Reboot to restore software

Last updated

Reboot to restore software is a system of restore technology that enables restoring the user-defined system configuration of a computing device after every restart. [1] The technology maintains systems in their optimal working conditions and is used in multi-user computing environments. [2]

Contents

Deploying solutions based on reboot to restore technology allows users to define a system configuration as the desired state. The baseline is the point that is restored on reboot. Once the baseline is set, the reboot to restore software continues to restore that configuration every time the device restarts or switches on after a shutdown. [3]

How it works

Reboot to restore software helps to maintain optimal system configuration. The technology prevents many alterations to the baseline configuration, whether user-inflicted or automatic. [2] Alterations by end users are primarily changes to system settings, installing or uninstalling of software or applications, enabling or disabling specific functionalities, and so on. The automatic alterations include cookies, add-ons and browser extensions, and several types of temporary files that often download in the background during an online session. The software also rolls back malicious alterations made by malware that penetrates a system and attempts to corrupt it. [4]

Uses

Reboot to restore software simplifies maintaining optimal system configuration of devices in a multi-user computing environment such as public libraries, computer labs in educational institutions, training centers, and public access kiosks. Because of constant use by multiple people for a wide range of purposes, these devices become susceptible to performance deterioration and malware infiltration. [5]

During events of system malfunction or failure, it takes a considerably longer time to troubleshoot the issue using conventional practices like resetting or re-imaging. This may lead to prolonged downtime, causing poor user experience, potential loss of business opportunity, and higher maintenance costs. [6]

Restore on reboot functionality maintains the best system configuration (pristine state) in every public-access computer without the long-drawn troubleshooting steps. Instant restoration technology allows end-users to resolve system issues by simply restarting the device, which significantly reduces intervention by IT. The technology restores pristine configuration with every reboot, but the end user’s system achieves optimum performance. The technology helps to deliver maximum system uptime, which improves operational efficiency and resource utilization. [7]

System administrators at corporations deploy reboot to restore solutions to create pristine environments with little troubleshooting. They use the software to protect the system drive and allocate a separate data partition, which can store or redirect user and application data. [8]

Software built on reboot to restore technology

Windows SteadyState

Initially named Shared Computer Toolkit, [9] Windows SteadyState [10] is a software helps reboot and restore solution offered by Microsoft. It is compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems. Microsoft discontinued Windows SteadyState in December 2010. [11] Educational institutes and public libraries primarily use the software.

SteadyState features a Windows Disk Protection (WDP) functionality. When enabled, it redirects the user-generated changes to a cache. The software had three modes: discard, persist, and commit. The discard mode clears the cache on reboot and restores the original configuration. The persist mode retains the cache for a specific time, during which IT administrators may opt to discard or commit the changes. In the commit mode, all changes are permanently written on the hard disk as usual.[ citation needed ]

Deep Freeze

Deep Freeze by Faronics was one of the first rollback software solutions to leverage the Reboot to Restore technology, [12] releasing its first Windows solution in 1999, followed by a Mac OS solution in 2005. [13]

Deep Freeze uses patented technology [14] [15] [16] [17] and redirects information being written to the hard drive or partition to an allocation table, leaving the original data intact. The redirected information on the allocation table is no longer referenced once the computer is restarted, therefore restoring the computer back to its original state at the disk sector level down to the last byte.[ citation needed ]

Extending the functionalities of the reboot to restore technology, [18] the software has the provision of ThawSpaces or Thawed Partitions for permanently saving user-generated data without altering the baseline configuration. ThawSpace is a virtual space that system administrators can create within the Deep Freeze ecosystem if the hard disk does not have a partition. Content stored in the ThawSpace is retained across reboots. Thawed Partitions are the parts of a hard disk that are exempted from the effects of Reboot to Restore technology.

Other system restoration software

Both Microsoft and Apple Inc. offer restoration tools (though not based on Reboot to Restore technology) embedded with their respective operating systems. [19] [20] [21]

Windows System Restore

System Restore is an inbuilt feature of Windows [22] and is available in all the latest versions of the OS. [20] It reverts system files and settings to a previous point in time without affecting personal files. When enabled, the software automatically creates Restore Points [23] at regular intervals and before every major instance of configuration alteration like driver update or new application installation. When a device malfunctions, running System Restore rolls back the configuration to a Restore Point where the particular issue did not exist.

Reset (Windows 8)

The Reset option was introduced with Windows 8 and is used for restoring [24] systems to factory defaults. It re-installs the Windows OS and permanently discards all files and system settings other than the pre-installed applications.

Time Machine

Time Machine (macOS) functions more as a backup utility than a restoration program. [25] It creates incremental snapshots of the system configuration periodically and requires an external storage device for backing up the MacOS. This backup can later be used to restore a previous configuration as and when required. [19] The software can also be used to restore specific items like deleted emails or older versions of files rather than the entire configuration.

