System Restore, "large" USB drives

[Guest]

Bert Kinney explained this to me, the question is: how to fix it properly?

There is a "feature" of WinXP System Restore that means use of large USB
drives (in my case 1GB - but partitioned into two of ~500MB) wipes the System
Restore history.

Bert explained how to mitigate some of this: have the USB drive installed at
startup, see the letter assignment and tell System Restore to ignore it.

Unfortunately, one of the partitions is an encrypted drive, so it never
appears at startup, consequently if Windows bombs out for any reason while
this partition is mounted we are back to square 1.

Is there anyway to stop System Restore from monitoring other drives by
default, i.e. only attend to drives I tell it to?

I have (had - but no doubt not the last) so many issues to resolve the loss
of System Restore is a major issue.

Please Mr Microsoft, can't you fix this incorrect System Restore behaviour?
And in the meantime, anyone else know how to resolve this?

Thanks

Julian

 

[Bert Kinney]

Bert Kinney explained this to me, the question is: how to fix it
properly?

Unfortunately, System Restore was designed to monitor all
drives/partitions it sees. At the time MS thought it was the right thing
to do. In hindsight, it was not.

There is a "feature" of WinXP System Restore that means use of large
USB
drives (in my case 1GB - but partitioned into two of ~500MB) wipes the
System
Restore history.

Is this a flash drive?

Bert explained how to mitigate some of this: have the USB drive
installed at
startup, see the letter assignment and tell System Restore to ignore
it.

Unfortunately, one of the partitions is an encrypted drive, so it
never
appears at startup, consequently if Windows bombs out for any reason
while
this partition is mounted we are back to square 1.

I doubt very much this Scenario was even considered when XP was being
developed.

Is there anyway to stop System Restore from monitoring other drives by
default, i.e. only attend to drives I tell it to?

Not that I know of.

I have (had - but no doubt not the last) so many issues to resolve the
loss
of System Restore is a major issue.

The use of flash and external drives along with SR is problem. Sometimes
assigning a drive letter works, and sometimes it does not. :- (((

Please Mr Microsoft, can't you fix this incorrect System Restore
behaviour?

I doubt very much we will see any major changes to SR in WinXP. My best
advise is to use one or the other. This behavior has been eliminated in
Windows Vista. To date, SR in Vista only monitors the OS partition by
default. As a mater of fact, SR has been completely redesigned in Vista.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Bert - your drive letter suggestion works fine for the default
(unencrypted) partition, I was hoping that the need for the drive to be
mounted at boot time for SR to be able to ignore it could be circumvented in
order to apply the same trick to the encypted partition.

Yes it is a flash drive (Lexar "JumpDrive" with JumpDreive Secure).

What bugs me is that since SR doesn't monitor data files (or shouldn't!) why
is there a problem... I only have data files... ah! I do have a Briefcase on
the encrypted partition... might this be a connection?

Julian

 

[Bert Kinney]

The reason for setting a permanent drive letter is to reduce the chance
of restore point being deleted or corrupted.
If you can come up with a scenario on attaching and removing the USB
drive with out causing restore point problems, then that's probably the
best that can be done.

 

[Guest]

Hi Bert...

Had an online support chat with Lexar this afternoon, and a short while ago
received this message...

Dear customer

W e are sending you the new jump drive secure II software to take the place
of your older secure software that came on your drive, it's easy to use ,
create your secure vaults , password protected etc, you will need to back up
your data from your drive and save it, then repartition your drive to 100%
public if you have the JDS drive and then reformat the drive,

run the new software from the drive..it must be placed on the drive and ran
from the drive this should fix any problems you are having with restore
points./

Lexar Support Manager

Will give it a go and see what happens! Must say I am please with the Lexar
support!

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Julian,

Thank for the feedback. Let me know if this works. And if possible, ask
them for any documentation they may have on this issue. This definitely
worth sharing with others in this situation.

 

[Guest]

Success!!!

