Retrospect Suddenly Slows My Pc

[jellyreagan]

I have been using Retrospect for what seems like ten years, starting with Express, then v.6 and onto Pro 7.0.301. I have never completely understood it but used it weekly to incrementally backup and duplicate my C drive to another internal drive and an external drive. I have never updated beyond the original 7.0.301 and still use it with windows XP. Last week everything changed - when I started Retrospect it now takes several minutes to load and causes all my other software to run in slow motion. The short of it is I can no longer use the Retrospect and suspect it might have have corrupted or be in conflict with other software on my computer. I have attempted to both repair and remove retrospect by using the original disk and from the control panel. Nothing seems to work. When I re-install it never asks me for my original key code so I suspect it has never fully removed itself when I do an uninstall. At times I have seen an error message - Retrospect unable to load UNIXVOL.RPX - error 63 (bad program extension). At the moment my only work around has been to boot in safe mode and for some reason Retrospect seems to work fine and allows me to duplicate to my internal drive but not to my external drive. I have not tried backups in safe mode. I have also done a system restore going back more than a week but this did not help. Need help badly.

[shmoozy1]

This problem (and a host of other backup/startup/restore problems) is undoubtedly related to a recent automatic update to Windows.

I first had this very problem about 3 weeks ago but having figured out that it began very shortly after I installed an update to Windows (my version is XP SP 3).

For what it is worth I think (but CANNOT BE SURE) that the conflict lay in the .NET framework update

I tried rolling back the updates one by one without a great deal of success (MS makes it pretty hard to do) I then did a restore from Retrospect to my Windows folder of a week earlier. Hey presto problem gone and Retrospect ran smoothly for the next three weeks UNTIL friday when another Win update was accepted (by my kids) and resulted in a usual 10minute 1 am backup still hanging the computer 11 hours later.

Yes I know the easy solution would have been to repeat what I had done previously but somehow my backup folder was corrupted and all of my backup files disappeared. So far I have tried reinstalling Windows XP (repair install) NO CHANGE, Reinstalling Retropsect (no change), upgrading retrospect to version 7.7 (no change) and about to try to look for another backup solution. Clearly the number of hang/error/fail to start problems that have cropped up in the last few weeks on the bulletin boards are related to this update issue. We all had a fully functioning product beforehand and we are all experiencing (and describing slightly differently) much the same issues.

PLEASE ROXIO person, find the conflict and give us a resolution path otherwise my multi year use (and upgrades) of your otherwise excellent product will end. Just can't spend hours and hours trying to make my back up solution viable.

[jellyreagan]

Thanks for your response Schmoozy. I suspect you are right. I have used retrospect for years and liked it very much when it was owned by Dantz and there support was good. I have frequently had problems with Roxio and finally quit using them a few years back as their support and software glitches were so bad. I think we are wasting our time waiting for help from them and I have switched to another software although I would have preferred to continue using Retrospect. I was surprised when there was no comment from "Mayoff" as he was the go to man when Dantz had the software. I suspect he is not allowed to comment as my version of Retrospect is possibly is not a current version. Companies like this often die a slow death as word gets around.

 

thanks again, mwdcanuck

[shmoozy1]

I can suggest this as a workaround/short term repair solution

Its interesting to note that this problem does NOT manifest itself while Windows is running in safe mode ie Retrospect splash screen and program open as it used to do in seconds and the computer does not grind to a halt. My short term fix suggestion would be to go to Safe Mode, run retrospect and restore your Windows folder only (with overwrite) from an existing backup that is say from early July and then be very cautious about which updates you allow. That worked for me last time and it is exactly what I would have done had my backup files not disappeared on me yesterday. In the meantime we await some action from the programmers at Roxio who might be able to issue a hotfix to counter the issue once and for all.

[jellyreagan]

Thanks again Shmoozy: My computer skills are somewhat limited and out of frustration I had already uninstalled Retrospect and I hesitate doing another install but may consider it. I had previously run retrospect in safe mode as a work around and it worked just fine as long as I was backing up to my second internal drive which was great. Unfortunately it would not allow me to backup to my external drive as it was not recognized in safe mode. As for attempting to restore my Windows folder this is miles over my head so I will pass on that one. For now I will just work with Easus Todo backup freeware and hope that Roxio will post a fix the what currently ails the retrospect software. Your help is much appreciated.

 

best regards, mwdcanuck

[shmoozy1]

I am pleased to report that I was able to wind back my Windows installation to a date in early July (the 4th as it happens) and hey presto Retrospect is working as it always did.

