Drive Vaccine's FoolProof Automated PC Restore solution, drastically reduces computer maintenance, and is widely used to protect public access computers or shared computing environments, i.e. library public computers, school PC Labs, Internet cafes and training centers.
Drive Vaccine's FoolProof protection is invisible; users feel as though they have absolute control over the PC. Regardless of what the PC user may attempt to do, delete files, install software or even modifying registry settings, the PC's will restore to their desired baseline settings everytime the PC's are restarted. Making the workstations perfectly configured and available for the next user.
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore PC restore on restart technology integrates Reboot & Restore, a technology designed to keep computers fully functional and optimally configured. Other functionalities include:
Restore on PC Restart or on Log-off
Restore on Idle PC
Restore on an hourly, daily or weekly schedule
Restore while maintaining a "Freeze Space" (area to save files and folders from restoration)
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore integrates Reboot-and-Restore, a simple technology designed to keep computers fully functional and optimally configured regardless of what the PC user may do.
"Simply Reboot, Restore and access a fully functional PC. Everytime."
With Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore onboard - our public access PC's are easily restored on every restart, or end of cruise...
Will Smith, RCCL Onboard Technology
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines International
Steady State PC Restore - Reduce Computer Downtime.
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore™ ensures workstation performance is at optimal levels by removing website cookies, spyware, temp files, viruses and unnecessary plug-ins; which cause system bottlenecks. Any infections to a "immunized" system are instantly eradicated - workstations are reverted back to their original configuration. Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore is widely used in many public access PCs and computing environment to ensure that PCs are perfectly configured and available, saving time, money and PC trouble. With Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore you can...
Restore PC's on every Reboot
Restore PC's on every Log-off
Restore PC's on Idle time (no mouse or keyboard input for xx minutes)
Restore on an hourly schedule
Restore on a daily schedule
Restore daily on first startup of day
Restore on a weekly schedule
Automatically accept OS and Anti virus updates
Restore while maintaining persistent data using Drive Vaccine's FoolProof "Freeze Space"
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore® Highlights
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore significantly reduces PC trouble shooting, repairing and restoring time to seconds!
Empowering PC support personnel to achieve tremendous savings of time and money on maintaining their computers.
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore doesn’t impact performance
Can be remotely managed and deployed (Enterprise console)
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore™ baseline snapshot takes less than 1% of total hard disk space.
Takes less than 3 seconds to update the PC's baseline.
Creates a new baseline without having to restart the PC.
Easily back out of a failed Software/OS or Anti-virus update.
Incorporates "Freeze Space" - a predefined area where files can remain persistent during restoration.
Highly configurable interface - hide program interface (stealth mode) from end users.
Offers flexible and powerful access control.
Supports Multi-boot PC's
Supports VM Ware
Consists of multi-partition protection selection.
Incorporates quick update of system baseline.
Offers detailed program operation logging.
Supports all industry standard deployment options.
Includes configuration during installation. Customizes the program upon installation.
Technology administrators use Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore to significantly reduce workstation maintenance. Drive Vaccine Drive Vaccine PC Restore restores systems to a baseline configuration. As a result, workstations can operate flawlessly for their entire life cycle. With Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore; technicians no longer need to perform rudimentary images or provide trivial workstation configuration support due to software or driver conflicts. This allocates more time for technical professionals to deal with more significant IT issues.
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore PC Restore is flexible and can be used to protect PC's in many different ways, and solves most public access PC related issues...
Set Acceptable User Policies
Put in force AUP's by guaranteeing that only approved applications are installed. When protected, Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore will not allow configuration changes or installation of any applications to remain on the workstations. This, in effect, blocks the installation of most illegal or unauthorized software.
Enhance The Computing Experience
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore does not restrict access and is transparent to users, giving them complete control of the machine and thereby enhancing the end user's experience - Giving them the ability to utilize complete system resources.