Lexar provided Secure II (v6.0.28) software, and I installed the software
this morning. [curious fact: despite several Format attempts, a "system
volume information" folder remains on the public drive - even though SR is
not monitoring it, and wasn't monitoring it when I formatted it]

Since then (in order), and with the public and encrypted drives both
mounted, I have hibernated and woken the system twice, suffered one BSOD, a
total and sudden shutdown (probably both due to CPU overtemp - HP machine may
be overfluffed in the fan area somewhere...?), and another hibernate/wake
cycle.

System Restore history is still present!

I note that the encrypted drive now appears as a "Removable Drive" instead
of a "Local Drive".

Whether this software would work on any other mfr's USB stick I don't know,
but it works for me.

So, thanks to people like you and Lexar - and no thanks to Microsoft
(complete absence of promised call-backs), Nokia (most obnoxiously excessive
use of registry entries and uninstallable application ever) or
Hewlett-Packard (generally sub-standard design/implementation/quality
control... whatever) - in the past week I have resolved 3 major app & OS
issues.

Quit while you're ahead Julian!

Thanks Bert!

Julian

 

[Bert Kinney]

Success!!!

Lexar provided Secure II (v6.0.28) software, and I installed the
software
this morning. [curious fact: despite several Format attempts, a
"system
volume information" folder remains on the public drive - even though
SR is
not monitoring it, and wasn't monitoring it when I formatted it]

The System Volume Information (SVI) folder will be found on every
partition Windows sees. Encrypting File System (EFS) also uses the
System Volume Information folder on each partition to store the log file
that is generated during the encryption and decryption process. If the
Indexing Service is turned on, it will also use the SVI folder.

Since then (in order), and with the public and encrypted drives both
mounted, I have hibernated and woken the system twice, suffered one
BSOD, a
total and sudden shutdown (probably both due to CPU overtemp - HP
machine may
be overfluffed in the fan area somewhere...?), and another
hibernate/wake cycle.

Sudden shutdowns can cause restore point corruption. It's a good idea to
test SR after this occures.

System Restore history is still present!

That's a good thing...

I note that the encrypted drive now appears as a "Removable Drive"
instead
of a "Local Drive".

Well that appears to be fixed. Does the removable drive remember it's
assigned drive letter?

Whether this software would work on any other mfr's USB stick I don't
know,
but it works for me.

Is this software available to the public?

So, thanks to people like you and Lexar - and no thanks to Microsoft
(complete absence of promised call-backs), Nokia (most obnoxiously
excessive
use of registry entries and uninstallable application ever) or
Hewlett-Packard (generally sub-standard design/implementation/quality
control... whatever) - in the past week I have resolved 3 major app &
OS issues.

You have done very well!!!

Quit while you're ahead Julian!

Thanks Bert!

You're very welcome. Glad to be of help.

 

[Guest]

Hi Bert,

Ta for the info on SVI.

Re the other stuff:

1. No, the Lexar software is not publicly available unfortunately - I asked
specifically.
2. I created another restore point and successfully retored from it [NB - is
there no periodic integrity checking, or when a new restore point is created?
Would at least be nice to have that choice!]
3. Yes the base public drive retains its unmonited E: designation, and the
secure partition mounts with a selectable drive letter - default being the
next available.

Thanks!

Julian

PS And yes, I have done well! I ehave also even managed to get my PayPal
account closed - had to email the CEO to make it happen though Nil points
to standard support and for business processes, but top marks to a CEO who
publishes an email address and makes things happen.

Success!!!

Lexar provided Secure II (v6.0.28) software, and I installed the
software
this morning. [curious fact: despite several Format attempts, a
"system
volume information" folder remains on the public drive - even though
SR is
not monitoring it, and wasn't monitoring it when I formatted it]

The System Volume Information (SVI) folder will be found on every
partition Windows sees. Encrypting File System (EFS) also uses the
System Volume Information folder on each partition to store the log file
that is generated during the encryption and decryption process. If the
Indexing Service is turned on, it will also use the SVI folder.

Since then (in order), and with the public and encrypted drives both
mounted, I have hibernated and woken the system twice, suffered one
BSOD, a
total and sudden shutdown (probably both due to CPU overtemp - HP
machine may
be overfluffed in the fan area somewhere...?), and another
hibernate/wake cycle.

