Win XP System Restore Qs

[redscorpion_11]

hay guys... i need to clearify few things about system restore in windows XP...
1st. if after a fresh install of windows XP i create a system restore point...and say after a month of unprotected surfing..... numerous software install & uninstall and loads of other stuff that would generally make the comp very slow ...if i use the system restore point i created at the beginning... WILL My OS BECOME LIKE NEW?????

2.will i loose all the data? i read on some forum that my fav list... and some other stuff like pics an all wont be deleted.... then will it DELETE/REMOVE all the new stuff that i installed in my PC ... say like the new catalyst drivers, yahoo messengers, firefox or anyhting....
if not ... then how will i be garunteed that itll remove all the viruses and spywares????

3.suppose ive installed a 30 day shareware... and after 30 days use system restore to a point before installin that software... will i be able to use that software again for 30 days??..

4.suppose i created a restore point today also... and restored my pc to the first restore point... can i unrestore/restore back to todays restore point?? i.e backward and forward restore possible??? (sorry if my lang. is confusing)

5.has anyone actually tried using the system restore thingy??? :huh:

p.s i dont have my pc with me rt now.. so cant really experiment....but wanted to clearify this things so that i dont have to bother reformatting everytime my PC becomes sluggish....

experts please comments......

 

[thexfactor]

hay guys... i need to clearify few things about system restore in windows XP...
1st. if after a fresh install of windows XP i create a system restore point...and say after a month of unprotected surfing..... numerous software install & uninstall and loads of other stuff that would generally make the comp very slow ...if i use the system restore point i created at the beginning... WILL My OS BECOME LIKE NEW?????

Not exactly ...all the files that you've downloaded and other files which have been installed will still be there even after you restore to the orignal state. It's much better to create a disk image using acronis true image, rather than rely on windows system restore

2.will i loose all the data? i read on some forum that my fav list... and some other stuff like pics an all wont be deleted.... then will it DELETE/REMOVE all the new stuff that i installed in my PC ... say like the new catalyst drivers, yahoo messengers, firefox or anyhting....
if not ... then how will i be garunteed that itll remove all the viruses and spywares????

You'll have to uninstall the progarms and drivers before restoring to a previous point ... else on system restore, the app's and drivers will still be present on the disk, however just their entry would be removed from the windows registry ... and ofcourse you'll have to reinstall the app's and drivers which were installed after the restore point was created

3.suppose ive installed a 30 day shareware... and after 30 days use system restore to a point before installin that software... will i be able to use that software again for 30 days??..

Nope

4.suppose i created a restore point today also... and restored my pc to the first restore point... can i unrestore/restore back to todays restore point?? i.e backward and forward restore possible??? (sorry if my lang. is confusing)

Yup

5.has anyone actually tried using the system restore thingy??? :huh:

Don't use it much now ... use acronis true image

 

[Genius]

Some more info regardin System Restore:::
What's Restored and What's Not

Restored
Registry (note: some current values will persist)
Profiles (local only—roaming user profiles not impacted by restore)
COM+ DB
WFP.dll cache
WMI DB
IIS Metabase
Files with extensions listed in the Monitored File Extensions list
Not Restored
DRM settings
SAM hives (does not restore passwords)
WPA settings (Windows authentication information is not restored)
Contents of the My Documents folder(s)
Specific directories/files listed in the Monitored File Extensions list
Any file with an extension not listed in the Monitored File Extensions list
Items listed in both Filesnottobackup and KeysnottoRestore (hklm->system->controlset001->control->backuprestore->filesnottobackup and keysnottorestore)
User-created data stored in the user profile
Contents of redirected folders
PS: Here, Monitored file extension list includes following:
%cookies%