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore has a small, efficient footprint and takes up very little system resources, allowing your computers to perform at their optimum.
Eliminate Public Computer Downtime - Increase Total Cost of Ownership
Creative students, inexperienced staff or intentional hackers are all profiles of a public workstation user, typical of most computer labs, libraries and universities. Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore provides all user profile types with the same unrestricted system access. Regardless of what modifications or damages are made; all system settings, and applications are restored to original configurations upon restart. Thereby allowing user to make more use of workstations availability.
By minimizing workstation maintenance, administration time and troubleshooting - Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore reduces the total cost of ownership.
Virus, Malware and Identity Theft Protection
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore also provides robust virus protection. A simple reboot eliminates Trojans, worms and most viruses before they have time to execute or attack the system..
Users in a public access setting are susceptible to falling prey to identity thieves. Some may attempt to pre-install a key logger or some dangerous spy ware application. Other bandits may attempt to view your history, temporary files or worse - Your completed forms, which may contain personal information, user names, passwords etc. A system immunized by Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore insures users - that no information or installed applications remain. Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore erases any installed application, history settings, logs and temporary files from remaining on the public access workstation so your privacy is protected and personal information is not cached and saved on the system for prying eyes to see.
Enterprise Level Network Administration
The Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore client is a software application that is setup onto each PC that requires Drive Vaccine Baseline Restore Software protection. The Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore Client is the only application that is required to be installed on stand-alone PC's or PC's that do not require remote network management capabilities. For large networks that require remote administration your organization may use our Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore Enterprise Console (RMC).
Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore offers an additional Enterprise console for Drive Vaccine's Steady State PC Restore - enabling administrators to configure all of the Drive Vaccine PC Restore client installations over a enterprise level remote management console. Simplifying the workload of the network administrator while providing all client-based functions on a remote console.
Features
Support for Windows 2000, XP, VISTA, Windows 7
Custom setup options
Advanced Setup with program configurations
Advanced Setup Configuration Wizard (ASCW)
Deploy with network shares
Deploy with client side scripts
Deploy with server side deployment software
Deploy with Windows active directory
Deploy with Ghost system images
Restore system from local sub O.S.
Restore system from local Windows
Restore system with batch files
"Freeze Space" for files/folders to be saved and not deleted on restores
Disable access control (password protection)
Built-in administrator account
Restore system on restart
Restore system on log off
Restore system on a one time schedule
Restore system on a daily schedule
Restore system on a weekly schedule
Restore system on a monthly schedule
Create a new baseline from the local sub O.S
Create a new baseline from local Windows
Create a new baseline with a batch file
Create a new baseline after Windows or Anti-virus updates
Formally known as Norton Ghost, Symantec Ghost® is the most popular computer system backup and imaging software. It allows users to make a copy of the entire system to an image file. The file can then be stored on CDs or network servers. In a case of disaster recovery, users can restore the image back onto the computer. The solution offered by Symantec Ghost is a slow solution, it takes several minutes or longer in most cases to create or restore the image file. The Ghost solution is a costly solution, the image file might be as large as the system itself or half of the system size in compressed format; However, compression takes a big toll on restore time. The Ghost solution is also a partial solution. Due to the amount of time and space required to create image files, it is impossible for users to create frequent backup image files. Therefore, in a case of disaster recovery, users are most likely to restore back to the date of initial P.C. setup condition. All the programs, files and data created afterwards are permanently lost.
Rapid Restore is the latest system recovery solution provided by IBM (now Lenovo) with their new PCs in attempt to replace the OEM recovery CDs. The software reserves a portion of the hard disk space to store a complete factory release image of the system. The reserved disk space is programmed as a hidden partition, inaccessible to most common users; however, an experienced user can remove the hidden partition easily. And thereby, leave the system unrecoverable. As a system imaging software, Rapid Restore shares the same deadly weakness with Symantec Ghost; it is only a partial solution. In a case of disaster recovery, users are set back to the initial factory release condition. All the programs, files and data created afterwards are permanently lost. Rapid Restore is also not rapid, as its name implies.. It takes many minutes to restore a system.
