System Restore

lenovomi · Apr 23, 2023

Hello,
does it make any sense to activate System Restore if one periodically backup machine using ATI / Macrium?

Also has no clue what does that C:/ Missing means?

thanks

Dru2 · Apr 23, 2023

lenovomi said:
Hello,
does it make any sense to activate System Restore if one periodically backup machine using ATI / Macrium?

Also has no clue what does that C:/ Missing means?
View attachment 58640

thanks

System Restore is NOT a backup program, nor is it designed to be a backup program. It dos not backup personal files and folders.

Point - if you'll looking to backup you personal files and folders, keep using either ATI or Macrium.

Turn On or Off System Protection for Drives in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off system protection to create restore points and do a system restore for drives in Windows 11. Turning on system protection for a drive allows System Restore to include the drive when restore points are created so you can undo undesired system...

www.elevenforum.com

cereberus · Apr 23, 2023

System Restore will partly rewind pc back to previous restore point but it does not delete data. It is not an image backup e.g.it will not guarantee to remove virus infections for example.

However a system restore can be useful if current OS is playing up, but would be no good for a host pc drive failure.

Personally, I do not use them anymore, relying on system images keeping data on a separate drive, so it is not affected. Each user is different.

lenovomi · Apr 23, 2023

@cereberus yeah... makes also sense to me to skip it .. ie disable it while i have proper backups /image/incremental via ATI/Macrium etc

cereberus · Apr 23, 2023

lenovomi said:
@cereberus yeah... makes also sense to me to skip it .. ie disable it while i have proper backups /image/incremental via ATI/Macrium etc

So long as data is separate on a partition/drive not in image backup as an image restore could lose data added since last image backup.

lenovomi · Apr 23, 2023

Dru2 said:
System Restore is NOT a backup program, nor is it designed to be a backup program. It dos not backup personal files and folders.

yeah but do i have to also use system restore with both backing tools?

Turn On or Off System Protection for Drives in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off system protection to create restore points and do a system restore for drives in Windows 11. Turning on system protection for a drive allows System Restore to include the drive when restore points are created so you can undo undesired system...

www.elevenforum.com

It is highly recommended to leave system protection turned on for your Windows drive (ex: C: ) to quickly restore Windows 11 back to a previous restore point as needed.

The question would be why it is by default off on win11.

Plus > Turn On or Off System Protection for Drives in Windows 11 Tutorial

lenovomi · Apr 23, 2023

cereberus said:
So long as data is separate on a partition/drive not in image backup as an image restore could lose data added since last image backup.

i dont separate partition/drive with user data... all on one drive. and i dont want to separate cuz its mess to separate...

cereberus · Apr 23, 2023

lenovomi said:
i dont separate partition/drive with user data... all on one drive. and i dont want to separate cuz its mess to separate...

No wonder your backup methodology is so over complicated as described in other posts LOL

Organise your data or it will organise you!

lenovomi · Apr 23, 2023

cereberus said:
Organise your data or it will organise you!

yeah ... or eats you.

wondering if there are some "recco" tools for a data organization.

glasskuter · Apr 23, 2023

To get rid of that C:missing entry in system restore, turn off system restore for that ghost entry. The entry should disappear from the list.

Steve C · Apr 24, 2023

lenovomi said:
Hello,
does it make any sense to activate System Restore if one periodically backup machine using ATI / Macrium?

Also has no clue what does that C:/ Missing means?
View attachment 58640

thanks

I found System Restore unreliable in the past so I turned it off and now rely on frequent Reflect backups

Dru2 · Apr 24, 2023

Steve C said:
I found System Restore unreliable in the past so I turned it off and now rely on frequent Reflect backups

It kill me on how some can call an app "unreliable" when they clearly don't understand the purpose. The reason you found it "unreliable" is because you were probably using it for the wrong reasons. It is NOT a backup, and never was designed to "backups".

I've been using System Restore (restore points) for years without issue. In fact I use it all the time whenever I install certain drivers such as GPU or when I install an app I'm not too sure about. There it works like a champ and without issue.

