Last year I posted that some Paragon apps might have a problem with win8.1 -- working with VMs, a restored win 8.1 disk image backup wouldn't boot. Their new version 14 software's out with better 8.1 compatibility, as well as adding whatever unseen, sort of under the hood improvements they've come up with. The Drive Copy 14 Compact help says it works better with UEFI Bios & GPT disks, along with win8.1's boot setup.
I'll start with installation of Drive Copy 14 Compact... I'm not sure about the 32 bit version, but the 64 bit Windows Installer [.msi] file they used with the 1/10/14 GOTD was a bit buggy -- if you allowed it to uninstall an older version, when it came time to install the new it looked for the wrong .msi filename. Uninstalling that older version 1st seemed to avoid the problem, though I'd expect mileage might vary...
Windows Installer [.msi file] setup routines don't just extract files & put them where they're supposed to go, making whatever registry changes along the way, but work with & alter Windows Installer records that include every .msi install &/or update ever run. Unfortunately developers & coders are given a lot of leeway to screw things up, which can & often does mean that a bad .msi setup routine can break both the Windows Installer & other software [when/if it was originally installed using .msi setup files]. Often the only fix is a Windows reinstall. Long story short, while many might have experienced problems installing/upgrading the 64 bit version of Drive Copy 14 Compact, I'd expect symptoms might vary a bit depending on the state or health of the Windows Installer on their system.
For 64 bit Windows, a copy of that IMHO overlarge .msi file was also stored in C:\ Users\ UserName\ AppData\ Local\ Downloaded Installations\ . Why Overlarge? It includes both 32 & 64 bit versions of the *nix boot disc ISO. The GOTD setup -- not the .msi -- also looked to install the Microsoft C/C++ 2010 runtime files [vcredist_x86.exe or vcredist_x64.exe].
Like versions 11 & 12 that were on GOTD before it, Drive Copy 14 Compact's win8/8.1 style [Metro] Express window or GUI has backup & restore wizards -- the advanced, traditional GUI does not. Neither GUI lets you create bootable media from the included *nix-based ISO -- the help file says to download the software after logging into your Paragon account. However when it comes to the *nix ISO, IMHO the media builder is/was only useful though if you wanted to put it on a USB stick -- most everyone I think by now can burn an ISO to a CD [or DVD if you don't have CD blanks on hand anymore]. FWIW there are more than a few tools that will set up your USB stick to give you a boot menu where you can choose between however many ISOs, so if you don't like or can't use bootable CDs & such, at least that's more efficient than tying up the average 4-8 GB stick with a relative few files.
And because backup & restore are covered, drivers to mount those backup images are included & installed. That may or may not be a problem, because these drivers are new, and I've no idea how compatible they are with older versions of Paragon's software. Myself, I didn't take the chance because all it takes is a smallest glitch transferring a small but critical file & you've got problems -- I'll wait until I can more easily afford the upgrade or their new backup software's on GOTD, which ever happens 1st [I'll wind up buying an upgrade anyway, but before & after the holiday is just not a great time to be spending money]. Of course mounting a backup image has nothing at all to do with copying a disk or partition, so I'd expect if you wanted or needed to run it, Drive Copy 14 Compact would do everything short of mounting an archive just fine, & portably, without those new drivers installed. And/or if you don't use older Paragon software to mount backup images you've got nothing to worry about.
If you saved the .msi file from the temp or Downloaded Installations folder, you can do an abbreviated future install by using Universal Extractor on that .msi file, then copying the extracted files into your Paragon folder [e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\ Paragon Software\]. The drivers -- if you want them -- can be had by running UimSetup.exe [in the software's ium folder].
If the new drivers screwed things up for you, or if you just want to go back to the drivers that come with something like Backup and Recovery 12 Compact, start at Control Panel -> Device Mgr., uninstalling the new drivers under Universal Image Mounter. Check the device properties 1st -- the Driver tab should show you the date -- so you can be sure you're removing just the new stuff. And when/if you uninstall, check the box to remove the files too. Now go to the uim folder in your older Paragon software & run the .exe file, e.g. uim_x64.exe or uim_x86.exe. Note that some apps may have both 32 & 64 bit versions, while others only have the version you installed with that app.
