Windows XP system restore points question

K

kraut

I have had this system for about a year and a half with no problems
and have the daily system restore points and system restore points for
when I installed / removed / updated software for that time.

Question is how far back should I keep the restore points or files or
whatever?? Room is not a problem for now so keeping them all is no
big deal but I was just wondering.

Thanks much.
 
S

SC Tom

kraut said:
I have had this system for about a year and a half with no problems
and have the daily system restore points and system restore points for
when I installed / removed / updated software for that time.

Question is how far back should I keep the restore points or files or
whatever?? Room is not a problem for now so keeping them all is no
big deal but I was just wondering.

Thanks much.

Depending on what you have allocated for space (default is 12%), it will
keep them until needing to be overwritten, or, IIRC, 90 days.

I would hate to think of using a restore point from, say, 6 weeks ago. Any
changes made to the system will be lost, including updates, etc. If you're
thinking of going back more than a week or two, I would personally consider
disk imaging over system restore. SR is great when, as you stated, used for
undoing something a program installation may have messed up, but doesn't
protect anything else other than Windows files.
 
K

kraut

Depending on what you have allocated for space (default is 12%), it will
keep them until needing to be overwritten, or, IIRC, 90 days.

I would hate to think of using a restore point from, say, 6 weeks ago. Any
changes made to the system will be lost, including updates, etc. If you're
thinking of going back more than a week or two, I would personally consider
disk imaging over system restore. SR is great when, as you stated, used for
undoing something a program installation may have messed up, but doesn't
protect anything else other than Windows files.


Not sure how many restore points there are much there are a lot!!
What ever it was set to from factory or however long it was set to
keep them is what I have.

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate the help.
 
K

kraut

Not sure how many restore points there are much there are a lot!!
What ever it was set to from factory or however long it was set to
keep them is what I have.

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate the help.

I decided to take a chance and delete all the restore points that are
over 4 weeks old and hope it is okay.

Thanks again.
 
M

Mint

I decided to take a chance and delete all the restore points that are
over 4 weeks old and hope it is okay.

Thanks again.

You best bet is to turn off System Restore and use a Disk Imaging
Program.
Store the image on a second drive in case your primary goes out.

I use Macrium Reflect which is very reliable.

Andy
 
D

Daave

Mint said:
You best bet is to turn off System Restore and use a Disk Imaging
Program.
Store the image on a second drive in case your primary goes out.

I use Macrium Reflect which is very reliable.

The best bet is to keep SR on *and* use a disk imaging program
regularly. SR still has its uses! Running SR is *much* quicker than
restoring an image. And if SR fixes the problem, then it is the
preferred solution.

An example of where SR is preferred:

You install a program. Performance slows to a crawl. You know that the
new program is responsible. Simply uninstall the program and if
necessary, run SR, using the last good Restore Point (i.e., the one
right before the problematic installation). The reason is might be
necessary? If the uninstallation routine was not thorough enough and the
performance problem remained.

Sure, restoring an image would be equally effective, but it would take
an awful lot longer! Of course, for those times where SR does not solve
the problem (unable to boot for instance, and no other method can fix
the problem), restoring an image can be a godsend!

To OP:

As SC Tom indicated, SR is most useful when you use a very recent
Restore Point. The further far back in time you go, the more issues you
will have with it and the less effective it will be. In those cases,
yes, restoring an image is certainly the way to go!
 
K

kraut

The best bet is to keep SR on *and* use a disk imaging program
regularly. SR still has its uses! Running SR is *much* quicker than
restoring an image. And if SR fixes the problem, then it is the
preferred solution.

An example of where SR is preferred:

You install a program. Performance slows to a crawl. You know that the
new program is responsible. Simply uninstall the program and if
necessary, run SR, using the last good Restore Point (i.e., the one
right before the problematic installation). The reason is might be
necessary? If the uninstallation routine was not thorough enough and the
performance problem remained.

Sure, restoring an image would be equally effective, but it would take
an awful lot longer! Of course, for those times where SR does not solve
the problem (unable to boot for instance, and no other method can fix
the problem), restoring an image can be a godsend!

To OP:

As SC Tom indicated, SR is most useful when you use a very recent
Restore Point. The further far back in time you go, the more issues you
will have with it and the less effective it will be. In those cases,
yes, restoring an image is certainly the way to go!


Thanks again for all the help.
 

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