After download and unzip, followed the request to fill the form and after sending my information, no code sent back to me at my email.
Next day I got the code but then it is not useful as time for GOTD is passed!
Is there any scam by P to collect data and give nothing?
What is going on GOTD?

I registered the product and never received a serial number.

Same problem as last time... Wouldn't install because of previous version. But when I uninstalled the previous version and rebooted, it still said there was a previous version!?! Really annoying!!

Installation/activation process got hopelessly hung up, impossible to proceed or redo, & also hard to find where setup.exe extracted its contents, so I can delete the huge amount of unwanted files now that I cannot use this program at all. Makes me rethink using any Paragon SW in future, as their reliability is severely in question, making them suspect IMO. They admit they had to repackage the setup file [see #45] after posting earlier version... not a good sign when the vendor cannot post a usable form of their installer first time around!

RE: #97. #52 and others like it:

Being the day after the giveaway, I do not know if anyone will see this, but ... we still were not provided with proper responses to yesterday's reported problems.

I too had problems installing this on the day of the giveaway under Windows XP(sp3) 32-bit system. First with the 200MB file due to “The key cannot be decrypted” message. Then with the 304MB file as it refused to proceed installation saying I needed to uninstall an earlier version of B&R before I could install this one. So, I uninstalled the B&R Home Special Edition (the only B&R I had), which had been installed last year from a previous giveaway. However, I still got the same error. Unfortunately, when the error occurs, this B&R installation fails to identify exactly which of the Paragon Software I still have installed is causing the conflict. I still have other Paragon products installed such as an old System Backup, Drive Backup, Drive Copy, Partition Manager, HD Manager (all from previous giveaways). Exactly which ones would need to be removed to permit installation of this B&R 11 Compact version. I already wiped out and lost the B&R Home SE version and I do not wish to wipe out and lose the other Paragon software still installed just to find out at the end that the conflict has not been resolved. If this is a bug with Paragan's installation routine for this product, then Paragon should come out to tell us before we proceed to remove their other software we have installed on our system.

It appears that Paragon itself gets confused and is unable to keep track of all the variations of software it releases. Too many of its products have many overlaps in funcionality between them that it become difficult to know which one is best for our needs. Plus, their naming conventions are very confusing at best, too (eg. Personal edition, Special edition, PRO editions, FREE editions, Compact editions, Manager editions, etc.). Paragon might have reliable software and all, but it seems it is creating a situation un-necessarily more complex than it needs to be (i.e. both for itself and its clients) and I'm losing confidence in them.

Another thing that is irksome and very annoying is that we often end up wasting time on these giveaways is when we are not told whether or not this version is the same as one given away in the past or when it is a newer version we are not told what the new modifications are, so that we can decide whether or not the new version is even worth the downloading of it to install it on our system. This is an issue with not just the Paragon giveaways.

It doesn't work on a network and doesn't move locked files...its now gone from my system. What a waste of time !!!

RE #52 and others like it:

We've gotten no answer about the invisible previous version error, and intallation time has run out on this giveaway. Since I, for one, uninstalled previous GOTD versions, I am now left with no B&R at all!

Please help!

Wow... 305 MB!!! that change from 200 MB to over 300 MB may kill my ability to download and install this program.... I had just under 30 min to complete the task, and 200 MB would take about 20 min.... but 305 MB will take over 30 min. Why did this get bigger??

Give me a BREAK. As soon as I finished my comment above, I found an email from Paragon, confirming my newsletter subscription. When I followed the link to use to unsubscribe from that newsletter, I found that there's no way to unsubscribe until I create an account with Paragon. Of all the STUPID marketing practices. That's EXACTLY why I quit dealing with them long ago. But I forgot how stupid their practices are and decided to try today. Don't bother sending me any more emails, Paragon. They're going to be rejected as SPAM. I am SO MAD right now.

"Paragon Boot Media Builder (stand-alone wizard that helps to prepare a WinPE-based bootable environment) is not available, but you can create and use Linux/DOS-based Recovery media with built-in Recovery Media Builder. "

Are you joking? So, many of the people who installed this today will be in for a rude awakening if their system fails. Do yourselves a favor. Get Acronis True Home Image. It creates a boot option so that if your system files get corrupted and Windows won't boot you press F11 to launch Acronis. Connect the external, navigate to the back-up image and waaa--laaa. Your system is back to the exact way it was when at the time of the back-up.

PARAGON SUPPORT--I D/Led the program you're giving away today but could not even install it because your site claims my email address is incorrect. That's because my email is l******@q.com [the stars are the part I won't post here]. HOWEVER, when I signed up for your email, you accepted my EXACT email just fine. Don't tell me I mistyped it either. I checked it carefully. I haven't been happy with Paragon practices in the past, and I'm not happy now. q.com stands for Qwest and has been around for a long time. I can't believe you won't accept it. Thanks anyway.

