System restore points

[Bobbi]

My system is creating restore points labelled "Software Distribution Service
3.0". How can I find out what that is? I don't think it's my security
software downloading updates because the time doesn't correspond to the time
of today's update, and my system updates aren't installed automatically.

Bobbi Gold

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

My system is creating restore points labelled "Software Distribution
Service 3.0". How can I find out what that is? I don't think it's my
security software downloading updates because the time doesn't correspond
to the time of today's update, and my system updates aren't installed
automatically.

Bobbi Gold

Google is a wonderful thing. When you type

"Software Distribution Service 3.0"

into a Google search box then you get (amongst other things) this intriguing
link: http://forums.techarena.in/windows-update/856021.htm.

 

[Jose]

My system is creating restore points labelled "Software Distribution Service
3.0". How can I find out what that is? I don't think it's my security
software downloading updates because the time doesn't correspond to the time
of today's update, and my system updates aren't installed automatically.

Bobbi Gold

That is what it is supposed to do - when you get/install an update
from Microsoft.

If you want to figure out what the reason behind the Restore Point
(what was updated), you can look in your WindowsUpdate.log file, you
can look in Add/Remove Programs (enable Show Updates), you could go to
the Microsoft update page and view your update history...

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

A restore point of that name is created whenever you install a Windows
Update.

 

[RT]

The trouble with the way System Restore works is that eventually the early
ones get overwritten :-((

Is there any way of keeping a few really good ones?
e.g. after a clean reinstall and a day or six of putting software back on
and getting it all set up hunky dory?

Is there a way of increasing the amount of room allocated, apart from the
one offered?
(I have a spare 80 gig drive that I would happily devote to restore points
if it meant that I could keep them all.

RT

 

[Peter]

The trouble with the way System Restore works is that eventually the early
ones get overwritten :-((

Is there any way of keeping a few really good ones?
e.g. after a clean reinstall and a day or six of putting software back on
and getting it all set up hunky dory?

Is there a way of increasing the amount of room allocated, apart from the
one offered?
(I have a spare 80 gig drive that I would happily devote to restore points
if it meant that I could keep them all.

RT

You should check out imaging your install. Win 7 comes with it built-in
and there are programs like Acronis for XP. Restore points are a way to
keep XP hobbling until you have the time to clean install it. You could
use your spare 80 gig drive to store images. I would put it in an
external case and connect via USB rather than slave it.

 

[RT]

Agreed - this is a much better idea, and the only real way to have perfect
system backups (and/or disk cloning). Storing a large collection of
System Restore points for that purpose wasn't the intended design of
System Restore, nor is it as complete or incident free, either.

I use a backup drive to store several generational images of my C:
partition, which I create using Acronis True Image. The only disadvantage
of this approach is that the backup images are naturally larger than just
system restore points, of course, because they backup the entire
partition, but that is also their advantage (i.e., perfect restoration
capability)

Hellfire!!!
My C drive is already heaving with 65 gig of used space.....

OK I'm apparently doing it all wrong.

I should nave kept drive/partition C for the operating system and had all my
added software elsewhere, is that right?
How can I rectify this, assuming that this is the way to go?
I cant face _another_ reinstall, less than 4 weeks after the last one.

I am using XP Pro BTW.

RT

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Hellfire!!!
My C drive is already heaving with 65 gig of used space.....

OK I'm apparently doing it all wrong.

I should nave kept drive/partition C for the operating system and had all
my added software elsewhere, is that right?
How can I rectify this, assuming that this is the way to go?
I cant face _another_ reinstall, less than 4 weeks after the last one.

I am using XP Pro BTW.

RT

My preference is to store the OS and all applications on drive C: and keep
all user data on drive D: There are several reasons for this:
- User data is easier to back up because it resides on its own drive.
- Drive C: can be kept small because it stores neglible amounts of data. 20
GBytes for Windows XP is ample.
- When using an imaging program, it is easy to create an image of drive C:
and park it on drive D:.
- When restoring an image, user data is not affected.

65 GBytes on drive C: appears very large unless this is where you store your
personal files.

 

[Bobbi]

Hi, PA Bear-
That's what I would have guessed if my system automatically downloaded and
installed updates but it doesn't. It's set to notify only, and I download
and install them only after I check them out, which is definitely not as
often as these restore points appear.
-Bobbi

 

[Daave]

Do you run ZoneAlarm by any chance?