Sudden shutdowns can cause restore point corruption. It's a good idea to
test SR after this occures.

System Restore history is still present!

That's a good thing...

I note that the encrypted drive now appears as a "Removable Drive"
instead
of a "Local Drive".

Well that appears to be fixed. Does the removable drive remember it's
assigned drive letter?

Whether this software would work on any other mfr's USB stick I don't
know,
but it works for me.

Is this software available to the public?

So, thanks to people like you and Lexar - and no thanks to Microsoft
(complete absence of promised call-backs), Nokia (most obnoxiously
excessive
use of registry entries and uninstallable application ever) or
Hewlett-Packard (generally sub-standard design/implementation/quality
control... whatever) - in the past week I have resolved 3 major app &
OS issues.

You have done very well!!!

Quit while you're ahead Julian!

Thanks Bert!

You're very welcome. Glad to be of help.

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Bert,

Ta for the info on SVI.

You're welcome. :- )

Re the other stuff:

1. No, the Lexar software is not publicly available unfortunately - I
asked specifically.

That's to bad. I have contacted Lexar and asked them for some guidance
on what Jump Drives are effected and provide a link to a solution.

2. I created another restore point and successfully retored from it
[NB - is
there no periodic integrity checking, or when a new restore point is
created?

No, not that I know of.

Doug Knox has created a couple of VB utilities, one that requires no
user intervention and the other displays a dialog while the Restore
Point is being created, and a dialog will show that the Restore Point
was successfully created or not. If it was successful, the dialog will
automatically dismiss after 5 seconds.
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_sysrestorepoint.htm

Would at least be nice to have that choice!]
3. Yes the base public drive retains its unmonited E: designation, and
the
secure partition mounts with a selectable drive letter - default being
the next available.

Thanks for that.

Thanks!

Julian

PS And yes, I have done well! I ehave also even managed to get my
PayPal
account closed - had to email the CEO to make it happen though Nil
points
to standard support and for business processes, but top marks to a CEO
who
publishes an email address and makes things happen.

I am sure they don't want the negative publicity AOL got for giving
folks a hard time when they wanted to cancel there accounts. <g>

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

Success!!!

Lexar provided Secure II (v6.0.28) software, and I installed the
software
this morning. [curious fact: despite several Format attempts, a
"system
volume information" folder remains on the public drive - even
though
SR is not monitoring it, and wasn't monitoring it when I formatted
it]

The System Volume Information (SVI) folder will be found on every
partition Windows sees. Encrypting File System (EFS) also uses the
System Volume Information folder on each partition to store the log
file
that is generated during the encryption and decryption process. If
the
Indexing Service is turned on, it will also use the SVI folder.

Since then (in order), and with the public and encrypted drives
both
mounted, I have hibernated and woken the system twice, suffered one
BSOD, a total and sudden shutdown (probably both due to CPU
overtemp - HP
machine may be overfluffed in the fan area somewhere...?), and
another
hibernate/wake cycle.

Sudden shutdowns can cause restore point corruption. It's a good idea
to
test SR after this occures.

System Restore history is still present!

That's a good thing...

I note that the encrypted drive now appears as a "Removable Drive"
instead of a "Local Drive".

Well that appears to be fixed. Does the removable drive remember it's
assigned drive letter?

Whether this software would work on any other mfr's USB stick I
don't
know, but it works for me.

Is this software available to the public?

So, thanks to people like you and Lexar - and no thanks to
Microsoft
(complete absence of promised call-backs), Nokia (most obnoxiously
excessive use of registry entries and uninstallable application
ever) or
Hewlett-Packard (generally sub-standard
design/implementation/quality
control... whatever) - in the past week I have resolved 3 major app
&
OS issues.

You have done very well!!!

Quit while you're ahead Julian!

Thanks Bert!

You're very welcome. Glad to be of help.

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

:

Hi Julian,

Thank for the feedback. Let me know if this works. And if
possible,
ask them for any documentation they may have on this issue. This
definitely worth sharing with others in this situation.
--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org