[SOLVED] Is there an alternative to deep freeze and reboot to restore software on windows 10?

[Flonne]

I am somewhat new to windows 10.

I normally know better than fall for obvious scams and phishing, but i use software like deep freeze because:

• I can mess with software settings (like photoshop) …knowing that restart PC will clear them to how I had them.
• I can Install many software from different developers to find a good one …knowing that restart PC will clear them to how I had them.
• I can flood my desktop with multiple folders testing stuff …knowing that restart PC will clear them to how I had them.

Etc etc.

Reboot to restore software provides a "playground" where i can just mess around with software and settings and everything will be "clean" when reboot. The problem was...these software hog RAM, harm SSD (constant writing) and are glitchy (sometimes they don't bring a correct state and some periphericals re-plug themselves). They basically take resources and shorten my hardware lifetime.

Windows 10 introduced a "factory reset" (which seems to be an improved alternative OS reinstallation?), is there any other optimization to keep a "clean" PC?

I tried windows defender but the live protection constantly blocked my multiple applications and labelled EVERYTHING that wasn't made by Microsoft a virus.

• Downloaded firefox? Windows defender called it a virus and blocked the download.
• Download qbitorrent? Windows defender called it a virus and blocked the download.
• Open FFXIV? Windows defender called it a virus.
• Open Steam? Windows defender called it a virus.
• Open League of Leyends? Windows defender called it a virus.

So i disabled it.

On XP and 7 there were restore points but they took way too much space if i remember correctly and didn't properly restored much, i think software settings remained unrestored. Were they improved on windows 10?

 

[USAFRet]

I use Macrium Reflect for this.

A Full Image, followed by a series of Incremenatal or Differential.
My main system, each drive writes an Incremental image every night.

Other systems, every other day, or weekly.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[USAFRet]

• Downloaded firefox? Windows defender called it a virus and blocked the download.
• Download qbitorrent? Windows defender called it a virus and blocked the download.
• Open FFXIV? Windows defender called it a virus.
• Open Steam? Windows defender called it a virus.
• Open League of Leyends? Windows defender called it a virus.

You have other issues.

I use FireFox as my main browser. No problem

Steam? Again, no problem.

 

[hotaru.hino]

I tried windows defender but the live protection constantly blocked my multiple applications and labelled EVERYTHING that wasn't made by Microsoft a virus.

• Downloaded firefox? Windows defender called it a virus and blocked the download.
• Download qbitorrent? Windows defender called it a virus and blocked the download.
• Open FFXIV? Windows defender called it a virus.
• Open Steam? Windows defender called it a virus.
• Open League of Leyends? Windows defender called it a virus.

So i disabled it.

Are you sure it actually labeled it as a virus and not "We're not sure who this is from, so we want you to make sure you actually want to run it"? Because I haven't had any of those issues and I've ran Windows Defender for 10+ years.

Granted Windows 10's version is pretty comprehensive, but still, no issues.

 

[Lafong]

On XP and 7 there were restore points but they took way too much space if i remember correctly and didn't properly restored much, i think software settings remained unrestored. Were they improved on windows 10?

I just checked for kicks.

I have Win 10 with only 1 System Restore point right now. It takes up 3.2 GB.

That surprised me. I can't recall a single restore point taking up that much space. If I recall correctly, they would normally take up less than 1 GB each.

I don't use it as much as I used to under Win 7 and it isn't extremely reliable anyway. All I use now is Macrium Reflect.

You could fiddle around with virtual machines if you're willing to dive into that rabbit hole.

 

[Cj-tech]

I am somewhat new to windows 10.

I normally know better than fall for obvious scams and phishing, but i use software like deep freeze because:

• I can mess with software settings (like photoshop) …knowing that restart PC will clear them to how I had them.
• I can Install many software from different developers to find a good one …knowing that restart PC will clear them to how I had them.
• I can flood my desktop with multiple folders testing stuff …knowing that restart PC will clear them to how I had them.

Etc etc.

Reboot to restore software provides a "playground" where i can just mess around with software and settings and everything will be "clean" when reboot. The problem was...these software hog RAM, harm SSD (constant writing) and are glitchy (sometimes they don't bring a correct state and some periphericals re-plug themselves). They basically take resources and shorten my hardware lifetime.

Windows 10 introduced a "factory reset" (which seems to be an improved alternative OS reinstallation?), is there any other optimization to keep a "clean" PC?

I tried windows defender but the live protection constantly blocked my multiple applications and labelled EVERYTHING that wasn't made by Microsoft a virus.

• Downloaded firefox? Windows defender called it a virus and blocked the download.
• Download qbitorrent? Windows defender called it a virus and blocked the download.
• Open FFXIV? Windows defender called it a virus.
• Open Steam? Windows defender called it a virus.
• Open League of Leyends? Windows defender called it a virus.

So i disabled it.

On XP and 7 there were restore points but they took way too much space if i remember correctly and didn't properly restored much, i think software settings remained unrestored. Were they improved on windows 10?

I’d definitely look into virtual machines. Basically you run another operating system on your computer using the amount of system resources you determine. You can install software like VMware Player to run Windows 10 (you need the Windows 10 .iso file). You can play around with software and change any settings. This program appears to allow you to create a virtual machine from your current system setup.

Note: Unless you purchase an additional Windows license for a virtual machine, you will be limited to a ‘trial’ version of Windows 10 that prevents certain customization.

 

[Flonne]

Are you sure it actually labeled it as a virus and not "We're not sure who this is from, so we want you to make sure you actually want to run it"? Because I haven't had any of those issues and I've ran Windows Defender for 10+ years.

Granted Windows 10's version is pretty comprehensive, but still, no issues.

I was trying to move it and it said it was a virus. The installer was downloaded from mozilla site and it was seconds before moving it.