Hi, PA Bear-
That's what I would have guessed if my system automatically
downloaded and installed updates but it doesn't. It's set to notify
only, and I download and install them only after I check them out,
which is definitely not as often as these restore points appear.
-Bobbi

 

[Bobbi]

No, no Zone Alarm.
And do these automatic restore points get generated BEFORE the updates are
(supposedly) installed or after?
-Bobbi

 

[Daave]

do these automatic restore points get generated BEFORE the
updates are (supposedly) installed or after?

The Software Distribution Service 3.0 RP is the last one (i.e., most
recent) in the list. I doubt another RP is immediately generated. At
least, that's my understanding.

 

[Bobbi]

Well, I have a couple of weeks of restore points (one per day) all labelled
Software Distribution Service 3.0. I have not done any windows updates
during that time except for MS Security Essentials once. Could it be that
all these restore points are being caused by MSE doing its daily updates?
-Bobbi.

 

[Daave]

Perhaps. (Sorry, that's all I got! I don't use MSE.)

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Does MSE update Windows Update (tunnel)? [Yes.]

MSE Support Forums
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/mse

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

[TYPO CORRECTED]

Does MSE update [VIA THE] Windows Update (tunnel)? [Yes.]

MSE Support Forums
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/mse

Well, I have a couple of weeks of restore points (one per day) all
labelled
Software Distribution Service 3.0. I have not done any windows updates
during that time except for MS Security Essentials once. Could it be that
all these restore points are being caused by MSE doing its daily updates?

 

[Bobbi]

Thanks, PA Bear! Finally, an answer after lots of irrelevant postings.
So my other question is, is the automatic restore point created BEFORE the
update? (I'd hope so).
-Bobbi

[TYPO CORRECTED]

Does MSE update [VIA THE] Windows Update (tunnel)? [Yes.]

MSE Support Forums
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/mse

Well, I have a couple of weeks of restore points (one per day) all
labelled
Software Distribution Service 3.0. I have not done any windows updates
during that time except for MS Security Essentials once. Could it be
that
all these restore points are being caused by MSE doing its daily
updates?

 

[Unknown]

Yes, common sense.

Thanks, PA Bear! Finally, an answer after lots of irrelevant postings.
So my other question is, is the automatic restore point created BEFORE the
update? (I'd hope so).
-Bobbi

[TYPO CORRECTED]

Does MSE update [VIA THE] Windows Update (tunnel)? [Yes.]

MSE Support Forums
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/mse


Bobbi wrote:
Well, I have a couple of weeks of restore points (one per day) all
labelled
Software Distribution Service 3.0. I have not done any windows updates
during that time except for MS Security Essentials once. Could it be
that
all these restore points are being caused by MSE doing its daily
updates?

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Such Restore Points are created when the update has installed. If an update
requires a reboot, the Restore Point is created as you're rebooting.

That being said, never, EVER use System Restore to "undo" an update, Service
Pack, or IE upgrade! Instead, uninstall the update, Service Pack, or IE
upgrade & reboot. If that doesn't correct the problem, then try System
Restore.

THAT being said, MSE updates cannot be uninstalled AFAIK.
--
~PA Bear

Thanks, PA Bear! Finally, an answer after lots of irrelevant postings.
So my other question is, is the automatic restore point created BEFORE the
update? (I'd hope so).

Does MSE update [VIA THE] Windows Update (tunnel)? [Yes.]

MSE Support Forums
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/mse


Bobbi wrote:
Well, I have a couple of weeks of restore points (one per day) all
labelled
Software Distribution Service 3.0. I have not done any windows updates
during that time except for MS Security Essentials once. Could it be
that
all these restore points are being caused by MSE doing its daily
updates?

 

[Bob I]

PA Bear,

See "timing info" below.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...p_system_restore_hss_understand.mspx?mfr=true

Windows XP Professional automatic update restore points

If you use Windows XP Professional automatic updates to receive
downloaded updates, System Restore creates a restore point before
installing the updating software. If items are downloaded, but not
installed, a restore point is not created. A restore point is created
only when the components start to install. Use these points to track
changes you made to your system or if these updates might conflict with
other products on your computer.