Is reboot necessary for auto deletion of snapshots?

[Dagrev]

It seems my snapshots that are set to be auto deleted (in one day) are not removed unless I completely reboot. (At least that's what was needed today.) Is that the correct process? I was thinking they would be deleted even after hibernation or even if the computer was left on.

Thanks

[HDS-Jacob]

Hi Dagrev,

Let's see if we can get some suggestions for you here.

Best,
Jacob

[Dagrev]

No one run into this but me?

I used Comodo TM (which is dangerous) for a while and it would auto delete them without having to reboot. I find this the way to go as I find no need to reboot every day and would like to not have to now if possible, nor do I prefer to have to delete manually every day.

[Froggie]

Hi Dagrev! From my experience, although the snapshot will be removed from the list following a deletion, the deleted snapshot data is freed up and made available during the reBOOT process. Since my snapshots are usually pretty small, this has never been an inconvenience for me as I do reboot quite often in my normal environment.

All versions of Windows are known to "gather" resources while they are operating and don't always release them when they should... this only happens in its entirety during a reBOOT. As a result, over time certain Windows resources will slowly disappear (caches, gueue lengths, temp table space). Much of this is rumor and much is also fact.

Not taking any chances, I usually restart (not HIBERNATE/SLEEP) at least once weekly and recommend same to those I support/help. If it's not a hassle, it's just practicing a good OS habit.

[Dagrev]

Thanks Froggie.

The thing is my snapshots that are older than one day are still in the list of snapshots until I reboot. (I have my hourly snapshots set to be removed after one day. I have a daily that is locked and saved longer till I know there are no problems.)

They are still in the list past their "due date" until a reboot. I gather from your comment that this is not normal and they should at least be removed from the list. is that correct?

Thanks!

[Froggie]

I don't watch this too closely, but I believe all "programatically" deleted snapshots will not leave the list until a system reBOOT/reSTART. Manually deleted snapshots will leave the list when the delete is issued. In both cases, the snapshot space will not be freed up 'til the next reBOOT/reSTART is performed.

[Dagrev]

OK, thanks. That's kind of a pain as I don't reboot but about once a week myself. No need to--until now that is. Odd that Comodo the (lesser program) doesn't require this but RBRx does. Someone ought to work on that, if nothing else as a matter of pride. But I am thankful that RB seems stable thus far.

[Froggie]

Be careful... CTM may be fooling you. The snapshot may be leaving the list (this is easy to do, RB just doesn't do it for automatically deleted snaps) but I can almost guarantee that the snaps space is not going away 'til the next reboot. That process requires being OUT of Windows to perform... that's why it's only done during reboots.

Remember... it's just a list, nothing more

[Dagrev]

I think CMT is fooling a lot of people!

I see. Fortunately I'm not using CMT on anything. It made me too nervous with all the serious problems people were having with it. That's why I went with RBRx--it seems much more stable.

Thanks for the insight!

[Froggie]

Originally Posted by Dagrev

That's why I went with RBRx--it seems much more stable.

If it makes you feel any better, I use this product EXTENSIVELY... probably consisting of 25-40 Rollbacks a week. I take many, many manual snapshots a day as well as 3-programmed ones. The machine is used in a testbed laboratory testing hundreds of product installations as well as looking for some "nastys" from potential driveby download sites. The product allows me to UnINSTALL applications in the cleanest possible manner available, test system effects from installed applications, and occasionally eliminates virii that have snuck in while I watch.

In all this testing, only 1 undetected virus (a nasty one that tickled the MBR with its own code) has made its way into the system that I couldn't dump with Rollback (although I was able to get back to its baseline without it). I don't use Rollback for AntiVirus/AntiSpyware purposes... that's what those products are for, but Rollback has been phenomenal as far as its performance under XP Pro, Vista and W7.

I don't think I can compute without it anymore...