Operating system question

Hello,
I am using XP pro. I have two hard drives in my computer. Each is partitioned in two sections. Drive C contains the OS, program files, and some misc. files. I use D, E and H partitions for stuff I’ve downloaded. I have noticed that all my system info…restore points, etc. is going to partitions D, E, and H. Why does it not stay in partition C where the operating system is? Is there a way to direct it to go to and stay in C? Any response to help me understand this would be greatly appreciated.
hvt

 

Have you checked the System Restore settings for your hard drives? (Start/Programs/System Tools/System Restore) I'm running XP Home not Pro and maybe the settings are different, but on my setup I see an option to use space on every partition on each of my two hard drives. Is your C: drive checked in those System Restore settings? If not, check the box and allocate however much space you want the OS to use for restore points.

 

Hello Eezak,
Thanks for your reply. I checked those settings and the max (12%) amount was set for each drive. I have no computer training so I’m learning as I go. I’m not having any kind of problem with my computer. Was just curious why this was happening. I’ll search out a tutorial to try to understand yet another of the mysteries of the machine. Thanks again.
hvt

 

Since I have a backup hard drive and use Acronis TI backup software, I rarely make use of Windows Restore Points. But I just looked at mine (on my WinXP Home installation) and wondered how you can tell that none of your restore points are being saved on your C: drive? All I see is the option to turn the System Restore feature on or off for each partition/drive and, when I access available restore points in System Restore, I see the date and time they were created. Where do you see the info telling you which drives are (or aren't) being used for the various restore points?

 

Hello Eesak,
I need to apologize for being misleading in my question. I didn’t mean to say that no restore point files were on drive C. They are there. What I do not fully understand is why some are showing up on the other drives. I know this is probably very basic to most, but at this point still somewhat of a mystery to me. Thanks for your replies. Have a great day.
hvt

 

Well, again I'm curious where you're seeing some sort of display that shows (or tells you) which drives actually have some restore points created on them?

I'm no expert either. Apparently, even though the OS is installed on your C: drive, there are other files that may be altered, on your other drives/partitions, that Windows deems it advisable to backup when it believes they're about to be modified and such modification could be potentially disruptive or damaging to the operation of your computer. Exactly what data or files consist of, I don't know.

Maybe one of the other hardcore hardware people can tell us as I'm curious myself.

Interesting question! And please tell me where you're seeing the info about which drives actually have restore points on them.

 

Such restore points on other drives could, I suppose, be something as simple as a patch for a program installed on that drive that affects how the program interacts with the OS (and could also affect other related programs and their interface with the OS). But you apparently have all your programs, as well as the OS, installed only to your C: partition? And you only store data on your other drives/partitions?

 

Hello again Eezak,
I really do appreciate your being so inquisitive. Let’s see if I can explain how this all came about. It was quite by accident that I discovered the files on drives other than C.
I am what you might call a software fanatic. It gives me pleasure to download different programs and try them out. An analogy I could use is that it is like opening presents. It’s always different. Some turn out to be really great programs and others…well, you know.
I just so happened to have been fiddling around with a new program I had downloaded called Disk Redactor for cleaning the free space on disks. I, of course, was wondering if it really did do what it claimed it could.
Before using it, I ran a favorite of mine, Undelete Plus, to see what was on a particular drive. It was at that point that I realized that I had files relating to system restore. Then I did the same with all drives. Then I used another favorite, Treesize Free, to confirm what I was getting from Undelete, and sure enough it showed the files also. Of course they where not large like what was on drive C, but they were there none the less. That’s why I posted my question as to why that was happening.
Your response has helped me to see that “Microsoft has deemed it advisable” to backup on these other drives. Why? I sure don’t know either.
Oh, I almost forgot. I continued with my test of the software program Disk Redactor, and yes, it does do what it says. It erased those files. I wish I would have known to look into how many days of choice I had in system restore because after erasing I had no choice left, so those files were important as regards my having several days to choose a restore point.
I hope all this has made sense to you. I have enjoyed the dialogue with you. Take care.
hvt

 

Well, as I said before, you've raised an interesting question. While I'm not familiar with the particular programs you mentioned, I now understand how you were able to detect the actual restore point data for specific drives -- not with a standard Windows tool but with other software. I understand your curiosity about software. I enjoy trying out and testing new software also. Indeed, between stuff I see recommended in magazine and stumble on online (including the downloads section here) I have software accumulating in my downloads folder faster than I get around to trying it all out. To paraphrase Will Rodgers, "I never met a piece of software I didn't like!" By no means true, of course, actually.

Somone else here surely has some detailed knowledge about Windows restore points. If you had no restore points left, after zapping some of them, but didn't zap the ones for drive C: that's very interesting; especially if you only store data and not programs on your other drive partitions.

I hope someone else will take a look at this post and fill us both in and what's stored in restore points on other drives and partitions besides C:

 

I had another thought about the restore points on your "non-C:" drives/partitions. I would imagine when the restore points option is turned on for each drive that an initial setup file is created which stores the setup info. How much space can be used to store restore points for example. Are all restore points for a given drive stored in one file that gets added to as more restore points are created? I don't know, though perhaps you could answer that from your investigations. But I'd think that at least one file would be created if restore points are turned on for a given drive. And even if no actual restore points have been created for that drive it may be that there is a "dummy" or "skeleton" restore points file even if restore points aren't turned on for a drive -- the file might hold that an "on/off" flag, for example, and contain data necessary to set up the restore points routine if the user ever does turn the feature on for that drive/partition. But I'm just guessing.