System Restore Windows XP

[Johnboy]

I've found this facility to be a godsend over the years, but for some reason mine no longer functions as it should (I've tried Viagra!)

Seems like every time I shut down, systems restore gets turned off and has to be manually turned on again whenever I start up...

The only date I can restore to therefore, is the date and time of whenever I switched on....

I've gone over and over system restore settings and can see no reason why it should be acting as it is...

Boffins...??

[Scotty]

Seems like every time I shut down, systems restore gets turned off and has to be manually turned on again whenever I start up...

The only date I can restore to therefore, is the date and time of whenever I switched on....

Remember a few things about SR .....

System Restore NEEDS a minimum of 200Mb free space to function (over and above the space allocated for restore points). If running on a drive without that, system restore will turn itself off silently and automatically. if this Google Book link doesnt open on the right page - scroll to page 415 [CLICK]

I dont use system restore - I prefer to use Norton Ghost - but a quick look round some of the techy websites suggest that there can also be problems when running Norton products with it ..... see http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/share...005113009323013

Here is another guide thats pretty decent.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial56.html

[Scarlet Pimple]

I have had the same problem myself a week ago. Tried many times going back to November for restore points--none worked.

Then I phoned a good techie I knew and , revelation, he said that some Registry Cleaners delete keys which are needed by S. Restore which results in the malfunction?

Wow--that is scary because how does the  average punter know which Registry Cleaning programmes will do this?  When I heard that I had a sense of great vulnerability and thought...better get a good back-up programme installed.

Subsequently, in running one registry cleaner I noted the several references to missing shortcut links connected with System Restore so , maybe, this technical computer mannuie knows his stuff.

:029:

Any comments upon these thoughts would be welcome.

[Scarlet Pimple]

Oh! oh!  I have just read that Google tips on page 415 Scotty and note that turning off System Restore for even an instant erases all restore points to that date.

As I recall, unchecking the "turn-on System Restore" box will have the effect of turning off the system until the box is re-checked but I can't remember whether in these on/off cases you require to also click an "Apply" box. Iwill have to go back to the page to refresh my memory on this.

I think I did that once when I first went back to the S.Restore web page so that would explain  my problem.I sure hope that that is the root of my problem because that means that your system is still setting up restore points automatically , especially if your  Regsitry Cleaner has an automatic Restore Point set-up procedure prior to each scan.

Computers--you never know when the next challenge is going to arise do you?  :rolleyes02:

:sillywave:

[Scotty]

Registry cleaners are a nightmare !!! For the average computer user, they run it and then let it do everything it wants and as you mentioned above, it can result in crucial settings being deleted. The registry is a tricky thing to manipulate unless you know what you are doing and as all changes take place in real time you can screw things up without the ability to go back and fix them if you make a big error.

As i mentioned further above, I use Norton Ghost which for me sits on a separate drive (or to be more precise, its backups do). I find it far more robust than SR which not only wipes restore points when you turn it off even for a second, but also removes them after 90 days whether you want it to or not.

I have ghost set so that it took a full (protected [from deletion]) backup just after I had reinstalled everything on my PC as i wanted it (Windows, Office, Dreamweaver, etc etc) and this is my "base" image. If I have to do a complete re-install to factory settings, I would use this image rather than the manufactures disk to restore my computer to its basic state without having to spend a whole day reinstalling all the various programs.

Ghost also takes new base images for me each month, and incremental backups each week so that if I do have a problem, I can restore my PC to any backup image I want. finally, Ghost also backs up my specified documents folders so things like images & documents are not only backed up when I do a complete system image, but also when it does a "my documents" backup

It means I have had to allocate a 300Gb drive thats only for backups, but in this day and age, 300Gb drives arent expensive so its worth it !!!

[Scarlet Pimple]

Final question to Scotty?

The Norton reference you gave us tells you how to temporarily turn off your Norton Product prior to running System Restore and then turn it on again.

The product list showing at the bottom does not include "GHOST"-- so will the instructions relate to Ghost as well?

I have Ghost on my computer but it is not running.