The hard drive recovery card was introduced over 25 years ago by many hard disk recovery card manufacturers in Asia. The Recovery Card was designed to protect PC hard drives from inadvertant user changes as well as automating the maintenance of PC's. Essentially these recovery cards maintained a consistant PC configuration on every restart... Initially, the primary difference between restore cards and recovery based software was, that on the recovery cards the software (firmware) is hard coded onto the actual card. In fact Drive Vaccine's FoolProof birth originated as a hardware based recovery card. Many current hard drive recovery card manufacturers use the hardware card as a simple "dongle", as software piracy is still quite rampant in many developing countries. Read more about recovery cards at our corporate website.
Products under this category include Clean Slate (fortres grand), Drive Shield, D**p Fr**z*, Steady State, HDD Sheriff and many others. These types of products deliver a basic "Restore on Reboot". These solutions works deep within the hard drive and OS drivers and freezes the PC's settings. Technically speaking, its technology is based on a hard disk sector filtering technique. These solutions reserve a portion of the hard disk space for redirecting the disk I/O commands. It allows users to keep the information in the protected space during restarts. It takes significantly less amount of space than the conventional imaging approach. Therefore, the time to restore is much less than Ghost or Rapid Restore. Everything seems ideal so far, until you need to make system updates. For this to happen you need to turn off protection, reboot and then perform your system updates (Windows critical updates, Anti-virus etc.) During these updates, there is no turning back. These methods of updates "Ratchet" the PC's forward with the updates. However, if your critical update causes your existing applications to crash, there is no way to go back. Reboot and Restore is an all-or-nothing proposition. This significant weakness has drove Reboot to Restore solutions away from advanced educational and corporate IT departments. Until recently "Restore on Reboot" technology was mainly valued as the primary solution for the publicly shared PC markets. Drive Vaccine Automated PC Restore Software takes this basic concept and adds more powerfull features taking public access computer protection to the next level.
Windows DV FoolProof (formerly Shared Computer Toolkit) is a discontinued freeware tool developed by Microsoft that gives administrators enhanced options for configuring shared computers, such as hard drive protection and advanced user management. It is primarily designed for use on computers shared by many people, such as internet cafes, schools, libraries etc.
DV FoolProof was available until December 31, 2010 free of charge from Microsoft for computers running Windows XP and Windows Vista. A 64-bit version was not currently available. Windows DV FoolProof was incompatible with Windows 7.
DV FoolProof can revert a computer to a previously stored state every time it reboots, or on administrator's request. When Windows Disk Protection (WDP) component of DV FoolProof is turned on, changes to the hard disk are redirected to a temporary cache. WDP offers three modes of protection:
Discard mode: The cache is cleared upon every reboot, thus returning the system to its previous state.
Persist mode: Changes saved in the cache remain intact across reboots. An administrator may later opt to commit these changes. Alternatively, at the specified date and time, the cache expires and its contents are cleared.
Commit mode: Contents of the cache is written out to disk and become permanent. In addition, new changes to the system are no longer redirected to the cache.
DV FoolProof can also prepare user environment. User accounts can be locked or forced to log off after certain intervals. A locked account uses a temporary copy of the user's profile during the user's session. When the user logs off, the temporary profile is deleted. This ensures that any changes the user made during his session are not permanent. The user's session can also be limited to a specified duration, or logged off if idle.
DV FoolProof provides simple control of more than 80 restrictions covering both individual users as well as the system as a whole. Many of these settings are based on Windows' Group Policies, while others are implemented by DV FoolProof itself. Using DV FoolProof, an administrator can forbid a user from performing actions that may be undesirable for that environment. Some settings include the ability to turn off the control panel, disable registry editing tools, disable the command prompt, and stop the user from executing batch files or programs not in the windows or program folders.