Refresh

Also introduced with Windows 8, Refresh re-installs [21] the Windows OS but retains user files, the pre-installed applications, and those installed by the users. Running the reset option is advised only if Refresh fails to resolve the issue.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disk partitioning</span> Creation of separate accessible storage areas on a secondary computer storage device

Disk partitioning or disk slicing is the creation of one or more regions on secondary storage, so that each region can be managed separately. These regions are called partitions. It is typically the first step of preparing a newly installed disk, before any file system is created. The disk stores the information about the partitions' locations and sizes in an area known as the partition table that the operating system reads before any other part of the disk. Each partition then appears to the operating system as a distinct "logical" disk that uses part of the actual disk. System administrators use a program called a partition editor to create, resize, delete, and manipulate the partitions. Partitioning allows the use of different filesystems to be installed for different kinds of files. Separating user data from system data can prevent the system partition from becoming full and rendering the system unusable. Partitioning can also make backing up easier. A disadvantage is that it can be difficult to properly size partitions, resulting in having one partition with too much free space and another nearly totally allocated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drive letter assignment</span> Alphabetical assignment to logical drives on computers (e.g., C:\)

In computer data storage, drive letter assignment is the process of assigning alphabetical identifiers to volumes. Unlike the concept of UNIX mount points, where volumes are named and located arbitrarily in a single hierarchical namespace, drive letter assignment allows multiple highest-level namespaces. Drive letter assignment is thus a process of using letters to name the roots of the "forest" representing the file system; each volume holds an independent "tree".

In computing, a plug and play (PnP) device or computer bus is one with a specification that facilitates the recognition of a hardware component in a system without the need for physical device configuration or user intervention in resolving resource conflicts. The term "plug and play" has since been expanded to a wide variety of applications to which the same lack of user setup applies.

NTLDR is the boot loader for all releases of Windows NT operating system from 1993 with the release of Windows NT 3.1 up until Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. From Windows Vista onwards it was replaced by the BOOTMGR bootloader. NTLDR is typically run from the primary storage device, but it can also run from portable storage devices such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, or floppy disk. NTLDR can also load a non NT-based operating system given the appropriate boot sector in a file.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live CD</span> Complete, bootable computer installation that runs directly from a CD-ROM

A live CD is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM or similar storage device into a computer's memory, rather than loading from a hard disk drive. A live CD allows users to run an operating system for any purpose without installing it or making any changes to the computer's configuration. Live CDs can run on a computer without secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive, or with a corrupted hard disk drive or file system, allowing data recovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multi-booting</span> Act of installing multiple operating systems on a single computer

Multi-booting is the act of installing multiple operating systems on a single computer, and being able to choose which one to boot. The term dual-booting refers to the common configuration of specifically two operating systems. Multi-booting may require a custom boot loader.

The Encrypting File System (EFS) on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides filesystem-level encryption. The technology enables files to be transparently encrypted to protect confidential data from attackers with physical access to the computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghost (disk utility)</span> Disk cloning and backup tool

GHOST, now Symantec™ GHOST Solution Suite (GSS) for enterprise, is a disk cloning and backup tool originally developed by Murray Haszard in 1995 for Binary Research. The technology was acquired in 1998 by Symantec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFI</span> Operating system and firmware specification

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface is a specification that defines the architecture of the platform firmware used for booting the computer hardware and its interface for interaction with the operating system. Examples of firmware that implement the specification are AMI Aptio, Phoenix SecureCore, TianoCore EDK II, InsydeH2O. UEFI replaces the BIOS which was present in the boot ROM of all personal computers that are IBM PC compatible, although it can provide backwards compatibility with the BIOS using CSM booting. Intel developed the original Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) specification. Some of the EFI's practices and data formats mirror those of Microsoft Windows. In 2005, UEFI deprecated EFI 1.10.

Bare-metal restore is a technique in the field of data recovery and restoration where the backed up data is available in a form that allows one to restore a computer system from "bare metal", i.e. without any requirements as to previously installed software or operating system.

Safe mode is a diagnostic mode of a computer operating system (OS). It can also refer to a mode of operation by application software. Safe mode is intended to help fix most, if not all, problems within an operating system. It is also widely used for removing rogue security software.

In computing, data recovery is a process of retrieving deleted, inaccessible, lost, corrupted, damaged, or formatted data from secondary storage, removable media or files, when the data stored in them cannot be accessed in a usual way. The data is most often salvaged from storage media such as internal or external hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), USB flash drives, magnetic tapes, CDs, DVDs, RAID subsystems, and other electronic devices. Recovery may be required due to physical damage to the storage devices or logical damage to the file system that prevents it from being mounted by the host operating system (OS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Preinstallation Environment</span> Lightweight version of Microsoft Windows for deployment

Windows Preinstallation Environment is a lightweight version of Windows used for the deployment of PCs, workstations, and servers, or troubleshooting an operating system while it is offline. It is intended to replace MS-DOS boot disks and can be booted via USB flash drive, PXE, iPXE, CD, DVD, or hard disk. Traditionally used by large corporations and OEMs, it is now widely available free of charge via Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (WADK).

