GoBack 3 Deluxe

by Roxio

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005JAFF
• Item model number: 1914800
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 16, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,684 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The latest in Roxio's system recovery line, GoBack 3 Deluxe is full of data recovery and system restoration features aimed at restoring a troubled system to a functional state in as short a time as possible. Among its arsenal of quick fixes are a file recovery system that restores files deleted from the Windows recycle bin, a boot manager that allows users to repair operating systems that won't start at all, and more.

The meat of the program is its drive restoration function, which creates periodic system safe points to which GoBack can revert a system. For example, if a recently installed program causes some sort of failure, GoBack can restore the system to its state prior to the program's installation. Or if the PC worked when the system was booted up but some unknown factor has hosed it, GoBack can revert the system to its startup state. GoBack can catalog several restore points, depending on the amount of available disk drive space it has. One feature even allows GoBack to revert a system to a particular safe point on a regular basis, which is ideal for PCs in controlled environments.

GoBack 3 caters to newbies and experienced users alike. The application is capable of automating everything for hands-off drive preservation, but is also completely configurable. The documentation, both online and physical, is thorough and friendly, as are the tutorials, so anyone willing to spend the necessary time will be able to take full advantage of GoBack's layered features.

The major flaw with GoBack is its propensity to churn the hard drive almost incessantly. It's especially noticeable right after the program is installed and after the user installs new software. This victimizes owners of older systems lacking DMA hard drives by bogging down almost everything, from simple Windows Explorer file management to application loading. Modern systems are more forgiving; however, writes (saving data to the hard drive) are noticeably bottlenecked.

GoBack 3 Deluxe isn't a replacement for regular backups of your important data files--it can't save your system in the case of a catastrophic hardware failure--but its wide range of system restore features can greatly cut down the time necessary for recovery from a virus, a failed program installation, driver corruption, or other common data problems. --Joel Durham, Jr.

Amazon.com Product Description

GoBack Deluxe 3.0 delivers quick and easy system recovery, providing award-winning protection to Windows PCs. Once installed, it gives users the power to immediately restore healthy system configurations and lost or damaged data on their own. With GoBack Deluxe 3.0, you can dramatically reduce PC downtime, service calls, and technical support costs, as well as eliminate the hours spent reloading software on computers that fail for unknown reasons. The auto-revert feature gives the option to periodically restore public access PCs to a pre-selected clean state without user intervention. Password protection keeps GoBack's power in appropriate hands.

GoBack offers automatic, continuous protection and up-to-the minute protection from virus attacks, software downloads, and unexpected system failure. Once installed, GoBack Deluxe will continuously protect your system and data without requiring you to do a thing. Have peace of mind knowing that your PC is safe and secure. GoBack Deluxe also allows you to restore your PC to working condition--no special boot disks required--and rescue damaged data instantly. With GoBack Deluxe installed, you don't have to know what went wrong in order to get your computer working again. PC problems that used to waste your time are quickly resolved, and you are back to work. Recover your deleted or overwritten files, even those emptied from the recycle bin. If you decide you like your first draft more, but wrote over it, simply go back.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Song of Sorrow(s)!, October 31, 2002

By 

Lawrence T. Bennett "terrill_b" (Utica, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GoBack 3 Deluxe (CD-ROM)

GoBack is great! GoBack ain't-so-great! Pick one now, and you'll agree with the other choice later...

I teach Quality Assurance Testing software for a living. I've been using GoBack to revert my drives after classes so I don't have to uh, go back and reset all the program options and databases.

Three problems I've had with GoBack: 1) creating music CD's, 2) GoBack doesn't tell you how much free space you have remaining in its "History" before it starts overwriting older data.

Number three, you ask? A high potential for having to rebuild your entire operating system if you pick a "System Safe Point" and the GoBack fails.

If the point you attempt to revert to is more than six days old, you're probably in for a rude surprise. Pick a bad point, and you could doing a total rebuild of your system and all your software from scratch! Oh, and you'll find yourself wishing you'd made those back-ups you've been putting off.

GoBack keeps a history. It can store up to 2 Gigabytes of sector changes. The list continues to grow, making you THINK you can still revert to way-back-when.

GoBack lacks any form of "Guage" by which you can tell when you're close to running-out of room in the history space. The GoBack log still holds ALL of the human-readable history since the last time you cleared it.

So you pick a point to which you'd like to revert. GoBack reboots and then cranks, and cranks, and cranks. Looks good. Eighty-percent. Ninety percent. Then GoBack tells you something like: "Gosh, golly, gee! We know it was in your list, but Buddy... we've lost the data and can not continue. Wanna try a different useless "System Safe Point" and see if it works? We can't tell you if it will, but go ahead, YOU make a guess and we'll give it another shot! Are ya feeling lucky, Kid?"

Not to mention that when I try to record an audio CD while GoBack is running, the resultant CD reminds one of the old days of vinyl records. Lots of clicks-and-pops. Hope you have a spare hard drive you can swap-in (sans GoBack) so you can make CD's. If you turn GoBack off to burn CD's, you lose ALL your "history!"

Nice idea, this GoBack-stuff. Great start for a "Beta" product. Poor "Quality Control," lack of thought on important issues. And a false sense of security for the uninitiated user.

To it's credit: GoBack HAS allowed me to revert a file to what it looked like before I screwed it up (kind-of like Source Code Control without the expense). It's saved me time-and-again when a piece-of-crap software package I've installed has taken control of my system (e.g. ZoneAlarm Pro). It lets me see what files get changed when I do some specific task, or when I install a program.

GoBack does have value.

Buy it. Use it. DON'T trust it more than six days back.

Make back-ups of all your important data. Frequently. Or at the very least: just before you attempt to Go Back.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peace of mind., November 22, 2001

By 

Keith H. Tornetta (Palm, Pa USA) - See all my reviews

I am very particular about my computer. However (at my wife`s insistance), I`ve installed some childrens programs/games for nieces and nephews (ages 3-10) and have a 13 year old niece who likes to surf the internet and leave me little surprises. (changed wallpaper, screensavers, messages, etc.)

Needless to say this can sometimes leave me with a jumbled up mess to fix. I`m also a download junkie and always trying new apps and utilities. Although I do periodic back ups it`s nice to be able to pinpoint exactly where I want my system to be restored to. If an install goes bad or new app messes things up it`s a very simple matter to back things up, even if Windows won`t start.

I run a DELL XPS with W98/SE Pentium 550mhz/288 megs RAM and have seen no system slowdown whatsoever. Expect to hear some more hardrive activitiy in particular if you have software that updates via the internet on a daily basis and affects a large number of files.

Cons, not too many. I would like to see a bit more configurability. Such as not having to protect an extended DOS partition on the C: drive. You have the option of setting passwords on the administrative and user level that will keep prying fingers of 13 year old nieces from deleting your GOBACK history and such.

Overall, I highly recommend this protection for anyone who has information on their PC they don`t want to lose.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I loved it, BUT........., June 12, 2001

By 

"beny1927" (Tamarac, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: GoBack 3 Deluxe (CD-ROM)

Go Back has a lot going for it, but when I installed it on my computer it would not boot up. During the boot up phase, and before Windows installed, I was directed to "press any key to continue". I have a USB keyboard and mouse. Because windows did not yet install, I could not "press any key to continue" since my USB ports were not active, and I was stuck. I had to connect a regular serial port keyboard before I could continue the boot up so I could uninstall the software. I tried to contact "tech support" for a possible solution, but was unable to connect. I sent an e-mail query without a response. The theory behind "Go Back" is a good one, but Roxio's tech support is non-existant.

RSB