Software Review of:
SecondChance 
2.0 

SecondChance acts as a first line of defense against system errors by continually monitoring every change and periodically compiling them into checkpoints. That way, it's possible to return to when the system worked properly and easily undo harmful or unwanted changes with a click of the button. 

When adding new software and downloading files from the Internet-there is a probability that your computer will be affected by unstable software, system changes, deleted data, system failure or other problems. 

The problem is that we all tend to load a variety of programs on our computers without extensive background checking, which can lead to system crashes and data loss. SecondChance runs in the system tray and monitors changes to all files in any drive designated by the user. You can use the data to restore individual files, versions of files, or the entire system to a designated time. 

SecondChance can return your computer to an earlier point in time, called a Checkpoint, when it was working to your satisfaction. You just select the Checkpoint you want to return to, click a button, and SecondChance restores your computer to that Checkpoint. If you restore your system to a previous Checkpoint, any files that have been added or modified on your system since that Checkpoint will no longer be visible. However, you can restore them to your system using the SecondChance Viewer. 
You can set automatic Checkpoints (up to 24 per day) with SecondChance. Or you can make them manually from the program’s main menu. Then you don't have to think about how data is stored, guess about how to get your system back, or worry about troubleshooting. Set Checkpoints in SecondChance, then forget about it until a previous Checkpoint is needed. 

SecondChance can also display an Explorer-like view of the contents of your disk at the time that a Checkpoint was taken. Using this view, you can select individual files and/or folders to restore without having to restore your entire hard disk. This can be very useful. For example, if a file is overwritten using 'Save' instead of 'Save As', and you want to get the original file back. Even if your computer can no longer start up in Windows, SecondChance can restore it to a previous Checkpoint by running the Restore program from a bootable floppy disk. SecondChance has the ability to recover and restart the restore process in the event that the your PC loses power. 

This program is very user friendly with an easy set-up program. This is an extremely easy way to back-up your system without tapes. The checkpoints that it makes can become quite large and you do have to delete old ones frequently so your hard drive doesn’t become infested with them. You can also tell it how much disk space you want to put aside for checkpoints. Restoring to a previous Checkpoint restores all files, including the Registry and other important system files, to the way they were at the time the Checkpoint was taken. 

SecondChance excludes some directories from being monitored. For example, temporary directories and Internet caches see a lot of activity; if they were monitored, changes could consume a lot of space in checkpoint file directories. Since there is not generally a need to restore these directories, excluding them provides more space for saving what may be important. 

This program didn’t come with much of a manual; it was the size of a CD case. However, the program was so easy that you could use it without referring to the manual. This is an exceptional program that is much better than what I perceived it to be from the box. PowerQuest provides exceptional technical support by e-mail, fax, phone, and snail mail. The average cost of this program is $69.95. It can be bought at almost any computer store, or on PowerQuest’s web site. 

The system requirements to run this program are: 486 or higher, 20MB of free hard-disk space, 16MB of RAM, Windows 95/98, CD-ROM or equivalent, 256-color VGA video or better. You can contact PowerQuest at 

PowerQuest Corporation
P.O. Box 1911 
Orem, Utah 84059-1911 
phone, (801) 437-4218