Most of us here know that WinPE can't be supplied with third-party products because of Microsoft charges for a licence - but the trouble with this GotD in January was that the restore CD had a major flaw in its recovery operation.
If you backup over a network - to a network share - you'd hope that the recovery/rescue CD/disc would be able to pull that backup back over your network cables - bit it ain't obvious. It could trap a large number of unwary punters. (You can't browse for network shares; you have to type in UNCs.)
So can anyone say whether this June edition of PB&RC11 has fixed the rescue disc?
Anyway, what's new?

After registration, I received a product key (PK) and a serial number (SN). However, the installation was completed successfully and, in the software which is running well, I can't find a place to enter the PK and SN! Does this mean activation has taken place automatically?

I installed this once before and hated the interface and so I uninstalled it and got the BSOD after that, but Since I had Acronis images no biggie would not recommend this as it cannot be removed easily from windows 7.

Just wanted to say:
I downloaded and installed B & R 11.0 earlier today... Quite impressed. I had been using Macrium Reflect but Paragon 11 Compact, for my use, seems much better. Easily created the Linux CD recovery disk and it works. Thanks Paragon and thanks GOTD.

I have Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Home Special Edition installed on my Laptop (Win XP). I am wondering if I should uninstall this and install the now offered version Paragon Backup & Recovery 11 Compact on my Laptop or not. Your advice will be appreciated.

To #18, LoveGODandLife, there is virtually no cost to changing the Paragon REGISTRATION page where you register the software (and it is there that the Mr./Mrs. designation appears--I gather that you are not an unmarried woman as you did not feel insulted). It is a mere change in the radio button to allow for this (or simply eliminate the radio button altogether -- why does Paragon wish to know our genders?). I have never seen any other registration page that REQUIRES women to state that they are married, even when they are not (or else requires that they lie and say that they are men). It should be Mr./Ms. or (even better) allow the woman herself the option of chosing Mrs. as an option, but then also allow Mr./Ms./Miss/Mrs.

The program was of 200 MB Yesterday, 20 Jun; but its capacity becomes 305 MB today! What / Why is the difference?

I have trouble installing Paragon products because their installation program is different from the way other programs install. I am trying to install this progoram, but I get an error message that another version of this program is installed. I cannot find this program in another version on my system. It is likely I tried to install the earlier version and the installation did not complete. I do not want to try to uninstall another Paragon program to see if it is preventing the installation of this one. Any advise as to how I can install this version if I cannot find the installation of a prior version? Thank you.

I have "Paragon Backup and Recovery™, version 10.0.17.13783 (04.08.11 ) Compact Edition" that I got as a giveaway somewhere.... Is this version the same? BTW, I haven't tried a lot of other backup software, but this is solid and reliable... and, using the advanced interface (option on the opening screen, in my copy) really opens up the options...

Hi, Installed it rather late (BTW - reg details came instantly to my hotmail inbox) and was interested in one of the "Key Features", namely BOOT CORRECTOR. In case anybody else is wondering how it works - this Feature means rather complicated (explained in Help Section of Advanced Mode, if I'm correct) Procedure involving creating and using Linux/DOS-based Recovery media with "built-in Recovery Media Builder" mentioned in "Limitations" of this Giveaway.

I'm writing this in case someone's boot section is not working correctly and sees the Feature called "Boot Corrector" - imagining it might be some "magic button" restoring this part of Starting Windows to it's healthy state.. It is not. Sometimes descriptions can be a tad misleading at first glance.

All in all - useful Program if you don't mind it's rather bulky size.

During Installation (before choosing Drive for an actual Program Folder for Paragon B&R 11 Compact ) installation files go to "Destination folder" in Doc&Setts/name/Temp - where they remain.. Are they safe to remove from there after all is done? I hope so! The largest of them (303 MB) is called "we2638.tmp"

Twice downloaded the program (311Mb!!)& tried to run setup repeatedly. The Software key checks for availability & repeatedly fails with not connecting. After all, I can reach the website.What's going on?

Had enough, It's 3:30am in the UK, going to bed! PeterC

Have been waiting all day for an email concerning registration. Have sent it 2nd time but still not there. Checked junk, spam, etc but mo luck. I thought I read somewhere that it should be sent in 15 mins. or so

not going to work for me! I have slow dsl. It will finish download by tomorrow 11:00am. =(

For those worried about not being able to use the program to restore after a system failure, the entire installation package is extracted to %temp%\RarSFX0. Take all the files from there and burn a disc with those files (they've also included an autorun.inf so that it will act like a full software installation disc). If you want to, add a text file with your serial number in case you lose the email.

Hi,
I am having an installation Problem.
When trying to install, I receive an error that I have a previous version of this program (B & R).

