Time Freeze Free or Returnil Virtual System 2010 Home Classic

Feline · 31. Oct 2010, 08:45 AM

Hello,

does anybody have experience with either one?

Wondershare Time Freeze Free

Returnil Virtual System 2010 Home Classic

Both are programs that turn your entire computer into a virtual machine. I'm pondering to get one of them, but haven't made up my mind yet. Maybe someone here has one of them and can share some experience. On first sight, both programs seem enticing, from what they promise almost to good to be true. As I'm not quite savvy in such things, I'd appreciate any input here.

My computer isn't quite the latest model, a Pentium4 with 2 megahertz and 1 GB RAM, running Windows XP/SP3. My security setup right now is Avira Antivir with the integrated Windows Firewall.

As said, it would be nice if someone could share their experience, or offer an opinion about the two.

Thanks a lot,

Feline

eyeb · 31. Oct 2010, 03:51 PM

i like time freeze a bit better.
they both work well its just I didn't like how returnil seemed to cut into my hdd space so much. maybe it's changed since i last used it about a year and a half ago but since i'm satisfied with time freeze i never went back to test out newer returnil.

i like the files/folder protect on time freeze as well, not sure if returnil had something like that

edit: also on time freeze, make a data partition and work out of it. this lets you save things after reboot. Returnil makes a virtual disk that does this. Both ways are fine but with a partition i can access files in ubuntu as well while i cant if it was in a virtual disk

Feline · 31. Oct 2010, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeb

edit: also on time freeze, make a data partition and work out of it. this lets you save things after reboot. Returnil makes a virtual disk that does this. Both ways are fine but with a partition i can access files in ubuntu as well while i cant if it was in a virtual disk

Thanks for your reply! A data partition - I think this is what I have, anyway, if you mean what I think now. I always reserved drive c: for Windows and programs solely, all data files go on other partitions.

The comp looks as such:
c:\ - Windows and programs
d:\ - the pesky 'My Documents' that you can't get rid of, Outlook Express files, downloads etc.
e:\ - all my working files, documents etc.

f, g, h for music, backups etc.

c,e,f and g are one hard disc
d and h are another one

If I understand this right, Time Freeze protects only the c-drive, so the data files should be unaffected, anyway - do I have that right so far?

Feline

deya · 31. Oct 2010, 05:35 PM

@ Feline,

I have Time Freeze 2 on two PC's and use it a lot, and although I got it from a promotion so didn't pay for it - it's still a commercial program, not freeware, so I won't say too much about that, only that I've never had a problem with it and it works extremely well.

However, I did briefly download and use the 'free' Time Freeze a while ago, the one you refer to, and that also worked very well for me. It's very similar to the paid version, simple to set up and use. I had no problems with it and, looking at the specs of your PC, you shouldn't have any problems with it either. You don't need 'quite latest model', I ran it on half the RAM you have. It runs very light.

I only use it for trying out different software most of the time, I don't have it running at start-up, just switch it on and off when the need arises. You can either run it all the time or control it via the on-off switch. Once it's switched on you are protected from whatever changes are made to your PC while you use it - downloading, installing, all that - when you switch it off you get the option to transfer the 'virtual' system data to your 'actual' system. If you select that option then you'll have a 15/20 second pause as it goes back to your normal system - and any changes you've made will be saved to your PC.

But if when switching it off you select the 'do not transfer' option, then you're systen will restart and any changes you've made will be deleted - everything, there will be no trace left, so any work you may have done will be lost. It leaves no traces, nothing.

It's like having you're whole system in a Sandbox, to put it simply - I have never noticed any slow downs [browsing etc] while using Time Freeze, you're PC should work just the same as it always does.

I've never used Returnil so I can't help you there.

Feline · 31. Oct 2010, 05:53 PM

Thanks, deya, that already helps me a lot! I'm tending more and more towards Time Freeze, anyway, so any user experience is much appreciated!

Also good to hear that my comp isn't that out of date, as some of the young'uns want to make me believe when they figure out that my latest computer game is Age of Empires 2...

Feline

bo.elam · 31. Oct 2010, 07:22 PM

Feline, I am using Time Freeze, never tried Returnil. All I can say is
that I love the program and it works perfectly with no problems at
all. I use it, like deya, for trying out programs.
Go for it. The free version is the version that was paid when Time
Freeze 2 came out.

Bo

deya · 31. Oct 2010, 07:40 PM

Best thing to do is just download and try it. Time Freeze isn't too complicated to set up and use, the settings are easy to understand and if you don't like it it uninstalls easily enough.

