Check out my review on Returnil Free 2010. Returnil allows you to put malware infections, system corruption and accidental file deletion a thing of the past….for FREE!!! Enjoy. Oh…they also offer a paid version that gives ya some pretty useful features (and support)
Returnil 2010 Review
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
I like it…. but im still staying with MSE for now.
Ok ya messed up on that 1 matt. they say the virus guard is on when the safe protection is on or off so you didnt test the virus guard to see if it works so i can get rid of my antivirus lol you messed up! the virus guard is for when safe protection is off.
@Ryan: apples and oranges.
oranges ftw love them
)))))))))))!!!!!
My only concern with this and any similar virtualization system is that it doesn’t allow for defrag, yet Vista and later have automatically schedule defrag and some 3rd party apps have on-the-fly defrag so I guess that would be a problem with having it on all the time.
Matt when you test outpost security can you test it with just the firewall first with HIPs all the way up? Iam using outpost firewall free with hips cranked and sandboxie. 136 commit charge and 20 procces I dont know why any 1 would use an antivirus with this its zero chance of getting infected.using superantispyware for scanner.
If you defrag with it turned off, it will stay defragged, so it becomes unnecessary.
This sounds exactly like Deep Freeze software from Faronics. I’ve used Deep Freeze for years and love it. It too can set aside space to save documents, called a Thawspace in their program. However, Returnil’s being *free* is awesome and has caught my attention. It seems to lack some polish though and needs to be a bit more user-friendly to set it up. The on/off states need to have the colors reversed, for example. Red should be off…green should be on.
…another point about the defrag. In fact, Vista’s defrag could be turned completely off since it’s pointless to run it.
if you have more than one partition you can save data without creating the z partition. just save stuff on the D: partition.
Hi shifflav, why is it pointless to run defrag on Vista? I use ‘myDefrag’ as a defragmantation screen saver on Vista.
Great review. Thanks Matt!
I love it when I hear about interesting software I didn’t know existed.
Right now, I use another method to accomplish what Returnil would do for me. I have an external hard drive and bought a bootable backup program, Acronis. You’ll be out $100 doing it that way, but I back up the kids computer every week or so. Any issues and I take the boot CD Acronis lets you create to reinstall the backup. It totally replaces what is currently on the hard drive. This is also good for replacing a hard drive. It makes the backup in the background as you use the computer.
If you’re going to use Acronis, at half that price you can get True Image 2009, which besides being a very good product for backups, cloning etc., it gives you the “Try and Decide” function, which implements a virtualization environment and can be turned on and off at will.
@dario
I meant Vista’s defrag service could be turned off *if you are running Returnil*. There’s no sense having defrag running when it’s not going to do anything.
True Image 2009 is Acronis although 1 version old now. The try and decide only works if you create a secure zone on an connected drive,so I have never used that feature. I have True Image since version 8 though and think it is a great product.
I’ve used both deep freeze and Returnil and think they both work great. Returnil gives a little better control to the user though, and that is good sometimes and bad sometimes.
Matt… You could have reviewed or tested the virus guard too =(
Another great review.
where is the fourms
Does returnil 2010 work on 64 bit systems?
I bet there not to many people that know about the free kaspersky virus remover tool check it out guy’s well worth a look.
Here’s the link
http://www.malwarehelp.org/free-kaspersky-virus-removal-software-2009.html
@max yes it does
Great review like Returnil its a very good app, but prefer shadow defender for a couple of reasons the right click and commit the file to the real system is a great addition and the ability to exit shadow mode and commit all change make it my preferred choice, no free version but a one time subscription charge make it great value, but regardless both Retirnil and Shadow defender are great and both support x64 windows (shadow defender is in beta but very stable and close to release)
Have used, in combination, Returnil or Steadystate and Acronis. Returnil and Steadystate prevent unwanted changes to C drive. Acronis backup helps recover C drive in case of partition failure. I’ve used this combination for years and have not had any virus or partition failure from which I could not recover. Mac propaganda could not be more wrong.
Defrag before installing Returnil and you will very rarely have to defrag again. Returnil works great with W7. I use steadystate on all the xp workstations in my lab.
I am not interested in ’saving’, but want to keep my system safe.
Should I run Returnil in the ON mode, or OFF mode? Or, does it matter.
If my system were compromised, how do I get it back? Or if I want to make changes (delete files, etc.) do I turn Returnil OFF, and then back ON.
The video was very instructive about the installation process, but I am confused as to how to utilize the program. Thanks, kw