Thanks! :023:

[Scotty]

No I dont think so.

The products referred to are things like Norton Internet Security, Norton Antivirus and Norton Systemworks which are completely different and can stop changes being made to your computer. Ghost is a different beast used for making backups.

[Scarlet Pimple]

Fine!

The Google instructions refer only to versions 2006, 2007 ansd 2008 so it does not apply to mine which is 2003.

I found  the 40 files relating to my Application sitting in my Storage file but the programme does not appear to be installed since I cannot find it either in Add/Remove or the Start/ Programmes list. Oh well, that means that that cannot be the cause of my problem then--back to the Registry Cleaners I guess or...?

Yiour last post answered a lot of my questions .I had already been going over  in my mind some of the stuff you mentionedand , heh prsto Scotty gives me the answers. What  a guy !

.........eh?  :003: :002:

[Johnboy]

I had to resort to backing up everything on to CDs etc, and then using the reload CD, which puts your PC back to its "out the box" condition. There were other issues apart from system restore such as repeatedly freezing up and/or crashing... What was happening with system restore was that it switched itself off every time the PC was shut down.

It's been a time consuming pain to get everything, or at least the important stuff, re-installed - but having done that - what a difference... Booting up in the morning now takes between 3 and 4 minutes - before it was getting on for 10 minutes.!!  Sytem restore now functions as it should, and the speed of everything is greatly enhanced. I've been told some kind of bug or worm must have got past Norton Anti-Virus.

Going through this process has also made me realise how much useless stuff I've installed over the years that seldom saw the light of day... Much of that stuff will still be kept - but now it is stored on CDs - and tucked away in a drawer and can be ressurected if required.

:003:

[Scotty]

JB - when I got my new PC a few months back I didnt bother with a backup plan ... like a lot of IT people, I figured that if a problem came along I could solve it ..... boy how wrong I was.

A combination of Windows Vista, incompatible software and some stupidity on my part rendered the whole thing bl00dy useless. luckily, I still had my important stuff (documents, photos, music etc) on an external drive I had used for transferring from the old PC to the new one so blowing away the operating system and restoring it to factory settings was not an option that had me tearing my hair out. There are of course benefits to doing this every so often - you clean out all the crap you dont need, you reduce the bloat that weighs down things like your registry and as you have found, you speed things up enormously because of this as only the essential stuff now starts when you boot up the machine.

However, the big hassle - as you have also found - is that you have to reinstall everything. First the operating system, then things like office, then any other software you might need like Antivirus, Firewall etc. In my case it took nearly two days to get everything back to normal and reconfigured. What I did then was uninstall some of the pre-loaded crap that came with the system ... then I was happy. I had a lean mean computing machine with no bloat, no crap installed and everything working like it should.

After that I got a copy of Norton Ghost and created an image file. If I ever have to blow away my system again all I will need to do is restore the base image which will reinstall all the stuff that took me two days to setup but take a fraction of the time !!! I highly recommend it (or a similar product) .... as i mentioned above, it now backs up my system every so often and i can revert to the base image or any of the weekly/monthly backups if I need to. A separate secondary backup does all my important files/documents etc so I am hopefully well covered.

If you use your PC for business then a product like Ghost or something similar, backing your system and important files up to either an external drive or a second internal drive (other than C:) may be a better option than System Restore ... if your C: drive gets wrecked and thats where your restore points are .... what do you do then !!!

[Johnboy]

If I ever have to blow away my system again all I will need to do is restore the base image which will reinstall all the stuff that took me two days to setup but take a fraction of the time !!!

Didn't you notice I hadn't been posting on here for the best part of two days...??...!!

[Scotty]

Didn't you notice I hadn't been posting on here for the best part of two days...??...!!

thought it was quiet  :004:

[Scarlet Pimple]

Microsoft now tells me to delete all restore points already on the Calendar--then  create two or three more.

Then try to restore your computer to each of these newly-created points.

I did and they all worked  so the previous restore points were , according to him, corrupted. Such a simple solution I could hardly believe it. :crazy07: