Solved What's the good, the bad, and the ugly about System Restore?

Haydon · Jan 29, 2024

Inquiring minds want to know

allan · Jan 29, 2024

It's great - when it works. Over the years there have been too many times when it failed. It also doesn't back up personal files, only system files.

Personally, I disable it on all systems and use disk imaging on a regular basis instead. I've been doing this for the better part of 20 years or so.

FreeBooter · Jan 29, 2024

System restore is like a luck game, if it works you are happy i'm not saying it does not work but to be sure always have a second backup restore option.

Winuser · Jan 29, 2024

I gave up on System Restore years ago. I had way too many failures with it.

Haydon · Jan 29, 2024

A good thing about System Restore is that it does not touch your data.

If you do a System Restore to a week ago, your emails are still current

If you did an Image Restore, you lost 1 week worth of emails

allan · Jan 29, 2024

Haydon said:
If you did an Image Restore, you lost 1 week worth of emails

That's not necessarily true. If you use Outlook with pop or imap, you simply back up the .pst file before restoring an image, then replace the older .pst file with the new one. If you're using other email clients I don't necessarily know how they work, but I'm sure there's a similar option. And with imap you can set it to keep emails on the server for a period of time. With Exchange emails, there's obviously no issue at all.

Flashorn · Jan 29, 2024

I've been using Restore for as long as I can remember.
Of course , you do have back ups and images AND a
Original OS restore from the factory or the OS on a DVD.

I always make sure to de-activate the security software before
I use it and , so far, it hasn't let me down.

I do create a new restore point every two or three days.

hdmi · Jan 29, 2024

A System Restore Point is a snapshot (shadow copy) that contains Windows system files, program files (but not personal files), installed desktop applications and Microsoft Store apps, installed device drivers, installed Windows updates, Windows Registry, and system settings. Doing a System Restore can fail e.g. if some of the files that it needs to replace are currently in use, but then it may still be possible to do the System Restore after booting Windows in Safe Mode (albeit if you do that, then you can't undo the restore process).

As such, it can be useful to (potentially) remedy problems that might occur as a result of things like an update gone awry, data corruptions or a software or driver installation attempt unexpectedly wreaking some havoc so you can roll back to a previous state that was stored before these problems started. By doing a System Restore you also lose (for better or worse) all installations, updates, and system settings that were performed/applied after the relevant System Restore Point was created.

Even so, there exist a whole variety of reasons why doing a System Restore either might fail or might not give satisfactory results. System Restore Points certainly can't be used as a replacement for a full system backup/restore like cloning the whole (system) disk or creating an image of the Windows system partition(s) that this disk contains, e.g. with DISM or Acronis or Macrium Reflect or etc., nor can be used to back up personal files. (It isn't a backup feature/tool in any way, for that matter...)

As for losing 1 week worth of emails, even if you don't use a POP/IMAP account you still shouldn't lose any of them... ever. Each time when I buy a new Windows laptop it just starts downloading all my emails from both my hotmail.com account and my gmail.com account immediately the moment when I add those accounts, either in the Windows Mail app or in the new Outlook (cr)ap(p). Same deal with the Office 2016 Outlook. It doesn't wipe any emails unless I specifically choose to delete.

Haydon · Jan 29, 2024

I meant 'email' to be a label to encompass the entirety of user data status/additions/deletions/changes. With System Restore user data status is preserved, with Image Restore you may need to jump through hoops to get your user data status back to current.

That makes me think of how does System Restore compare to Reset This PC retaining apps, settings and files ?

allan · Jan 29, 2024

Haydon said:
I meant 'email' to be a label to encompass the entirety of user data status/additions/deletions/changes. With System Restore user data status is preserved, with Image Restore you may need to jump through hoops to get your user data status back to current.

That makes me think of how does System Restore compare to Reset This PC retaining apps, settings and files ?

I honestly don't know what the first sentence means. Email is email and data is data. Not sure how you are relating the two.

As for a "reset" vs system restore, the restore point is as current as the last time you created it. Your apps and data remain intact. A reset (keeping files) goes back to factory settings with your current data intact but not installed apps.

Haydon · Jan 29, 2024

allan said:
I honestly don't know what the first sentence means. Email is email and data is data. Not sure how you are relating the two.

email is part of your data

Edwin · Jan 29, 2024

I always create a Restore Point when installing software or, changing various Settings..., never had it fail!

Haydon · Jan 29, 2024

Flashorn said:
I do create a new restore point every two or three days.

How many GBs do you allocate to System Restore?
How many system restore points do you keep?

allan · Jan 29, 2024

Haydon said:
email is part of your data

LOL - okay. Grammatically yes, but in technical terms email is email and data is / are data. But okay, you choose to consider email part of data, so that's fine.

Flashorn · Jan 29, 2024

Haydon said:
How many GBs do you allocate to System Restore?
How many system restore points do you keep?

Once it gets to it's limit, the older ones are deleted automatically. I just don't bother
with this aspect of it. It is auto.

glasskuter · Jan 29, 2024

The good - if it works and if it fixes whatever problem you're trying to fix with it. It's not a cure-all though.
The Bad - When it doesn't work.
The Ugly - When the user is not prepared for the time it doesn't work because he didn't see the need to make regular images.

Whether SR is more dependable now than in the past, I do not know. I lost faith in it years ago. It failed me too many times.

Fabler2 · Jan 29, 2024

I've not used Sys Restore for many years as it can harbour virus' if my memory serves me right.

Flashorn · Jan 29, 2024

glasskuter said:
Whether SR is more dependable now than in the past

The only time I had it fail (not since 7) was when I did not deactivate the
security app(s) on my notebook(s).
I am not very intrepid when it comes to this notebook but, I do sometimes
install stuff that I do regret. SR has saved me in the past and I believe it is
allot better than it used to be.

TM21 · Jan 29, 2024

For years, I've relied on System Restore to get me out of some jam, that I've created by myself, and didn't know how to fix.
To make sure that I've always got a Fresh System Restore Point, when I need one, I run a little Script (thank you Shawn) in my Startup folder, so I get a Fresh Restore Point every time I boot up my PC.
I allow my restore points to occupy about 15% of my C: drive space, and when that's full, they just start dropping off into the ol' bit bucket. The whole process is invisible to me, and I don't even think about it. It's just another little HELP that MS provides for us who are intelligent enough to use it.

I've taken many service calls where I know that a System Restore will fix the customer's problem, only to get there and find that some A-Hole has turned System Restore OFF! Argg! Then, it could be hours of work to get things working again. I never charged by the hour!
Turning OFF System Restore is like taking the cane away from a man with a bad leg.

In all the years that we've had "System Restore", I've never seen any Negative to it.
System Restore can be a great HELP, if used properly.

Cheers Mates!
TM

PS: Thank You @Brink, for that great little Script, that forces a new restore point to be created.

Haydon · Jan 29, 2024

I misspoke in my post #9, here is the correction.

How does System Restore compare to Repair Install or In-Place Upgrade retaining apps, settings and files ?

You might even get a newer OS version that can handle that pesky new app ?

Solved What's the good, the bad, and the ugly about System Restore?

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