Does System Restore ever work?

[Yves Leclerc]

I been having problems in getting System Restore to restore my system to the
way it was when the restore point was taken? Every time, System Restore
goes thru the process but the file status states "Can not restore...".
Eventhough it does not work, I have always managed to find a method of
repair my system files/programs (usually removing and re-installing a
software package).


Does System Restore really work????

 

[Jerry]

It has worked for me more than once in the past. Haven't tried it lately
though.

 

[GTS]

Yes. It works best when used with a very recent restore point. Problems
may be caused by a corrupted Restore Point. To fix that disable then
reenable System Restore. Note that this will delete all existing restore
points.

The need to run System Restore should be rare. If you're finding a need to
do this frequently, I can't help wondering what is you're doing that's
causing so many system problems.

 

[Venger]

I been having problems in getting System Restore to restore my system to
the way it was when the restore point was taken? Every time, System
Restore goes thru the process but the file status states "Can not
restore...". Eventhough it does not work, I have always managed to find a
method of repair my system files/programs (usually removing and
re-installing a software package).


Does System Restore really work????

Heh...

It should almost ALWAYS be a last resort. Many problems I've encountered
with systems that are totally buggered and unusable are actually computers
from users who decided to try and use the System Restore point to fix a less
serious but annoying problem. I've never seen SR work, but in theory it
should, for things like driver changes and small things like that. But
people often try it on systems that have spyware, or viruses, etc... and
those invariably seem to screw up.

Venger
P.S. My system restore is off...

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I been having problems in getting System Restore to restore my
system
to the way it was when the restore point was taken? Every
time,
System Restore goes thru the process but the file status states
"Can
not restore...". Eventhough it does not work, I have always
managed
to find a method of repair my system files/programs (usually
removing
and re-installing a software package).


Does System Restore really work????

I haven't needed to use it often, but the few times I have, it
worked fine.

 

[R. McCarty]

System Restore is OK, but with a couple of provisions. First, it was
never intended for long term recovery. I usually configure it's reserve
for just 2-3 days worth of points. Secondly, it's more of a back out
type of recovery - like a program install that goes badly and you just
want to undo it's changes.
Because the points are chained, the longer your calendar shows any
available restore points the less likely you can recover that far back.
It's also a little misleading, because many people believe it monitors
user's data files. I've gotten a few phone tech calls saying "I did a
System Restore, but it didn't restore my ..."
Better to adopt Imaging your system and a regularly schedule burn
of your personal data to CD-R/DVD-R.
Like many features in XP, System Restore provides some basic/limited
functionality.

It has worked for me more than once in the past. Haven't tried it lately
though.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

First try fixing System Restore:

It's possible the SR file store is corrupted. This can be corrected as
follows, go to Control Panel, open System, go to the System Restore tab,
select, "Turn off System Restore on all drives and click apply and ok.
NOTE: this will wipe out all restore points.

Reboot the system as directed, return to the System Restore tab as outlined
above, remove the check from "Turn off System Restore on all drives," click
apply and ok and reboot. Then try System Restore again.

If that fails to resolve it, try the following link:
Troubleshooting System Restore in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q302796

If you've done the above and it works for awhile but reverts to the problem
you describe, you need to look for what might be corrupting System Restore.

Are you using any reg cleaners or hard disk cleanup apps that might delete
or otherwise corrupt necessary settings or files?

 

[Alex Nichol]

If you've done the above and it works for awhile but reverts to the problem
you describe, you need to look for what might be corrupting System Restore.

One point - at System - System restore, highlight drives and see how
much space is being allowed. The default 12% is too much for its own
good on recent big drives; I would set it down under 1GB

 

[Yves Leclerc]

I do not know what happened? It seems that the"Michale Solomon" reply is
missing. What did he reply?

 

[Torgeir Bakken \(MVP\)]

I do not know what happened? It seems that the"Michale Solomon"
reply is missing. What did he reply?

Hi

I see it fine at the Microsoft news server.

Anyway, the post is available at the Google newsgroup archive:

http://groups.google.co.uk/[email protected]

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

This was my reply, Yves:

First try fixing System Restore:

It's possible the SR file store is corrupted. This can be corrected as
follows, go to Control Panel, open System, go to the System Restore tab,
select, "Turn off System Restore on all drives and click apply and ok.
NOTE: this will wipe out all restore points.

Reboot the system as directed, return to the System Restore tab as outlined
above, remove the check from "Turn off System Restore on all drives," click
apply and ok and reboot. Then try System Restore again.

If that fails to resolve it, try the following link:
Troubleshooting System Restore in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q302796

If you've done the above and it works for awhile but reverts to the problem
you describe, you need to look for what might be corrupting System Restore.

Are you using any reg cleaners or hard disk cleanup apps that might delete
or otherwise corrupt necessary settings or files?

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

I do not know what happened? It seems that the"Michale Solomon" reply is
missing. What did he reply?