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Installation and registration went without a hitch. One thing to note, however, is that the license for this software expires on 1/17/2010.

The main purpose for Returnil is to allow you to use your computer without fear of malicious attack and/or accidental damage. How Returnil works is that it clones your core Windows files and allows you to use your computer however you please - then when you restart your computer, everything is 'rolled back' to how it was before you used it in the first place. Returnil also allows you to create a virtual partition where you can safely put data that will remain there even on system restart. What Returnil does not do is allow you to run multiple OSes - it does not 'virtualize' an OS like what VirtualBox does.

Okay so the most 'complicated' part of this program is actually the installation. Below is a series of screenshots that will guide you through the installation:

Choose your language and click 'Next"

Obviously you must hit "I Agree" if you want to use this software.

Choose the location where you want to install Returnil and hit "Next". I suggest leaving it at the default location unless you have a very specific reason to change it.

You will find the Serial Number in Readme.txt. You will be able to copy and paste it in. After you are done, hit "Next".

These are Options for the program. You will be able to change them after you have installed the program, so it is not a big deal during the installation. I left them as default, but you can change them as you please. The 'hotkey' at the bottom is to open Returnil program Window.

From here you get to choose if you want to 'clone' your Windows files into your RAM or your HDD. The advantages to RAM is your computer will be faster and more responsive when using System Protection. The advantage to HDD is that your computer will be more stable and you get to use File Manager. This option does not clone your whole Windows Partition so don't worry - it will fit on your RAM. I suggest going with HDD.

Hit Install once you are ready. The program will go through the process of installation. After it is done, you will be prompted with this window:

From this window you can create a virtual partition where you will be able to save files into whenever you have System Protection ON. Meaning, anything you put into this partition will be saved and not discared once System Protection is Off. This step is optional and you can skip it if you want. I suggest creating a partition however. Be sure to leave "Mount Virtual Partition automatically..." checked because if you don't you will have ot manually mount the partition if you ever want to access the files in the partition and that can be a pain. Click "Create" and wait. This can take a few minutes, depending on your computer. After it is done you will be prompted to restart your computer. Do so.

Returnil is set to start with your system boots up, so after you have restarted your computer, you should see this icon in your system tray and this widget on your screen:

If you want to get rid of this widget, go to Preferences -> Other -> Uncheck "Show Toolbar on Desktop" (thx MaryLou). To view the actual program, double click on either the widget or the system tray icon - it does not matter. You should see this:

This is the main window of the program. It is pretty straight forward and simple to understand:

• Protection Status - that is telling you if System Protection is on/off. If it is off, that means you are using your system normally - just like you would do if you do not have returnil on. If the shield in the widget/system tray icon is green, that means that system protection is off. If system protection is on, that means that any and all changes made to your computer will be disregarded (with a few exceptions - more on that later). If system protection is on, the shield in the widget and system tray will be red. To toggle system protection from on/off, just hit "Change". You will have to restart Windows everytime you toggle System Protection On/Off. Whenever Windows loads, Returnil will be set to the last known setting. What I mean is that if you had System Protection On (you manually turned it on and not w/ session lock) then the next time you load up Windows System Protection will be On. Same with Off.
• Protected Partition - tells you what partition that you have protected should you turn on system protection.
• Session Lock - this is a 'temporary' system protection. To turn this on, you do not have to restart Windows. What this does is that it turns System Protection On - you should see Protection Status change to "Session Lock". It turns System Protection On just for the 'session' you are logged into Windows. Meaning that if you restart your computer, System Protection will go back to being Off. Once you toggle Session Lock, you cannot turn off System Protection without restarting Windows.
• Protection Scheduler - this will allow you to setup a weekly schedule, by the hour, of when to turn on/off System Protection. If you click "Change" you should see this Window:

The directions are pretty self explanatory, so I will make this short. If you check "Enable System Protection Scheduler" the Window will now look like this:

Every box that is red corresponds to an hour when System Protection will be On. Click on a box to turn it white which will mean the System Protection is Off. If you check "Show Protection Scheduler Messages" then a message will pop up and warn you 60 seconds before System Protection it is turned On.

• Advanced setting - this option should be gray for you. It is for me too. Not sure what it is for. According to Help this is what it is: "This section will allow you to drop (default) or save all changes made to your System Partition." Figure that one out.
• Virtual Partition - if you created a partition during installation, it should be displayed here. You can mount/dismount it.
• License Information - I will let you decide what this means =P
• Subscription Status - How only your license lasts until. As you can see, the GOTD one is limited.