In computing, SUBST is a command on the DOS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and ReactOS operating systems used for substituting paths on physical and logical drives as virtual drives.

Hibernation in computing is powering down a computer while retaining its state. When hibernation begins, the computer saves the contents of its random access memory (RAM) to a hard disk or other non-volatile storage. When the computer is turned on the RAM is restored and the computer is exactly as it was before entering hibernation. Hibernation was first implemented in 1992 and patented by Compaq Computer Corporation in Houston, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recovery disc</span> Media intended to restore the operating system

The terms Recovery disc, Rescue Disk/Disc and Emergency Disk all refer to a capability to boot from an external device, possibly a thumb drive, that includes a self-running operating system: the ability to be a boot disk/Disc that runs independent of an internal hard drive that may be failing, or for some other reason is not the operating system to be run.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live USB</span> USB drive with a full bootable operating system

A live USB is a portable USB-attached external data storage device containing a full operating system that can be booted from. The term is reminiscent of USB flash drives but may encompass an external hard disk drive or solid-state drive, though they may be referred to as "live HDD" and "live SSD" respectively. They are the evolutionary next step after live CDs, but with the added benefit of writable storage, allowing customizations to the booted operating system. Live USBs can be used in embedded systems for system administration, data recovery, or test driving, and can persistently save settings and install software packages on the USB device.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Home Server</span> Home server operating system by Microsoft released in 2007

Windows Home Server is a home server operating system from Microsoft. It was announced on 7 January 2007 at the Consumer Electronics Show by Bill Gates, released to manufacturing on 16 July 2007 and officially released on 4 November 2007.

Windows Vista contains a range of new technologies and features that are intended to help network administrators and power users better manage their systems. Notable changes include a complete replacement of both the Windows Setup and the Windows startup processes, completely rewritten deployment mechanisms, new diagnostic and health monitoring tools such as random access memory diagnostic program, support for per-application Remote Desktop sessions, a completely new Task Scheduler, and a range of new Group Policy settings covering many of the features new to Windows Vista. Subsystem for UNIX Applications, which provides a POSIX-compatible environment is also introduced.

In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot in which the power to the system is physically turned off and back on again ; or a warm reboot in which the system restarts while still powered up. The term restart is used to refer to a reboot when the operating system closes all programs and finalizes all pending input and output operations before initiating a soft reboot.

References

  1. ↑ Hand, Carl. "Minimize IT helpdesk overload with Reboot to Restore technology". www.whatech.com. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  2. 1 2 "Simplify managing classroom computers with Reboot to Restore Software". IT Pro Portal. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  3. ↑ Faronics. "Deep Freeze 8.5 Version Launched to Restore Windows 10 With Single Reboot" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  4. ↑ Richardson 2018-12-06T10:00:50ZSoftware, Jose. "Reboot to restore software—A preferred Windows steady state alternative for educational institutes". IT Pro Portal. Retrieved 2018-12-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ DCALDWELL-STONE (2016-07-28). "Library Privacy Guidelines for Public Access Computers and Networks". Advocacy, Legislation & Issues. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  6. ↑ "Malware - What Is It and How To Avoid It". Michigan Department of Attorney General. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Reboot to Restore Software Reviews and Pricing—2018". www.capterra.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  8. ↑ Williams, Matt (2017-11-08). "Deep Freeze Reboot to Restore: The Ultimate Workstation Protection Solution Suite". Faronics. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  9. ↑ Shinder, Deb. "How to use Microsoft's shared computer toolkit". Computerworld. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  10. ↑ "Windows SteadyState". Download.com. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  11. ↑ "Windows SteadyState will be phased out". support.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  12. ↑ "Reboot To Restore Software | Windows System Restore Software". Faronics. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  13. ↑ Blum, Jonathan (January 17, 2008). "Macworld's best debut: Design tool that Flows". CNN Money . Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  14. ↑ US 7539828,Lomnes, Randy Keith,"Method and system for automatically preserving persistent storage",published 2009-05-26, assigned to Faronics Corp.
  15. ↑ US 7917717,Lomnes, Randy Keith,"Method and system for automatically preserving persistent storage",published 2011-03-29, assigned to Faronics Corp.
  16. ↑ US 9152824,Lomnes, Randy Keith,"Method and system for automatically preserving persistent storage",published 2015-10-06, assigned to Faronics Corp.
  17. ↑ US 9785370,Lomnes, Randy Keith,"Method and system for automatically preserving persistent storage",published 2017-10-10, assigned to Faronics Corp. )
  18. ↑ "Reboot to Restore". Faronics. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  19. 1 2 "Time Machine". Apple Support. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  20. 1 2 "Microsoft Says They Can Recover Files Deleted by Windows 10 October 2018 Update". BleepingComputer. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  21. 1 2 "How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC". support.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  22. ↑ Binder, Matt. "Microsoft says it can recover missing files following botched Windows 10 update". Mashable. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  23. ↑ "Windows 10: How to create a System Restore". Softonic. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  24. ↑ "How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC". support.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  25. ↑ "Apple releases macOS Mojave- Business News". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.