about AV before making such recommendations. I would be interested to know their relationship to the product in question!

SD

[Richard Spandit]

Haven't heard of this software before, but sounds like it could be useful to create a restore point if you are fiddling with your computer - won't help me, though, I've just fried my BIOS

[Bob Lenahan]

The tech's owned a cyber-cafe for several years and has had no problems with his computers since using this program,- all I know is it's called Deep Freeze.

[Saab Dastard]

Bob,

The tech's owned a cyber-cafe for several years and has had no problems with his computers since using this program

That's quite a different matter - in this situation it is not a problem to simply restore a computer to a previous "good" state, as there is nothing to "lose" on the PC.

Many (all?) schools, universities, public bodies (libraries etc.) use this approach - coupled with a very restricted build for users - to manage their PCs.

As I said before, it isn't appropriate for a personal PC.

SD

[Mac the Knife]

Deep Freeze my ass

All this is doing is to create an image of the drive and restore it.

"Deep Freeze instantly protects and preserves baseline computer configurations. No matter what changes a user makes to a workstation, simply restart to eradicate all changes and reset the computer to its original state - right down to the last byte."

Plenty of free drive imaging software around like DriveImage XML - http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm - why pay for a puffed-up disk imager?

Restoring the image takes a while, but this is ideal for a classroom or a cyber cafe where there is no data to protect. and you want to start each day (or week) fresh and clean.

Another (quicker and better) alternative is to run off a live CD!

So your data is on another drive and you're OK? No you're not. If you've been rooted its not easy to be sure exactly when. How trustworthy is your data if it's been in contact with a rooted OS? Not at all! You'll need to reimport all you data from backup and check it.

If a commercial system gets rooted the you wipe it and reinstall. A major pain. A baseline image may make it quicker but you'll still have to reinstall large chunks. A daily image including data sounds nice, but how do you know when you got rooted? By the time a system starts showing signs it's probably been owned for a long time. Which image is clean?

Recovering from a system compromise is something people write books about.

Your "tech" is using the right tool for the right job (though they're paying much more for it that they have to), but this sort of thing really isn't suitable for home use.

[Best foot forward]

If you want a good AV at the right price try AGV free. I had norton on when I bought a new home computer and laptop which was a pain in the backside. Someone reccomended AVG and it works a treat.

[Bob Lenahan]

Okay, up to this point, I really do appreciate all your comments. I will look into the AV suggested, but I'm thinking Kaspersky is no. 1