If you set your Virtual System Engine to HDD cache and not memory cache during installation, you will be able to access "File Manager". If you did not, you will not be able to access file manager:

From this Window, you are able to permanently save files/folders if you make changes to them while System Protection is On. This is what the options mean according to the help file:

• Add File: Open this link to navigate to files you want to save while using the System Protection feature
• Add Folder: Open this link to navigate to folders you want to save while using the System Protection feature
• Remove: This will remove the selected file or folder from the File Manager List
• Select All: This will select all files and folders in the list
• Deselect all: This will deselect all selected files and folders in the list
• Import List: This option will allow you to import a list in either TXT or XML format with files and folders you regularly commit to disk. Designed primarily with network administrators in mind to allow distribution of standard exclusions.
• Export List: This option allows you to export your current list of exclusions in TXT or XML format for later use or to establish exclusions for specific profiles.
• Save List: This will allow you to save a specific list or selective list of items in the File Manager.
• Browse Real System Partition: This feature will allow you to access files and folders outside of the virtual environment.

Just make changes to the specific document or folder in question, then load it into File Manager. For example, lets say you have System Protection On, and you create a document called Resume.doc. You would like to have this document when you restart your computer, so you must click on "Add File", browse to this document, select it, and hit "Save List". Now when you restart your computer and System Protection is Off, you should still have Resume.doc in the same location as you saved it while System Protection was On.

Lastly there is "Preferences":

As I said earlier, you can change some of the settings you set during installation via preferences.

That is it. That describes the program. The one biggest problem I have with this program is that you must restart Windows every time you want to turn System Protection On/Off (unless you do Session Lock in which case you can only turn it On, not Off). This is very annoying and can hinder work because it takes time to restart Windows (effectively you have to restart your computer for most people). Other then that, the only other problems are that the subscription status is limited and that Returnil only protects one partition. I do wish that this program could virtualize any OS, but that really isn't the point of this program so ya.

Free Alternatives:

VirtualBox

With VirtualBox you can literally virtulize any OS. Meaning you can run an OS within an OS. This is something Returnil cannot do. For example, if you have Vista installed, you can install XP(or Linux or Mac OSX or any other OS you can think of) with VirtualBox and run that OS with VirtualBox right in Vista - it will open in a program window and act as just as any program. This is kind of resource intensive however. Also, you need to have legit copies of Windows or Mac OSX because you need the CDs and CDKEYs to install them via VirtualBox. So in essence it is just like installing an OS on your computer - except you are doing it within your current OS. This can be very handy for people who do a lot of testing of products and such that might be unstable and/or they need to test products on multiple OSes. Also you can move file from a VirtualBox OS to your real OS so there are many more things this program can be used for.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

This program only runs on Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista SP1 (Enterprise, Business, Ultimate), and Windows XP SP3. I have yet to actually use it since I have Vista Home Premium but this is how Microsoft describes it:

"Use Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 to run multiple operating systems at the same time on the same physical computer. Switch between virtual machines with the click of a button. Use virtual machines to run legacy applications, provide support, train users, and enhance quality assurance."

From the sounds of it, it does pretty much the same thing as VirtualBox with a few changes here and there.

Sandboxie

The job of Sandboxie is similar to the job of Returnil - allow you to run programs/applications without fear of anything being harmed on your computer. Returnil accomplishes this by 'cloning' your Windows files and disregarding everything you have done upon system reboot. Sandboxie, however, accomplishes this my 'boxing in' particular programs that you designate - there is no restarting of the computer, no partition installations, no "System Protection On/Off", no nothing. All you have to do is run the specific program with Sandboxie (you can right click -> Run Sandboxed or do it via the Sandboxie program window). All the changes that program makes will be disregarded after you close it - it will not effect your computer. The one advantage this has mover Returnil is that you do not have to restart Windows everything you want to use the protection.

Windows SteadyState (thx Fubar)

This program basically does what Returnil does (and works in the same way) but there are a few minor differences such as SteadyState gives you more control over the computer once the protection is turned on.

PMnet Verdict: Returnil is an excellent program no doubt about it. But the fact that you have to restart Windows everytime you want to toggle System Protection On/Off really turns me off - I will not be using the program because of this very simple reason. Now I understand that with the nature of the program, restarting Windows is neseccary, but still it is a big con in my book. However, if you work in a very hostile environment or you share your computer with many different people Returnil (or SteadyState once subscription runs out) can be a very useful program for you. For parents, who would like to control what their children do on the computer, I suggest SteadyState because SteadyState allows you to remove/turn off certain aspects/programs of the computer at your whim. For the rest of us who only need to be protected against individual hostile programs or websites once in a while, I suggest using Sandboxie. It is simple and straight to the point - no restarting computer neseccary just click and run. For people who have the need to virtulize multiples OSes, VirtualBox is the way to go.
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