Computer settings can also be applied. Since DV FoolProof would normally remove any Windows updates or security patches installed, DV FoolProof can be configured to check for and apply updates in a manner that they will not be removed upon rebooting. Administrators can also choose to make other system-wide changes, such as disabling the welcome screen, removing the shutdown dialog from the logon screen, and hiding the built-in Windows Administrator account.
The administrator can block access to specified programs on a per-user basis. DV FoolProof presents a list of programs found in the Program Files directory of Windows and on the common desktop. Programs from other locations can be added manually.
Discontinuation of FoolProof and Alternative replacements
Microsoft has discontinued DV FoolProof. After December 31, 2010, DV FoolProof will no longer be available for download. Support for Windows DV FoolProof will be available until June 30, 2011 through Microsoft Support website.
Shared computers are usually found in schools, Internet and gaming cafés, libraries, and community centers. Owners, teachers, or nontechnical personnel frequently must manage shared computers in addition to their many other responsibilities.
Managing shared computers can be difficult, technically challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. Moreover, without system restrictions and protections, users can unintentionally change the desktop appearance, reconfigure system settings, and introduce unwanted software, viruses, and other harmful programs. Repairs to shared computers that are damaged in this manner can require significant work.
User privacy is also an issue for shared computer environments. Shared computers frequently use shared user accounts that make Internet history, saved documents, and cached web pages available to later users.
Windows DV FoolProof was created to provide an effective way to help defend shared computers from changes by untrusted users and unwanted software installations and to help safeguard system resources.
After December 31, 2010, Windows DV FoolProof will no longer be available for download. Microsoft will continue to provide support for Windows DV FoolProof until June 30, 2011.
After June 30, 2011, support will be limited to the resources that are listed in the "Related Resources" section of this article.
Windows DV FoolProof Features
Windows DV FoolProof includes the following features to help you manage shared computers:
Getting Started – Getting Started provides steps to help you use Windows DV FoolProof the first time.
Windows Disk Protection – The Windows partition contains the Windows operating system and other programs. Windows Disk Protection helps protect the Windows partition from being changed without administrator approval. You can set Windows Disk Protection to remove all changes upon restart, to remove changes at a certain date and time, or to keep changes.
If you decide to use Windows Disk Protection to remove changes, changes that shared users make when they are logged on to the computer are removed when the computer is restarted or at the date and time you set.
User Restrictions and Settings – User restrictions and settings can help improve and simplify the user experience. You can restrict user access to programs, settings, Start menu items, and options in Windows. You can also lock shared user accounts to make sure that changes are not retained from one session to the next.
User Account Manager – User Account Manager lets you create and delete user accounts. You can use this feature to create user accounts on alternative drives that will keep user data and settings even when Windows Disk Protection is turned on. You can also import and export user settings from one computer to another. This saves valuable time and resources.
Computer Restrictions – Computer restrictions control security settings, privacy settings, and other settings. For example, you can use this feature to prevent users from creating and storing folders on drive C and from opening Microsoft Office documents from Internet Explorer.
Schedule Software Updates – Use this feature to download and install the latest software and security updates on your shared computer when it is most convenient for you and for your shared users.
System Requirements
Supported operating systems:
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Ultimate
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Starter
Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Windows XP
Windows XP Professional
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3)
The following resources will continue to be available after June 30, 2011. For more information about these resources, click the following link for the resource.
Windows DV FoolProof Readme File
Windows DV FoolProof Forum
Windows DV FoolProof Technical FAQ
Windows DV FoolProof Handbook
Although DV FoolProof is discontinued, it is still possible to prepare a shared computer using Windows 7 native features and support tools. To that effect, Microsoft has published Creating a Steady State by Using Microsoft Technologies on Microsoft TechNet library.
Third-party alternatives to Windows DV FoolProof, such as Drive Vaccine, RollBack Rx are widely utilized.