Originally I had ver. 10 compact but I uninstalled it. I did a reboot and I am still getting the same error. I've used a couple of different tools to check for registry errors. Nothing related to Paragon was found. I've tried a couple uninstallers and the program was not found for removal. I first used the Paragon uninstaller to remove the program. I'm not sure where to go from here.
Please help!!

Sorry -- I did look but missed the info on the encryption error -- followed with new d/l & it installed like a charm!
Thanks so much Paragon & GOTD!

Win7/64 SP1 on a MacBook Pro with bootcamp. Getting an error when trying to back up which says there are open files and it can't run.

So I click on "Show which files are open" and a window opens, but it's empty. I click on "Close all open files" but nothing happens.

The program will not do backups out of Windows.

It will do backups from the boot disk, but then the archive it creates from the Linux boot disk is not recognized by the program under Windows.

I have Camptune 9.5 from an earlier giveaway, and it used to run, but now it won't run either, same error.

Anyone else?

Suggestions?

Using the "About" on my current version indicates:

Paragon Backup and Recovery™ 11

Version information

Paragon Backup and Recovery™, version 10.0.17.13783 (04.08.11 ) Compact Edition

Component versions:

hdm.dll, version 10.0, release 17, build 13783
biont.dll, version 10.0, release 17, build 13783
biont.sys, version 10.0, release 17, build 13783
Paragon Base Services Library, version 1.1, build 12383 (04.08.11 )

So, what is today's version? Is it the same? This download says I have to uninstall my current version before I can install this one but I can't tell if it is any newer, so should I bother?

sorry, forgot useing Win XP Pro sp3

downloaded 3 different times still haven't been able to install, latest problem is although it shows that it's installing nothing is, also when it shows the window to register when clicked it only opens a browser page to recieve another key, I've already gotten one but it wont let me enter, remember to that it doesn't show it ever installed in the first place, never had troubles with Paragon products before, saved my butt many times but this time it's seriously screwy.

HCM (# 26) - I had the same problem, then I turned off my AdMuncher program (that I got through GAOTD, thank you very much), reloaded the page, and it worked. If you have some kind of spam elimination program, turn it off, reload the page, and try again, your problem will likely be solved.

304 MB??? You have got to be kidding....

I tried making a sector-by-sector backup of a microsd in a usb reader (something I do and works just fine in Easeus todo backup prof 2.5 (another GOTD from a while ago)); to no avail.
I also enabled hotswapping to be on by default. It kept saying to reboot. So I removed the drive letter, reconnected the reader, and still it asked for a reboot.
So I rebooted just to see that it couldn't find the drive during boottime so it couldn't backup then either.

Thumbs down on this one.

#32
Software that hasn't been updated since April 2010, and doesn't even admit Windows 7 exists truly scares me when it comes to protecting my important information!!

Think I'll stick with today's offering.

I've used B&R 2011, 2012 and now this Compact 11 Free. Both free and paid versions. I still can't boot from our Dell E6500's using the Intel Rapid Restore Technology controller setting. We have to change the controller back to AHCI mode. Several different models, though all Dell products (parent company prefers Dell). Has been this way on E6500, 6510 and 6520 models. I've always used the Linux version. Does the WinPE version support IRRT controller setup?

Re #52. Did the install again. This time it worked. No longer a problem.

OK.. I saw the comparison.
Thanks

What is the difference between this and Paragon's BR12 that is free ???
and... BR12 is half the size !!!

Installation seemed to be OK, but when I tried to execute the program to see what it looked like, I couldn't find a desktop icon. I looked in the C drive program files, did a date sort, and it wasn't there. I noticed it installed in the App folder in a temp subfolder. What can I do to execute the program?

In my opinion Paragon products are really great.

I can only recommend getting this giveaway. Why ?
Here are the reasons based on experiences with Paragon , so far:
- very reliable
- easy to use
- lots of features (wizards for novices and manual settings for more advanced users)
- bootable media included with almost all features ( dont fear linux enviroment - it has gui , so you won't notice big difference from WinPE media ) - which means you dont need to reinstall this app - if you burn the cd/dvd , both backup and recovery functionalities are available from bootable media !!!
- backwards compatibility - make image with this version , restore with next
- you can expect new version here in few months - like always

Btw. Paragon uses technology which is equal (or superior) to Acronis Universal Restore - It's called P2P Adjust OS , and serves the same purpose - restoring to different hardware.

After receiving my product key and serial number I went to download the software from an e-mail I received directly from Paragon. Despite the fact that I've copied the info directly from their registration e-mail as well as from their website I continue to get error messages saying "incorrect serial number". This was all done by copy & paste so it's not my typing.

It looks like the backup doesn't work from network drives, only to network drives.....is this true?

