Restore points

[Dr. Indera]

hello,

is there a rule of thumb for how much hard drive space one should allocate
for restore points?

if you create images (versus backups of files) on a regular basis, is it
safe to turn the restore points options off?

thank you.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

By default System Restore will use up to 12% of your hard drive space before
it begins overwriting earliest created Restore Points. You can reduce the
size SR uses to a bare minimum which is around 200MB. Whether or no you want
to keep some Restore Points is up to you. Certainly making regular images is
very prudent however you may not want to do a full load of an image file to
correct a minor problem. Personally I'd suggest setting SR to minimum size
and continue to make regular images.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

is there a rule of thumb for how much hard drive space one should allocate
for restore points?

No, you do what's comfortable for you. I use 5%, the default is 12%. I also
only allow it to monitor the system partition. Other partitions regularly
have data copied to disk to guard against loss. The more space you allocate,
the more points you can save. But this also reduces the amount of disk space
available to the user.

if you create images (versus backups of files) on a regular basis, is it
safe to turn the restore points options off?

Pretty much, but you are only able to return to your last image if you do.
With SR, you might be able to get back to an hour ago, or yesterday, but
with the image you are only able to go back to whenever you last remembered
to create an image. More on System Restore from MVP Bert Kinney:
http://home.earthlink.net/~mvp_bert/

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Dr. Indera]

hi harry,

thank you. this information is very helpful.
--
Indera
* * * * * * * * * *
Don't just live life.
Live life well.


: By default System Restore will use up to 12% of your hard drive space
before
: it begins overwriting earliest created Restore Points. You can reduce the
: size SR uses to a bare minimum which is around 200MB. Whether or no you
want
: to keep some Restore Points is up to you. Certainly making regular images
is
: very prudent however you may not want to do a full load of an image file
to
: correct a minor problem. Personally I'd suggest setting SR to minimum size
: and continue to make regular images.
:
: --
:
: Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
: www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
:
:
: : > hello,
: >
: > is there a rule of thumb for how much hard drive space one should
allocate
: > for restore points?
: >
: > if you create images (versus backups of files) on a regular basis, is it
: > safe to turn the restore points options off?
: >
: > thank you.
: > --
: > Indera
: > * * * * * * * * * *
: > Don't just live life.
: > Live life well.
: >
: >
: >
:
:

 

[Dr. Indera]

hi rick,

i tend to create an image once a week and keep them for about 3 months on an
external hard drive. i keep the last image from every month for a year. 2 or
3 times a year, i'll copy the month images that i keep from one external
drive to another one that i don't use and they sit there until i run out of
room on that drive <smile>. yes, it's a lot of work, i guess, but i am crazy
about having backups.

thank you.
--
Indera
* * * * * * * * * *
Don't just live life.
Live life well.


: Hi,
:
: > is there a rule of thumb for how much hard drive space one should
allocate
: > for restore points?
:
: No, you do what's comfortable for you. I use 5%, the default is 12%. I
also
: only allow it to monitor the system partition. Other partitions regularly
: have data copied to disk to guard against loss. The more space you
allocate,
: the more points you can save. But this also reduces the amount of disk
space
: available to the user.
:
: > if you create images (versus backups of files) on a regular basis, is it
: > safe to turn the restore points options off?
:
: Pretty much, but you are only able to return to your last image if you do.
: With SR, you might be able to get back to an hour ago, or yesterday, but
: with the image you are only able to go back to whenever you last
remembered
: to create an image. More on System Restore from MVP Bert Kinney:
: http://home.earthlink.net/~mvp_bert/
:
: --
: Best of Luck,
:
: Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
:
: Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
:
: Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
:
: : > hello,
: >
:
: >
: >
: > thank you.
: > --
: > Indera
: > * * * * * * * * * *
: > Don't just live life.
: > Live life well.
: >
: >
: >
:
:

 

[Ken Blake]

In

is there a rule of thumb for how much hard drive space one
should
allocate for restore points?

No. In most cases the default 12% of our drive is considerably
too much for most people, but there's no amount that's right for
everyone.

In general, restore points that are older than two weeks or so
aren't very useful, so I adjust my settings to get about that
much.

if you create images (versus backups of files) on a regular
basis, is
it safe to turn the restore points options off?

It depends, at least in part, on what you mean by "on a regular
basis." A restore isn't a full backup; it works only for the
system and not your data, but they are basically made every day.
Do you make your images every day?

Even if you do image daily, unless you are very short of disk
space, as far as I'm concerned, there's no reason to turn off
System Restore. There's very little cost in having it on, and
it's an extra layer of protection. You may or may not need it,
but if you ever do, you'll be glad you had it.