System Restore Question

Is there a way to make sure certain Restore points you have created are never deleted by the system?

I have set my System Restore disk space usage setting to the maximum allowed by XP. But I really wish there was a way I could save the a certain few restore points, and always know they will be there later.

I think I have an idea how to do this, but I am wondering if maybe there is a better way.

My idea is: Just turn automatic System Restore off, so that way it never create too many restore points, thus removing the important ones I have created earlier. Then whenever I do something major on my computer, I will just have to remember to create a restore point for it.

Does this sound about right? Or is there a better way to handle this?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
jason :drool

 

I just checked, and I don't see an option in the interface to control the frequency of restore point creation (although, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a registry key that could do it), and turning off system restore deletes your restore points.

I think you might be better served by creating a system image at key points. This is the process of taking a snapshot of your entire hard drive and turning the contents into a single file that you can restore at a later date. Popular options for this are Symantec Ghost, and Acronis TrueImage. Free options include DriveImage XML, and HDClone Free Edition.

In any case, I hope you understand that using out-of-date system restore points OR system images is perilous to the changes you've made since the backup. Use at your own risk.

 

Ooh.. just heard that Acronis TrueImage v 11 is going on sale for $9.99USD.

 

@jasoneric

You are really eating up a big chunk of disk space by setting the disk usage
to maximum!

There is a better way to do something similar and it is really light weight
by comparison.

Emergency Recovery Utility for NT

It comes bundled with a registry optimizer which essentially defrags and compacts the registry.

This does not do everything the System Restore does.
It only makes a backup copy of the registry, but I have to tell you,
it has worked beautifully for me. It is quick and reliable.
Each backup is kept in a separate folder and is easily restored.

Each backup folder is given a name consisting of the current date and time, but you can ADD (append) any description you like to the end of that.
I use it regularly before I'm going to make some change that may create a problem, such as Before installing something new or before removing something.

Optionally, it will make an Automatic backup each time you boot the computer
for the first time during a 24 hour period. Those are kept in a separate
AutoBackup folder. Using command line parameters, you can specify how many Total AutoBackup copies it should keep.
Once that number has been reached, it will delete the oldest when it creates a new one.

This will enable you to significantly trim back the System Restore disk usage.
Just for comparison, I have mine set at 3820MB.
Do not disable System Restore.
I think you need to have that security.

Bear in mind though, that if you restore a registry backup that is very old,
you will likely lose certain Registry information that has been changed or updated Since that backup was made.

I recommend ERUNT regularly. I think it is absolutely essential software.
It has saved me from disaster several times.

To setup autobackup in Win XP, put a link in the Startup folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

create a new link there with the following in the Target field:

"C:\Program Files\ERUNT\AUTOBACK.EXE" %SystemRoot%\ERDNT\AutoBackup\#date#__#time# /noconfirmdelete /days:21

The 21 days is how many backups it will keep.
/noconfirmdelete means that it will delete the oldest Autobackup each time
without prompting for confirmation.

 

D'oh! You're right.

I must have been hallucinating, because it was at the top of the IWL forum when I found it, but there's no bumping post there now!??!?

It seemed about right to me, because it seems like just yesterday that I got ATI v7 and ATI v8 for free... I'll check more carefully next time, OP.

 

Thanks for the tip.
I was unaware of that.