If you are looking to backup person data, System Restore (Restore Points) is NOT that tool. Period. If you use System Restore, and try to restore from months back, System Restore is NOT that tool.

If you install an app or driver and find said items problematic within a short time... System Restore is the tool to use as it'll simply restore the system (system files, Registry) to the previous state before said items were installed. Here the app works like a champ... when used correctly.

Also understand three important things about System Restore...

1) Whenever a major Windows update is installed, the old restore points are deleted as they are no longer applicable to the new update.
2) If System Restore is disabled, any restore points are then lost. That even when you enable, those restore points are lost.
3) System Restore does not restore user data or documents, so it will not cause users to lose their files, e-mail, browsing history, or favorites. And also, why it is NOT designed for "backups"

cereberus · Apr 24, 2023

Dru2 said:
It kill me on how some can call an app "unreliable" when they clearly don't understand the purpose. The reason you found it "unreliable" is because you were probably using it for the wrong reasons. It is NOT a backup, and never was designed to "backups".

I've been using System Restore (restore points) for years without issue. In fact I use it all the time whenever I install certain drivers such as GPU or when I install an app I'm not too sure about. There it works like a champ and without issue.

If you are looking to backup person data, System Restore (Restore Points) is NOT that tool. Period. If you use System Restore, and try to restore from months back, System Restore is NOT that tool.

If you install an app or driver and find said items problematic within a short time... System Restore is the tool to use as it'll simply restore the system (system files, Registry) to the previous state before said items were installed. Here the app works like a champ... when used correctly.

Also understand three important things about System Restore...

1) Whenever a major Windows update is installed, the old restore points are deleted as they are no longer applicable to the new update.
2) If System Restore is disabled, any restore points are then lost. That even when you enable, those restore points are lost.
3) System Restore does not restore user data or documents, so it will not cause users to lose their files, e-mail, browsing history, or favorites. And also, why it is NOT designed for "backups"

I fully understand what system restore does. It is blooming unreliable. Many times it fails to work. Perhaps you do not understand the concept of reliable?

Bree · Apr 24, 2023

Dru2 said:
It kill me on how some can call an app "unreliable" when they clearly don't understand the purpose. The reason you found it "unreliable" is because you were probably using it for the wrong reasons. It is NOT a backup, and never was designed to "backups".

I've been using System Restore (restore points) for years without issue. In fact I use it all the time whenever I install certain drivers such as GPU or when I install an app I'm not too sure about. There it works like a champ and without issue.

System Restore got it's reputation for unreliability with certain versions of Windows 10, 1803 in particular.

System Restore Fails Every Time - Windows 10 Help Forums

Hi Guys, Here is a weird one. On Win 10 Pro, 1803, Build 17134.48. Every system restore fails on my machine, with the error as in attachment. If I try booting from Windows 10 setup USB boot and select Repair, then go to System Restore, I get this message:

www.tenforums.com

I agree that it has its place, and I have occasionally used it (though backup images are my preferred choice). Seems reliable in the current versions of Win10/11.

SIW2 · Apr 24, 2023

The shadow copies are much more useful than just the system restore functionality. You might be surprised what you can find.

showshadows.cmd

@ECHO OFF

if not exist c:\myshadows md c:\myshadows
for /f "tokens=2 delims=?" %%I in ('vssadmin list shadows ^| find "GLOBALROOT"') do (
mklink /d c:\myshadows\%%~nxI \\?%%I\
)

explorer.exe "c:\myshadows"

pause

glasskuter · Apr 24, 2023

@Dru2 @cereberus Call me Switzerland in this debate as I agree with points both of you are making based on my own experiences with it. SR can do the things Dru2 said when it works correctly, and in the past it has worked correctly....some of the time. Cereberus is also correct in that it not always a dependable process.

I would guesstimate I've attempted to use it 50 times on mine and others' systems to have it complete successfully no more than 50% of those times. I lost confidence in the process. Granted, this track record goes back to the Windows 7 and early Windows 10 days and MS may or may not have worked out its kinks by now. I've not tried to use SR on any Windows 11 system so I wouldn't know.