I use it if I'm going to download something I'm not sure of so I just open the program and switch it on, download whatever it is, install it and run it. If I don't like the software I turn Time Freeze off and let it re-start the PC. When it's re booted it's just like the software I tried was never there, it leaves no traces. So you could have Time Freeze on your PC and switch it on before you start browsing if you wanted to, that way if you come across something nasty it can't install on your actual system, and whatever it was will be gone if you let Time Freeze re start the PC.

You mentioned that what it offers seems too good to be true, but in my experience of using it it is true - I was like you at first, a bit unsure, a bit dubious. I have a spare machine so I installed it on that at first, it's more or less the same as yours only with less RAM, but Time Freeze worked on it without issue. So then I put in on my main PC, same thing, no problems. I have it on both now and use it a lot, it's never done anything other than what it should do. I wouldn't be without it now.

Sometimes [not often] things are as good as advertised. I just think Time Freeze is one of those things.

eyeb · 31. Oct 2010, 07:45 PM

since no one's talked about returnil yet i'll say some about it lol
It works by cloning the hdd so it cuts the size in half and then anything you do after it is on gets saved to the clone and is erased at reboot. It also has an option to create a virtual disk that you can save files to keep after reboot.

I don't like loosing the hdd space or the virtual disk for changes. I rather have data partition because I can get to files without hassle of remounting a disk to it.

Now i dont know if returnil works differently now but that was my experience with it about a year ago.

it provides the same security as time freeze, i just didn't like it's "disadventages" as i saw it. others might not see those two things i listed as disadvantages but i did

edit: another tip is if you do leave time freeze on at boot, i'd install antivirus to data partition. This allows you to keep the database updates through reboot so you'll have the current one later. You might not need antivirus if you have time freeze on at boot since virus will be lost at reboot but it's still good to know if you are downloading things to data partition

Ritho · 31. Oct 2010, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feline

Also good to hear that my comp isn't that out of date, as some of the young'uns want to make me believe when they figure out that my latest computer game is Age of Empires 2...

Still playing AOE2? That is nothing to apologize for. The AOE, AOE2, and AOM were some of the best games ever made. My wife and I have played those together for years. I have played many of the new games, and am partial to FPS's, the graphics today are amazing, but I keep going back to those old standbys.

Since we are on the subject I have to mention an free and open source game that is currently in development based on the Age Of Empires series. It is called 0 A.D. It has been in the works for a long time, but development just started picking up its pace after the project became open source. So far it is playable against other human players, but the AI for the computer is not finished so no single player games. The graphics are really nice, but the game still needs a lot of work to measure up.

You can find it here. http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/

Feline · 31. Oct 2010, 11:40 PM

Hmmm... I've installed (and registered) Time Freeze 1, but the program has a corrupt window - part of its right side is cut off. In short - unusable.

It doesn't get better after restarting the computer. I had read their FAQ and disabled System Restore; I also defragmented the c drive. No idea what went wrong.

Maybe I uninstall it and try to reinstall it.

Did anyone have had a similar problem?

Feline

31. Oct 2010, 08:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
Feline Full Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 41	Time Freeze Free or Returnil Virtual System 2010 Home Classic Hello, does anybody have experience with either one? Wondershare Time Freeze Free Returnil Virtual System 2010 Home Classic Both are programs that turn your entire computer into a virtual machine. I'm pondering to get one of them, but haven't made up my mind yet. Maybe someone here has one of them and can share some experience. On first sight, both programs seem enticing, from what they promise almost to good to be true. As I'm not quite savvy in such things, I'd appreciate any input here. My computer isn't quite the latest model, a Pentium4 with 2 megahertz and 1 GB RAM, running Windows XP/SP3. My security setup right now is Avira Antivir with the integrated Windows Firewall. As said, it would be nice if someone could share their experience, or offer an opinion about the two. Thanks a lot, Feline

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31. Oct 2010, 03:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
eyeb Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Planet X Posts: 487	i like time freeze a bit better. they both work well its just I didn't like how returnil seemed to cut into my hdd space so much. maybe it's changed since i last used it about a year and a half ago but since i'm satisfied with time freeze i never went back to test out newer returnil. i like the files/folder protect on time freeze as well, not sure if returnil had something like that edit: also on time freeze, make a data partition and work out of it. this lets you save things after reboot. Returnil makes a virtual disk that does this. Both ways are fine but with a partition i can access files in ubuntu as well while i cant if it was in a virtual disk