Also file transfer seems to work from and to network drives. Can file transfers be automated as backups can?

thx...

@ Anne-ology - sorry - not that simple, just backing up files as they change, does nothing for the system changes that are done when updates and programmes are loaded onto your system. These would be all lost and would take hours to possibly more than a day to get back to what your system was like - not to mention all the setting changes and tweaks you've made to your system... a back up software will do all that and allow you to restore it quick and easy. Although, I will agree that with the newer Windows units, it's much easier to restore your backups - if they're made regularly. :)

#9 - "No WinPE?"
If you didn't know - and I'm sure lots don't, Window's licensing has changed and WinPE cannot be generated anymore. If you have an old copy - keep it. I'm not quite sure if the deadline for the licensing has passed or not, but I'm really 99% sure it has.

when i tried to install, it said to uninstall the previous version. I only had drive backup 9 pro. when i tried to uninstall, i geterror 1402 could not open key

hkey_local_machine\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\shareddlls

what do i do now?

@Paragon,
Q1: Does this compact edition for Giveawayoftheday has the Boot Corrector feature?

Q2: Few hours ago, according with the specs on the top of the page, the download package was 200 MB; now it says 304 MB! 104 MB more just for the “The key cannot be decrypted” problem? Anyway, all the users who downloaded the 200 MB packet have to download the 304 MB one, as well?

Q3: Before we install this program we have to uninstall some of the Paragon programs we allready have? I'm asking this because Paragon programs have overlaping features (and probably engines?) and I remember at least one time during which the Paragon representative here told us to make an uninstallation first.

I trust Paragon software but what I really look at here first are the comments and hints for freeware from Giovanni. Thanks Man ! U rock !!!
(and so does GAOTD team !!!!! ;0D )

Seems this is the same version which was GOTD in January and November. Would be nice if it were updated.
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/paragon-backup-and-recovery-11-compact/#more-28598
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/paragon-backup-recovery-11-compact/#more-26296

As for suggestions of other free backup software, I've noticed that Paragon, Easeus, and Macrium have all removed file backup from their free versions. That is, if you want to backup and restore on a file-by-file basis, you need the pay or GOTD version, or an installer for an old free version (if you still have it sitting around). Generally, I do a partition backup once a month or so (I have pretty much all the programs I need installed, so there's no need to backup the system more often). But my data files need to be backed up daily. It's wasteful to do a full partition backup when a quick incremental or differential file backup of my data directories will do.

The backup built into Windows 7 is an interesting beast. For small installations it seems to work well. But after a certain size, the time it takes to make a backup seems to increase exponentially. Others here have reported 45 min to backup a 40 GB system. It was the first backup software I tried on a >100 GB system. I gave up on it when it was still going after 24 hours, and is the reason I learned about Paragon, Easeus, and Macrium. It's also very limited in options. Give it a shot, but be prepared to be disappointed.

Tag on to my post above. Bart PE is a Windows environment that they license from MS. Guess what you get when you make a repair disk with Win 7 create a repair disk on the backup and restore page? The Boot disk made for your computer by Microsoft like the Bart Preinstall Environment disk (PE.) For the average user that just needs to do backup images for fast restores and do them quickly when done with the system once a week like I do, the images take only about 15 minutes to make each time when you have the average 30 GB or so on the hard drive.

The windows imaging and backup page does not include a bunch of bells and whistles nor gets new users confused with a bunch of choices, which is good for me too and I am an advanced tech. I have specific tools I use for other jobs. I also like EaseUS Todo but for plain images for complete and fast backups Windows 7 has finally done it very well. Attach an external drive, click on create a system image, approve the external drive 20 seconds later when it is found by the program, and then it starts and runs without issue.

Many folks have bought into creating incremental images to supposedly save time and even Acronis has problems if one of the increments is bad they all are. KISS applies here. I do whole new images every time. I have also seen newbies with a ton of paid for and free backup software they never had to restore suddenly find they had done it wrong the whole time and lost it all. Regardless of the program you choose do an image and a boot disk and test them by doing an actual restore on your next new computer after you have made the factory restore disks in case you goof. If you do goof then factory restore won't lose anything and you can try again. All the backups in the world are no good if they don't work when you need them and you did not know. And who is going to risk all their data experimenting with a full drive? If you plan to use this Paragon software the same applies. Test it. But why? It is already in any Windows 7 machines.

This is only useful in my opinion for XP and Vista machines. For my remaining old OS machine, an XP3 netbook, I use my old licensed copy of Acronis 10 and EaseUS Todo. I do one of each alternating in case one doesn't work even though I have tested both with several restores on it.

I also run Windows 8 Release Preview and they included the Windows 7 Imaging program in it but made it very hard to find.

So these third party programs will not be needed when all the older computer OS' are all but gone.