Anyone tryed Returnil?

[Matty_]

Just trying out a product called Returnil Virtual System 2010 which may be of interest to some of you.
So what is it and what does it do?

You have maybe heard of Virtual Machines where you can have a machine running virtually alongside your host machine (check out the great tutorial/information post done by Zing)
RVS 2010 works in a differant way. When you enable the program it runs a copy of your operating system in a virtual enviroment and anything you do will not be carried over once you re-boot.
So basically you can enable Returnil then do whatever you want, this is great for testing software your not sure about if you don`t like it you just re-boot and it`s as if it was never there.
There is a drawback in that it only works with stuff that doesn`t require a re-boot, allthough this can be overcome by saving to another medium(usb etc).

Maybe you have kids that use your computer and allways mess up the settings. You can make it start with windows and password protect the interface so only you can disable it, which you may wan`t to do to get AV/Microsoft updates. There is a method of saving files onto a virtual disc which doesn`t get deleted on re-boot but i haven`t explored that yet.

Also included is an AV which is powered by the F-Prot engine, my thoughts on this are iffy at best but you can make your own mind up.

Anyway have a look http://www.returnilvirtualsystem.com/rvs-home-free it may be worth adding to your security arsenal, it seems light on my system and there is barely a noticable slow-down.
I`ve thrown quite a bit at it in the last couple of days (including malware) at it`s come up trumps every time.
Also handy for when you may wan`t to visit............

[Kymmy]

I just use VMware, you can set it up how you want, take a snapshot or use a non-persistant disc..

[Quam256]

I have the Returnil Virtual System 2010 Lux version free for a year .
Right now I am using Avira Antivir , Comodo ,Adaware and Spybot would it work in place of those or some of those .

[Matty_]

Originally Posted by Quam256

I have the Returnil Virtual System 2010 Lux version free for a year .
Right now I am using Avira Antivir , Comodo ,Adaware and Spybot would it work in place of those or some of those .

It depends on how you use it. Those programs are protecting your real system, monitoring what goes on and what not.
Returnil doesn`t do any protecting as such (well it does now with the f-prot scanner) rather it virtualizes your session and anything that changes is not actually changed(on the real system), once you re-boot everything is back to how it was when "System Safe" was enabled.

The way i mostly use it is if there is something i wan`t to try out(that doesn`t need a re-boot)/download/watch which i may not wan`t to keep or think there is a chance of coming across something unwanted i set System Safe to enabled. Then i can do whatever i wan`t, even delete files from the windows folder safe in the knowledge that when i re-boot the computer will be in the same state as when i enabled System safe.

Some people have it on constantly and don`t use the likes of firewalls and Anti-whatever`s, and only switch it off to recieve windows updates or install an application they know is clean/like (not advised if you don`t use just webmail).

I would say it`s a good product when required and can be handy...

p.s. If you enable System Safe make sure you turn off any auto defraging tools are off and don`t defrag, it could damage system files

[Quam256]

Originally Posted by Matty_

It depends on how you use it. Those programs are protecting your real system, monitoring what goes on and what not.
Returnil doesn`t do any protecting as such (well it does now with the f-prot scanner) rather it virtualizes your session and anything that changes is not actually changed(on the real system), once you re-boot everything is back to how it was when "System Safe" was enabled.

The way i mostly use it is if there is something i wan`t to try out(that doesn`t need a re-boot)/download/watch which i may not wan`t to keep or think there is a chance of coming across something unwanted i set System Safe to enabled. Then i can do whatever i wan`t, even delete files from the windows folder safe in the knowledge that when i re-boot the computer will be in the same state as when i enabled System safe.

Some people have it on constantly and don`t use the likes of firewalls and Anti-whatever`s, and only switch it off to recieve windows updates or install an application they know is clean/like (not advised if you don`t use just webmail).

I would say it`s a good product when required and can be handy...

p.s. If you enable System Safe make sure you turn off any auto defraging tools are off and don`t defrag, it could damage system files

Thank you for your reply ,I will stay as I am and if I want to try something out I will use Returnil.
If anyone wants this version for a year go to this link......
http://dottech.org/freebies/13102
and follow the instructions . Thanks to Ashraf