What controls when automatic System Restore points are created?

[John]

I have two different systems running Windows XP Pro. Both of them are
connected to the internet 24/7.

One of them creates a checkpoint named "System Checkpoint" almost every
day. Usually there is a checkpoint named "Software Distribution Service
3.0" on Sunday, instead.

The other one rarely creates a checkpoint named "System Checkpoint" but
every once in awhile it randomly does.

What registry keys control this? I would like this second machine to
create a checkpoint more often than it does. Thanks!

John

 

[Leonard Grey]

Excerpted from "Description of System Restore in Windows XP" by Bert Kinney
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/description.html

Event-triggered restore points

System Restore automatically creates a restore point before the
following events:
o Application installation (provided the application utilizes
an installer that is System Restore compliant, most applications are not
compliant, so create a manual restore point before installing any new
software). If the application install causes system problems, the user
can restore the system to a state before the installation of the
application, but only after uninstalling the application via add/remove
programs in Control Panel.
o AutoUpdate installation. AutoUpdate provides an easy way
for users to download critical Windows updates. After the update is
downloaded, the user can install the update on the system. If the user
chooses to install the update, System Restore creates a restore point
before the installation of the update begins.
o System restore. For example, if a user accidentally chooses
the wrong restore point, the user can UNDO the restore operation by
choosing a restore point before the system restore took place. The user
can then choose the correct restore point. Warning: When restoring a
system from Safe Mode or from the Command Prompt an UNDO restore point
will NOT be created!

 

[AJR]

As stated, if a restore point has not been created via a specific action
(such as application installation) within 24 hours the default action is for
the OS to create a System Checkpoint restore point - however many times the
automatic restore point creation fails. A common reason for the failure is
insufficient disk space in single or multiple partitions.

 

[Jose]

I have two different systems running Windows XP Pro. Both of them are
connected to the internet 24/7.

One of them creates a checkpoint named "System Checkpoint" almost every
day. Usually there is a checkpoint named "Software Distribution Service
3.0" on Sunday, instead.

The other one rarely creates a checkpoint named "System Checkpoint" but
every once in awhile it randomly does.

What registry keys control this? I would like this second machine to
create a checkpoint more often than it does. Thanks!

John

Another thing can will "fool" you into thinking the RPs are not being
created is that a new RP will only be created during what Microsoft
calls "idle time", so no surfing, downloading, installing, emails,
backups, restores, no manual or automatic virus scans, or the
automatic RP creation will just get skipped because the system is not
idle. It has to be idle. You can still create one manually, right?
If not, then you have another problem.

My system was not creating them when I thought they should be -
skipped right over the scheduled time (sometimes). What is going on
here? So when I read the words idle time, I tested it by going off
campus for lunch. It took about 30 minutes of idle time for me, but
when I got back, there was the RP.

I never tried to figure out exactly how much time is idle time and
don't really care, but was satisfied that there was no real problem
that needed fixing (except me) once I saw what was happening. Looks
like 15-30 minutes for me.

Try your suspicious system - make sure it is really idle, change the
time to when you know it will be idle, make sure it is idle, etc. Is
it doing something else at the time you think a new RP should be
created and your other system is idle?