%favorites%

%History%

%internetcache%

%nethood%

%personaldocuments%

%ProgramFiles%\WindowsUpdate

%windir%\Downloaded Program Files

%windir%\SoftwareDistribution

%windir%\Offline Web Pages

%windir%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Config

%windir%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Database

%windir%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\DataColl

%windir%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\System

%windir%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Vendors

%windir%\pchealth\ErrorRep\UserDumps

%windir%\prefetch

%windir%\temp

*:\~MSSETUP.T

*:\$WIN_NT$.~LS

*:\$WIN_NT$.~BT

%windir%\$NtServicePackUninstall$

%windir%\security\Database

*:\System Volume Information

*:\SIS Common Store

*:\TEMP

*:\TMP

*:\W95UNDO.INI

*:\W98UNDO.INI

*:\W9XUNDO.INI

*:\WININST0.400

*:\WINLFN.INI

*:\WINUNDO.INI

%SRDataStoreRoot%

%windir%\system32\wbem\repository

%windir%\system32\wbem\repository.tmp

%windir%\system32\wbem\repository.bak

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\All Users\Favorites

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\All Users\Documents

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\Default User\My Documents

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\Default User\NetHood

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\Default User\Favorites

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\Default User\Cookies

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\Default User\Cache

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\Default User\Local Settings\History

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temp

%SystemDrive%\Documents And Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

 

[greenhorn]

there is a limit to how much system restore can restore. limited to about 10% of the disk space

 

[Genius]

NOTE:::

Before Running SysRestore:::

System Restore only removes monitored files for the installed applications and the remaining files are left behind. This can cause the application not to function. And in some cases, can also cause the uninstall and reinstall process of the partially removed application to fail. It is recommended to uninstall any applications that were installed after the restore point you will be restoring to.
After Running SysRestore
After restoring a system to an earlier date all monitored files and folders will be reverted back to that date.
Any type of application that requires regular updates, such as virus and spyware applications may need to have there definitions updated.
Run Windows Update and MS Office Update, if installed.
Any application installed after the restore point you are reverting to may not function. System Restore only removes monitored files for the installed applications and the rest are left behind. This can cause the application not to function. And in some cases, can also cause the uninstall and reinstall process of the partially removed application to fail. It is recommended to uninstall any applications that was installed after the restore point you will be restoring to.
Application that were uninstalled will not be fully reinstalled in the restore process because the installation may have contained unmonitored file types. Monitored files from that installation will be restored. To remove one of these partially installed application it may be necessary to reinstall it, then uninstall it via add/remove programs in Control Panel.

 

[Genius]

Contd:::

Effect of System Restore on User Accounts:::

Restoring a system to a time before the user accounts were created, will remove those user accounts. The user account names will still persist under C:\Documents and Settings, which will contain the My Documents folder. Files and folder with the My Documents will be gone because the My Documents folder is not monitored by System Restore.
Restoring a system to a point before a user account was deleted will restore the user account. User files within the My Documents folder will not be restored because the My Documents folder is not monitored by System Restore.

 

[Genius]

Contd:::

System Restore will not restore uninstalled applications. It was not designed to do so. System Restore monitors a core set of system files and most of the registry. In a typical application installation there are file types that System Restore does not monitor, and therefore will not restore. This would cause the application to fail to run. An exception to this would be if an application consisted of only monitored file types. Otherwise, most of the time, it is not advisable to try reinstalling or uninstalling applications using SysRestore.

 

[redscorpion_11]

thanx guys...that was great info....

 

[ComradE_BeaN]

i also too recommend a true image creator like Norton Ghost/Acronis Suite..
the sytem restore is simply crap..
the first thing i do after installing a xp on any system would be to disabe system restore..lol

 

[6pack]

5.has anyone actually tried using the system restore thingy???

i have used it - something went wrong while installing ie7 and my only option wast to reboot the pc. after rebooting i saw that ie6 wont start properly and my comp was becoming sluggish in performance.

thats when i used system restore to go to point before ie7 was installed and got my system back to normal.

system restore is not totally bad or anything like that. i think its better to keep it enabled on your machine as a backup plan to a disk image.