Novastor Backup software - a warning

[BankFodder]

I've been trialing v.11 Novastor. The software is called -NovaBackup

 

It works reasonably well but no better than that really becase it seems to have difficulty recognising my NAS unit either to back up to or to restore from.

 

It takes a lot of clicks and going back before it suddenly detects the NAS and then it works fairly happily doing ordinary backups.

 

The disaster recover is a different matter.

 

I started this up. It kept on telling me that it couldn't detect my NAS unit. Eventually it seems to be happy and then told me that it need to restart the computer.

 

The computer restarted - then hun. Then it was restarted again - and hung.

 

Eventually - and again for no apparent reason I was taken to a pre-windows screen instructing me to insert my system disk into the floppy drive to begin setup.

Well I haven't had a floppy drive for along time. I tried to move on for the screen and then went through a series of reboots, back to the same screen. Tried putting in a system CD but it didn't work.

 

Trying a Windows repair didn't work - and then suddenly I was able to get past the floppy disk screen and into windows.

 

On a restart, I went though it all again. A system restore made no difference.

 

Eventually, I managed to get back into my computer again and went to the NovaStor forum. Now I see that this is a well-documented problem.

 

I solved my own issue by taking the advice of one of their forum contributors and using EasyBCD to repair the bootloader.

 

That solved the problem - but at the same time some of my programs became deactivated and so I will have to sort that out over this weekend.

 

I see that Novastor appear tp have abandoned their plan to provide an upgrade fix and instead are planning to make money out of the problem by only addressing it in a new version 12.

 

This really is an unfair business practice.

 

Even more unfair of Novastor is not to flag this very important bug very clearly on their website and to respond to complaints about it on their own forum.

 

However, they apparently refuse to do so.

 

I don't need all of this hassle - I don't need this kind of risk to my system and to my data - and frankly I don't need Novastor.

[imthedude101]

Hi Bankfodder,

 

I am sorry to hear you ran into this issue. Yes, NovaStor is aware of the issue, however it has only happened to a very tiny number of our user community who have been unfortunate enough to have just the wrong combination of motherboard chip set, and Microsoft VSS instability. A resolution for this issue has been identified, and although we were unable to provide a solution in v11.1, we are including it in 12.0 due out of Beta in just a few weeks.

 

Bank, if you would like to send me a PM, I am sure that I can arrange for you to receive a no-cost upgrade to v12 when it is released due to your experience with this DR issue.

 

Best Regards,

 

EC

[locutus]

A good guide for any technically challenged people to backing up is here:-

the gadget show - backing up data

 

Welcome to CAG EC. Just to clarify, is the upgrade from v11.1 to v12 going to be available for everyone who has the DR issue?

 

DR (Disaster Recovery) Is essentially the reason for backing up, and if your backup software doesn't recover after the worst has happened, I can foresee many of the effected customers visiting this site (it's currently the 7th entry of a search for "Novastore Backup Software" from google.co.uk) to seek redress.

 

So, a little info about us CAGers. BankFodder started this site in early 2006. The site is dedicated to empowering people un the UK to know about their rights and how to exercise them. We have been instrumental in reclaiming around £1bn (over $1.5 bn US) from the UK banks in unfair charges, and the site has expanded to cover a whole variety of consumer issues from unlawful car parking fines to issues with telecoms suppliers. In short, we like fairness from businesses and service suppliers, and we like to reward with praise when someone has done something well (see here) but we also take them to task when they fail to deliver.