The method is to start in Safe Mode (where Retrospect works without the "issue") and do a restore from a back up set that you have available. The only part of my system that I restored was the Windows folder on the C drive and in setting up the restore I asked Retrospect to always overwrite. Restart out of Safe Mode and then it is all back to normal (for now at least).

Honestly its not at all hard to boot into safe mode (all you need to do is hit F8 as the computer is running through its start up routine (before the Windows screen appears) and then once you are in to the boot options to select Safe mode with networking. Once you select that windows will look very very familiar (and you can do no harm). Start Retrospect, hit restore and then restore your Windows directory to the C drive from an earlier backup. Once the restore finishes restart your computer and you will be back in normal windows with a functioning Retrospect which (after having tried Easeus) is still a far superior back up solution.

Best of luck

Edited August 15, 2011 by Shmoozy

[jellyreagan]

Good Morning Shmoozy: I may try what you have suggested but I have a couple of questions. When I restore the old "windows" folder from a previous backup what else might I be altering? My windows file has roughly 9600 folders and 57,000 files is it possible I might foul up some other software in the process? Assuming I do the restore and retrospect starts working properly again how do I prevent my MS updates from corrupting retrospect in the future when MS automatically updates my computer software? The other thing I do not understand is that when I install retrospect back onto my computer it no longer requests the usual code numbers that allow the software to install. It just seems to install completely on it's own or am I missing something? Maybe "Mayoff" might comment in this regard.

 

Thanks, mwdcanuck

[shmoozy1]

Good morning to you

When you uninstalled Retrospect it didn't completely remove itself (most programs maintain a presence just so that reinstallation and configuration is simpler if you change your mind). The configuration files are still in your computer and hence it remembers you as a registered user.

As far as the restore is concerned I don't think its a risk (I have done the same to my systems on two separate computers more than once). If Windows was working perfectly well last month than copying over the old files is doing no more than putting your system back in the state it was in before the proverbial hit the fan. It will not alter your user data, pst files or anything else you might want to preserve they are all in other parts of the C drive (one of the better architectural features of recent windows releases). Its simply rolling back your windows state.

Finally you can turn your automatic updates to "notify" rather than instal automatically and you can look out for and avoid downloading .NET updates (if you unselect a proposed update windows will ask you whether you want to be notified of it again and you can check no and it should not pop up again to haunt you). In any event I suggest you do as I have just done and make a separate backup of your reinstalled windows folder once you are sure it is all working well and then if you ever need to you can simply roll back again to the earlier install. It really is relatively painless.

Finally and without any irony at all this is the whole purpose of using a backup solution in the first place so you can in fact BACK UP to a point where all was working fine. If only we could do so in life.

Best of luck

[jellyreagan]

I looked at what you suggested Shmoozy but didn't feel confident enough to do what you suggested. I re-installed Retrospect 7 briefly and booted into safe mode and then tried to figure out the restore procedure. The backup I would have restored from is on an external drive and booting into safe mode does not show that drive under "my computer". The backup on my 2nd. internal drive contains a "windows" file which I backed up in safe mode when the first glitch occurred. Not sure why the "C" drive "windows" file contains 10.64 GB, 57,399 files and 9642 folders while the copy on the "D" drive is 13.4 GB, 60,784 files and 10,235 folders. Then I couldn't determine which of the old retrospect catalogues to use as they were outdated and I wasn't certain which one I should try to re-create. To make a long story short it was beyond my technical expertise coupled with my fears that I might end up crashing the "C" drive and no longer have a computer to use. I opted to just back off and hope that Roxio might come up with a fix for the glitch but won't hold my breath. Sad after all these years of getting comfortable with Retrospect. For the time being Easus has just released their v.3 and that will have to do. I thank you very much for all your time and trouble but I think we are obviously in different tech. leagues and I best leave well enough alone.

 

regards, mwdcanuck

[8d4315b0-91aa-483a-acfb-d6c457d8d4a1]

Not used to posts. So here goes for third time!!!

 

Retrospect 7.6.111

XP sp3

Avast antivirus.

 

After hours and hours of peering at slow screen.

It fits in with rollback and replacing windows file.

 

I fixed my almost identical problem by using this patch - http://public.avast.com/~kurtin/patches/#ap20111707002

 

It came from this thread that i found - http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=81135.45

 

I'm running a backup at the moment all running smoothly. Remember to reboot after placing patch. Nodoubt Avast will sort this at next prog update.