Another interesting feature of CoreRestore is its ability to commit changes made to the volatile area to the persistent zone. This option, called Backup, is a precious help for administrators. It makes possible saving subsequent settings permanently, such as the addition of more peripheral drivers or software.
Moreover, you can set CoreRestore to "forget" changes to the volatile area at each reboot, so that users always have a reliable setting on their PC. We consider this option especially useful to power users such as developers or testers.
We tested CoreRestore successfully on off-the-shelf Compaq and Gateway desktop PCs, and we don't foresee problems with other hardware. But you should consider the internal layout of each computer case. We had some difficulties routing the ATA cables from the card to the motherboard and hard drive of some ultracompact desktops. CoreRestore is obviously not to blame for this (actually, the card ships with two full-length, ATA-100 ready ribbons). Nevertheless, it may be an obstacle.
Our first trial was installing a dated Corel version of Linux. We instructed CoreRestore to fill our drive with two equally sized mirrors. Then we set the card to Install mode and installed the OS. Next, we set CoreRestore to Live Disk mode. The card wrote changes only to the volatile section, keeping the persistent area intact. Our Corel Linux system worked like a charm.
To mimic a malicious or careless user, we then deleted some critical directories including bin, user, and dev. We tried to reboot, but Linux hung while trying to shut down and the mouse became unusable. We switched the power off, and then back on. Not surprisingly, Linux would not start.
With CoreRestore, we restored the system in seconds. We performed a hard reset once more, but this time, we invoked the CoreRestore CMOS and chose Restore. We rebooted again, and Linux started in all its glory.
CoreRestore is a brilliant and effective new approach to an old problem that could become a hot selling feature if factory-installed in new PCs by major vendors such as Compaq-HP, Dell, or Gateway. Installing the card to existing PCs requires significant work, which makes deployment on a large scale more expensive, hence less appealing. Nevertheless, CoreRestore offers the quickest and most effective remedy to date for recovering a damaged ATA volume on your PC.
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