31. Oct 2010, 05:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	@ Feline, I have Time Freeze 2 on two PC's and use it a lot, and although I got it from a promotion so didn't pay for it - it's still a commercial program, not freeware, so I won't say too much about that, only that I've never had a problem with it and it works extremely well. However, I did briefly download and use the 'free' Time Freeze a while ago, the one you refer to, and that also worked very well for me. It's very similar to the paid version, simple to set up and use. I had no problems with it and, looking at the specs of your PC, you shouldn't have any problems with it either. You don't need 'quite latest model', I ran it on half the RAM you have. It runs very light. I only use it for trying out different software most of the time, I don't have it running at start-up, just switch it on and off when the need arises. You can either run it all the time or control it via the on-off switch. Once it's switched on you are protected from whatever changes are made to your PC while you use it - downloading, installing, all that - when you switch it off you get the option to transfer the 'virtual' system data to your 'actual' system. If you select that option then you'll have a 15/20 second pause as it goes back to your normal system - and any changes you've made will be saved to your PC. But if when switching it off you select the 'do not transfer' option, then you're systen will restart and any changes you've made will be deleted - everything, there will be no trace left, so any work you may have done will be lost. It leaves no traces, nothing. It's like having you're whole system in a Sandbox, to put it simply - I have never noticed any slow downs [browsing etc] while using Time Freeze, you're PC should work just the same as it always does. I've never used Returnil so I can't help you there.

31. Oct 2010, 05:53 PM	#5 (permalink)
Feline Full Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 41	Thanks, deya, that already helps me a lot! I'm tending more and more towards Time Freeze, anyway, so any user experience is much appreciated! Also good to hear that my comp isn't that out of date, as some of the young'uns want to make me believe when they figure out that my latest computer game is Age of Empires 2... Feline

31. Oct 2010, 07:22 PM	#6 (permalink)
bo.elam Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 1,224	Feline, I am using Time Freeze, never tried Returnil. All I can say is that I love the program and it works perfectly with no problems at all. I use it, like deya, for trying out programs. Go for it. The free version is the version that was paid when Time Freeze 2 came out. Bo

31. Oct 2010, 07:40 PM	#7 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	Best thing to do is just download and try it. Time Freeze isn't too complicated to set up and use, the settings are easy to understand and if you don't like it it uninstalls easily enough. I use it if I'm going to download something I'm not sure of so I just open the program and switch it on, download whatever it is, install it and run it. If I don't like the software I turn Time Freeze off and let it re-start the PC. When it's re booted it's just like the software I tried was never there, it leaves no traces. So you could have Time Freeze on your PC and switch it on before you start browsing if you wanted to, that way if you come across something nasty it can't install on your actual system, and whatever it was will be gone if you let Time Freeze re start the PC. You mentioned that what it offers seems too good to be true, but in my experience of using it it is true - I was like you at first, a bit unsure, a bit dubious. I have a spare machine so I installed it on that at first, it's more or less the same as yours only with less RAM, but Time Freeze worked on it without issue. So then I put in on my main PC, same thing, no problems. I have it on both now and use it a lot, it's never done anything other than what it should do. I wouldn't be without it now. Sometimes [not often] things are as good as advertised. I just think Time Freeze is one of those things.

31. Oct 2010, 07:45 PM	#8 (permalink)
eyeb Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Planet X Posts: 487	since no one's talked about returnil yet i'll say some about it lol It works by cloning the hdd so it cuts the size in half and then anything you do after it is on gets saved to the clone and is erased at reboot. It also has an option to create a virtual disk that you can save files to keep after reboot. I don't like loosing the hdd space or the virtual disk for changes. I rather have data partition because I can get to files without hassle of remounting a disk to it. Now i dont know if returnil works differently now but that was my experience with it about a year ago. it provides the same security as time freeze, i just didn't like it's "disadventages" as i saw it. others might not see those two things i listed as disadvantages but i did edit: another tip is if you do leave time freeze on at boot, i'd install antivirus to data partition. This allows you to keep the database updates through reboot so you'll have the current one later. You might not need antivirus if you have time freeze on at boot since virus will be lost at reboot but it's still good to know if you are downloading things to data partition

31. Oct 2010, 11:40 PM	#10 (permalink)
Feline Full Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 41	Hmmm... I've installed (and registered) Time Freeze 1, but the program has a corrupt window - part of its right side is cut off. In short - unusable. It doesn't get better after restarting the computer. I had read their FAQ and disabled System Restore; I also defragmented the c drive. No idea what went wrong. Maybe I uninstall it and try to reinstall it. Did anyone have had a similar problem? Feline