Where are the System Restore files kept?

[Guest]

Where does Win Xp store the System Restore files? I'd like to save some disc
space by not keeping every restore point. As it is, I have a couple of
restore points that I created when I knew things where stable and that's
really all I want.

Any ideas?

TIA

 

[Guest]

They're kept in a hidden, restricted access folder called System Volume
Information. There's no way to selectively keep the restore points - it's a
First In, First Out thing, with the newest one's overwriting the oldest one's
once it's reached the limit specified in the System applet in Control Panel.

FWIW - I preserve my good points by using Acronis True Image (about $50),
and there are others on the market. Acronis will make a mirror image of your
drive that you can put on a CD, DVD, or another hard drive. Then, when it's
time to restore, you just pop the CD in and - in 15 to 20 minutes - you've
back up and running. The downside is that any changes since you made the
image are lost - but that's the same with System Restore.

 

[Malke]

Where does Win Xp store the System Restore files? I'd like to save
some disc space by not keeping every restore point. As it is, I have a
couple of restore points that I created when I knew things where
stable and that's really all I want.

It's better to use Windows' built-in clean up tool to do what you want.

Start>Run cleanmgr [enter]

Click on the More Options tab and look at the bottom button in the
System Restore area. You can delete all but the most recent System
Restore point there.

Malke

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi,

Restore points can not be kept outside of the System Volume
Information folder.
You can find some tips on adjusting the amount of disk space used by
SR on the following web page.
Keeping System Restore Healthy
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html

 

[Ron Martell]

Where does Win Xp store the System Restore files? I'd like to save some disc
space by not keeping every restore point. As it is, I have a couple of
restore points that I created when I knew things where stable and that's
really all I want.

Any ideas?

TIA

The other responses have answered you question. For more information
about System Restore and how to use it effectively see MVP Bert
Kinney's System Restore pages:
http://home.earthlink.net/~mvp_bert/index.html

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi MambaJack,

Where does Win Xp store the System Restore files?

In a hidden system folder called "System Volume Information", and you will
find one on every volume that is monitored by this function. You must have
folder options set correctly for this folder to be seen in Windows Explorer.

I'd like to save some disc space by not keeping every restore point. As it
is, I have a couple of
restore points that I created when I knew things where stable and that's
really all I want.

There are three ways to easily remove restore points (you should not do this
selectively).

1) Start/run cleanmgr.exe (disk cleanup), there is a "clean up" button on
the "more options" tab to remove all but the newest restore point.

2) Control Panel/System/System Restore tab, go to settings and reduce the
amount of space allotted to System Restore. This will remove older restore
points, how many depends on how much space you require for a point, and how
much space you leave.

3) Control Panel/System/System Restore tab, click the "turn off system
restore on all drives" box. This will eliminate all restore points. Once
reenabled, the system will begin creating new ones. You should reboot in
between doing this.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org