Why does System Restore fail sometimes?

[WhiteTea77581]

I have had occasions when System Restore could not restore when I
picked a restore point.

What is the cause of that?

Can I have a restore point automatically be made at certain time
intervals while also limiting how many copies are kept?

Thanks.

 

[Lem]

I have had occasions when System Restore could not restore when I
picked a restore point.

What is the cause of that?

Can I have a restore point automatically be made at certain time
intervals while also limiting how many copies are kept?

Thanks.

Everything you always wanted to know about System Restore:
http://bertk.mvps.org/

 

[Mark Adams]

I have had occasions when System Restore could not restore when I
picked a restore point.

What is the cause of that?

Can I have a restore point automatically be made at certain time
intervals while also limiting how many copies are kept?

Thanks.

System Restore fails freguently because it is a lousy utility. Turn System
Restore off and install ERUNT. It makes a backup of your registry once a day
at first boot and keeps 30 day's worth of backups.

 

[Singapore Computer Service]

Hello,

System Restore fails sometimes when the files it wants to replace are in
use. This is normally caused by Anti-Virus protections.

You can work around this by restoring the system in Safe Mode. More on how
to do this at the following link
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449

Points are automatically created when you install updates, software and
drivers.

You can create additional points by going to Start > Programs > Accessories

System Tools > System Restore. The number of points you can create is

limited by the amount of space you allocated to System Restore. System
Restore deletes old points to free up space. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301224 for more info.

You can change the amount of space allocated for System Restore by going to
Start > Control Panel > System > System Restore

Regards,
Singapore Computer Home Repair Service
http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
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[sandy58]

Everything you always wanted to know about System Restore:http://bertk.mvps.org/

Thanks, Lem. Handy link.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

System Restore fails freguently because it is a lousy utility. Turn System
Restore off and install ERUNT. It makes a backup of your registry once a day
at first boot and keeps 30 day's worth of backups.

ERUNT is a very good program, and I too recommend it. However it is
not a complete replacement for System Restore; unlike System Restore,
it *only* backs up the registry.

So I also recommend installing and using ERUNT, but in *addition* to
System Restore, not in place of it.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

See http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html

 

[WhiteTea]

ERUNT is a very good program, and I too recommend it. However it is
not a complete replacement for System Restore; unlike System Restore,
it *only* backs up the registry.

So I also recommend installing and using ERUNT, but in *addition* to
System Restore, not in place of it.

I increased the size used by Restore to have more points to choose
from.

What I would like is for an automated way to:

1. To make a restore point.
2. Do it at a user selectable interval (I did find a registry setting
for this.)
3. Have a user selectable number of restore points with older ones
replaced by the most recent.

Andy

 

[WhiteTea]

Hello,

System Restore fails sometimes when the files it wants to replace are in
use. This is normally caused by Anti-Virus protections.

You can work around this by restoring the system in Safe Mode. More on how
to do this at the following linkhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449

Points are automatically created when you install updates, software and
drivers.

I am looking for a way to do automate that process by maybe using a
script or batch file.

Andy

 

[Daave]

I am looking for a way to do automate that process by maybe using a
script or batch file.

Andy

What is wrong with the way it already is automated?

 

[Lem]

I increased the size used by Restore to have more points to choose
from.

What I would like is for an automated way to:

1. To make a restore point.
2. Do it at a user selectable interval (I did find a registry setting
for this.)
3. Have a user selectable number of restore points with older ones
replaced by the most recent.

Andy

If you had taken the time to read through Bert Kinney's excellent web
site to which I directed you earlier, you would have found answers to
all of your questions.

With respect to #1 and #2, see http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srscripts.html
and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/295299

With respect to #3, please re-read the description of how System Restore
works. Briefly, SR fills up the allocated space with restore points.
When the allocation limit is reached, the oldest restore points are
purged in order to make room for new ones. You can't set a maximum
*number* of restore points, because the *size* of each restore point
varies. Be aware than if you create your own restore points, either
manually or by some script, the allocated space will also be filled up
by the automatically-created restore points and by restore points
created by application installers and the like.

Note that there is very little benefit to having restore points from
more than a week or two in the past because of the likelihood of
intervening changes to the system that are not restored by System Restore.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Thursday, July 16, 2009 9:11:03 AM , and on a
whim, WhiteTea pounded out on the keyboard:

I increased the size used by Restore to have more points to choose
from.

What I would like is for an automated way to:

1. To make a restore point.
2. Do it at a user selectable interval (I did find a registry setting
for this.)
3. Have a user selectable number of restore points with older ones
replaced by the most recent.

Andy

SR has failed on more workstations that I have touched than completed.
Those who are able to restore are lucky IMO.

Depend on a good backup instead along with ERUNT running at Startup. I
have SR turned off on all the workstations here. Getting rid of it also
is one less place for malware to hide.



