Description:
The latest in Roxio's system recovery line, GoBack 3 Deluxe is full of data recovery and system restoration features aimed at restoring a troubled system to a functional state in as short a time as possible. Among its arsenal of quick fixes are a file recovery system that restores files deleted from the Windows recycle bin, a boot manager that allows users to repair operating systems that won't start at all, and more. The meat of the program is its drive restoration function, which creates periodic system safe points to which GoBack can revert a system. For example, if a recently installed program causes some sort of failure, GoBack can restore the system to its state prior to the program's installation. Or if the PC worked when the system was booted up but some unknown factor has hosed it, GoBack can revert the system to its startup state. GoBack can catalog several restore points, depending on the amount of available disk drive space it has. One feature even allows GoBack to revert a system to a particular safe point on a regular basis, which is ideal for PCs in controlled environments. GoBack 3 caters to newbies and experienced users alike. The application is capable of automating everything for hands-off drive preservation, but is also completely configurable. The documentation, both online and physical, is thorough and friendly, as are the tutorials, so anyone willing to spend the necessary time will be able to take full advantage of GoBack's layered features. The major flaw with GoBack is its propensity to churn the hard drive almost incessantly. It's especially noticeable right after the program is installed and after the user installs new software. This victimizes owners of older systems lacking DMA hard drives by bogging down almost everything, from simple Windows Explorer file management to application loading. Modern systems are more forgiving; however, writes (saving data to the hard drive) are noticeably bottlenecked. GoBack 3 Deluxe isn't a replacement for regular backups of your important data files--it can't save your system in the case of a catastrophic hardware failure--but its wide range of system restore features can greatly cut down the time necessary for recovery from a virus, a failed program installation, driver corruption, or other common data problems. --Joel Durham, Jr.
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