I didn't get on the imaging train until around 2005 but system restore was still turned on and I continued to make a restore point before any driver or registry change even though the couple of times I tried restoring, it failed. By the time Windows 10 came out, I didn't even bother with using it as my first line of defense any more.

Fast forward to Windows 11. I have my first small boot drive, and drive space is a concern. I lacked faith that SR would work, so I chose to turn it off. But as with anything Windows, mileage varies, so if one trusts the process, one should keep it on and try it as a first method of recovery for the things Dru2 mentioned that it's supposed to recover. By no means should it be one's only recovery method.

Bree · Apr 24, 2023

glasskuter said:
I would guesstimate I've attempted to use it 50 times on mine and others' systems to have it complete successfully no more than 50% of those times. I lost confidence in the process. Granted, this track record goes back to the Windows 7 and early Windows 10 days and MS may or may not have worked out its kinks by now.

In W10 1803 system restore failed 100% of the time for me. For the current version of W10 it seems to work OK, so I guess that does average out at 50%... :wink:

glasskuter said:
I've not tried to use SR on any Windows 11 system so I wouldn't know.

I have once or twice, it worked each time.

Steve C · Apr 24, 2023

Dru2 said:
It kill me on how some can call an app "unreliable" when they clearly don't understand the purpose. The reason you found it "unreliable" is because you were probably using it for the wrong reasons. It is NOT a backup, and never was designed to "backups".

I've been using System Restore (restore points) for years without issue. In fact I use it all the time whenever I install certain drivers such as GPU or when I install an app I'm not too sure about. There it works like a champ and without issue.

If you are looking to backup person data, System Restore (Restore Points) is NOT that tool. Period. If you use System Restore, and try to restore from months back, System Restore is NOT that tool.

If you install an app or driver and find said items problematic within a short time... System Restore is the tool to use as it'll simply restore the system (system files, Registry) to the previous state before said items were installed. Here the app works like a champ... when used correctly.

Also understand three important things about System Restore...

1) Whenever a major Windows update is installed, the old restore points are deleted as they are no longer applicable to the new update.
2) If System Restore is disabled, any restore points are then lost. That even when you enable, those restore points are lost.
3) System Restore does not restore user data or documents, so it will not cause users to lose their files, e-mail, browsing history, or favorites. And also, why it is NOT designed for "backups"

I speak from the experience of System Restore wrecking my PC to correct a system issue.

Wisewiz · Apr 24, 2023

Steve C said:
I speak from the experience of System Restore wrecking my PC to correct a system issue.

I do NOT understand how returning your system files and your registry to a prior (recent, assumed, not remote history) state could possibly harm your PC. I just puts the pc back the way it was in some respects, but not personal and software files.

I have used it many times when all I wanted to do was restore the registry to a state that existed a few minutes or hours ago. It has always worked well for me, unless I forget to shut down my third-party AV first, but then, when it fails, I can shut the AV down, repeat the sys restore, and it has always worked for me.

Dru2 · Apr 24, 2023

Steve C said:
I speak from the experience of System Restore wrecking my PC to correct a system issue.

As do I speak from experience of it never wreaking my PC. Perhaps because I know what it does and how to use it?

Wisewiz said:
I do NOT understand how returning your system files and your registry to a prior (recent, assumed, not remote history) state could possibly harm your PC. I just puts the pc back the way it was in some respects, but not personal and software files.

There's always the internet "on the contrary" post so....

Anyway, while nothing is 100 percent perfect, yes, I've had System Restore fail on me (it never "wreaked" my PC), its consistency, or lack of, which sets things apart for me. Here System Restore consistently works far more than not. And I've been using it for years. In fact, it's part of my workflow when installing certain drivers or questionable apps. I simply create a Restore Point before installing said programs, and test. If all is well, great. If not, a System Restore puts things back in order. No fuss. No issues.

What I don't do is make a million changes to the OS, and its registry, or wait months later before trying to restore to a previous state. That IS asking for trouble.

But yes, nothing is 100 percent perfect.... not even the OS the app is built into