Terry R.

 

[WhiteTea77581]

The date and time was Thursday, July 16, 2009 9:11:03 AM , and on a
whim, WhiteTea pounded out on the keyboard:








SR has failed on more workstations that I have touched than completed.
Those who are able to restore are lucky IMO.

Depend on a good backup instead along with ERUNT running at Startup.  I
have SR turned off on all the workstations here.  Getting rid of it also
is one less place for malware to hide.

Terry R.

Thanks a lot for the good info and cheerfully helping.

You are right about backing up.

I use batch files to back up to a another drive during every shutdown.

The failure rate of SR is such that I am debating if it's worth using.

I am thinking about your idea about shutting off System Restore.

What are the benefits and risks of doing it?

I have System Recovery as a boot option.
Would it still work?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Thursday, July 16, 2009 11:37:47 AM , and on a
whim, WhiteTea77581 pounded out on the keyboard:

Thanks a lot for the good info and cheerfully helping.

You're welcome.

You are right about backing up.

Until someone loses everything, rarely do they think backing up is
important.

I use batch files to back up to a another drive during every shutdown.

Good practice. I also do that every day. And then I backup to 3
external drives in rotation so I have 3 or 4 months of every partition
completely backed up.

The failure rate of SR is such that I am debating if it's worth using.

In theory it's a good idea. But when I have hoped it would work the
most, it didn't. Not on my workstation or others here, but client
machines. It should just work, without having to t-shoot when it
doesn't. At that point it's too late, isn't it.

I am thinking about your idea about shutting off System Restore.

Like I said, if you have good and frequent backups, you don't need it.

What are the benefits and risks of doing it?

If you do the above, no risks. Benefits of SR not taking up disk space
and hiding malware. I have 6 OS's on this workstation, and all of them
except Win7 are less than 6 gig. I don't need SR making redundant
copies of what I already have.

I have System Recovery as a boot option.
Would it still work?

Yes.

Thanks,
Andy

Terry R.

 

[Singapore Computer Service]

Hello,

Answered in Lem's post.

Regards,
Singapore Computer Home Repair Service
http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
Video Conversion VHS Video8 Hi8 Digital8 MiniDv MicroMv
http://www.bootstrike.com/VHSVideoConvert/

Hello,

System Restore fails sometimes when the files it wants to replace are in
use. This is normally caused by Anti-Virus protections.

You can work around this by restoring the system in Safe Mode. More on how
to do this at the following linkhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449

Points are automatically created when you install updates, software and
drivers.

I am looking for a way to do automate that process by maybe using a
script or batch file.

Andy

 

[VanguardLH]

...
Singapore Computer Home Repair Service
http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
Video Conversion VHS Video8 Hi8 Digital8 MiniDv MicroMv
http://www.bootstrike.com/VHSVideoConvert/

Be leery of advice from a SPAMMER who has a different agenda than the
pretense of giving help. This one does knows how to put his spam in a
signature but refuses to do so because some newsreaders strip off the
signature. He wants to ensure you see his spam.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I increased the size used by Restore to have more points to choose
from.

How big is it. How many days restore points do you get?

I recommend a week or two's worth, but the number you get with XP's
default allocation (and perhaps also what you increased it to) is too
large. If you go back too far, you tend to get the registry out of
synch with other files on the drive, a lot of restore points aren't
really useful.

 

[WhiteTea77581]

You're welcome.


Until someone loses everything, rarely do they think backing up is
important.


Good practice.  I also do that every day.  And then I backup to 3
external drives in rotation so I have 3 or 4 months of every partition
completely backed up.


In theory it's a good idea.  But when I have hoped it would work the
most, it didn't.  Not on my workstation or others here, but client
machines.  It should just work, without having to t-shoot when it
doesn't.  At that point it's too late, isn't it.


Like I said, if you have good and frequent backups, you don't need it.


If you do the above, no risks.  Benefits of SR not taking up disk space
and hiding malware.  I have 6 OS's on this workstation, and all of them
except Win7 are less than 6 gig.  I don't need SR making redundant
copies of what I already have.

Thanks.

Andy

 

[WhiteTea77581]

How big is it. How many days restore points do you get?

I recommend a week or two's worth, but the number you get with XP's
default allocation (and perhaps also what you increased it to) is too
large. If you go back too far, you tend to get the registry out of
synch with other files on the drive, a lot of restore points aren't
really useful.

It was set at 3% of for a 18.6 GB drive.

I doubled it.

In the C:\System Volume Information\_restore folder there are 4 sub
directories.
I think each one is a restore point.

I have a second drive that I only use for storage.

It's a FAT32.
System Restore is turned off for that drive since I have no OS on it.

Andy

 

[Nate Grossman]

It was set at 3% of for a 18.6 GB drive.

That is an awfully small drive.