Windows 7 System Restore Points - Only one?

[GreyBat]

It seems my Win7 system is only retaining the last restore point created.

I have configured it to save files and settings, and use 5% (5+gb) of available space (Win7 installed on a small partition for now). I can never see more than one available restore point even after ticking the "Show more restore points".

Anyone else seeing this, or knowing why?

 

[hammydown]

Try alotting about 15% space for the system restore that is the default!

 

[GreyBat]

Thanks, iroken22 - that seems to have done it!

Although........ maybe co-incidentally, I also applied the fix for the msi problem that everyone has been having, and then successfully uninstalled Adobe Reader, THEN followed your advice (increased to 20% - what the hell: live dangerously!) - then created a manual restore point. System Restore now lists 3 restore points, including the one from uninstalling Adobe Reader. In other words, since I assume I had 2 restore points saved after the msi fix and before increasing the available space, could the msi fix have also impacted System Restore?

What the hell - problem(s) solved, and thanks again for the help!

I spoke too soon on this one. The restore points that were there this afternoon when I posted my previous reply are now gone. There was only one - "Scheduled Checkpoint" - when I got back to my machine this evening. I have since created another (prior to implementing the full msi fix), and I have rebooted to see whether that had anything to do with it. Both are still there after the restart.

I'll check again tomorrow.

 

[GreyBat]

Explanation Found!

I think I have an explanation why I am losing restore points.

It seems that booting into XP will delete all restore points in Vista. I found this explanation at Link Removed. I presume it also applies to Windows 7. (I also found no restore points in Vista today, after I had used my XP partition.)

I shall try to workarounds in the KB article and see if that fixes the problem.

 

[Richard Overton]

Re: Explanation Found!

I have the same problem as above. I'm running windows 7 home premium with service packl 1 installed. My C drive is 760GB and I have 30GB reserved to system restore. The drive has 264 GB free. 2.7GB of the reserved space is currently used by restore. There is only Windows 7 on this computer, no duel boot. There is only ever 1 restore point on the drive, but I can create extra manual points without any problem. However, a day or so later there is only one left.

 

[OldTimer]

Even worse than having just one restore point, is having NONE at all, when you need it.

MS Engineers, devised the System Restore feature as our first line of defense against the small and annoying things that pop up from day to day, or week to week in our computing experience.
Try out a new program you don't like and can't uninstall cleanly? Use System Restore to blow it off.

I test a LOT of software, some good and some not so good. I have to rely on System Restore to always be there when I need to just go back a few hours, to when my PC was running the way I want it.
I rely so heavily on System Restore that I've put a VBScript in my Startup folder to force a new Restore Point on every system boot.

When I'm doing my weekly C: drive backup and I'm sure my whole system is running correctly, I run a batch file from my Ghost Backup DOS boot disk, to delete all my old restore points. With a fresh backup of my entire C: drive, I don't need old restore points cluttering up my backup image file. I delete the Pagefile too, as it's redundant at that point.

My worse day as a computer tech, is when I go out on a service call, knowing darn well that all I have to do is perform a system restore and the problem will be fixed, and I get there and find out that some #$%^@ has turned System Restore OFF. Whatever were they thinking?

Cheers Mates!
Old Timer

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I remember having this problem when beta testing Windows 7 on a dual boot setup.
Every time I booted into Windows XP all my restore points would disappear.

Related Information.
Here's a handy little app that I use...

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/create-a-system-restore-point-in-1-click-with-quick-restore-maker

This little app quickly lets you name and create a restore point in just a few seconds.
I do it every time just before making changes or installing software.

Mike

 

[OldTimer]

This will crack you up!
I keep every one of my ### OS's on separate HD's. And I only plug in the one that I want to boot from.
That way, one OS can't screw around with another one. Dual Boot? Forgetaboutit!!!!

Link Removed due to 404 Error

Inside the tower is XP and my backup drive, while on the side is Win-7 and Peppermint.
Other OS's on other HD's are not too far away.

And never the trains shall meet.

 

[cliffordcooley]

OldTimer, have you thought about buying a 3x3.5" Hard drive in 2x5.25" Bay SAS/SATA Trayless Backplane Hot Swap RAID Cage?

That would make switching drives allot easier for a price around $50.

 

[OldTimer]

Do you even imagine that I've not tried anything like that in the past 30 years?

My way is cheaper, faster and a lot less trouble, with fewer things to go Wrong.

And I can jack in a customer's HD in an instant, for troubleshooting purposes.

Cheers!

 

[cliffordcooley]

Do you even imagine that I've not tried anything like that in the past 30 years?

OK!!! Sorry I ask, I'll know not to do that again.

And NO, I do not know you well enough to know what you have done in your life.

A simple "Yeah I tried that and it didn't work out for me" would have been better than crawling my skin for asking a question.

 

[OldTimer]

Well, I'm sorry too. Sorry that you took it that way.
But after saying time and time again that I've been doing this stuff for thirty years, it gets tiresome after a while,
always having to defend everything I say.

Yes, I tried the drive in the drawer years ago and it was a dismal failure.
So I now do it the way I do it because it works every time, without all the extra expense and extra hardware. OK?

So how did we get off topic anyway? Something about restore points, Eh?

I have all the restore points I need, by putting my VBScript in my Startup folder, so it runs every time I boot my PC.
It works just fine, for me and my hundreds of customers.

Y'all have a great day now, Y'hear?

 

[MikeHawthorne]

This will crack you up!
I keep every one of my ### OS's on separate HD's. And I only plug in the one that I want to boot from.
That way, one OS can't screw around with another one. Dual Boot? Forgetaboutit!!!!
And never the trains shall meet.

Hi

Well I don't go quite that far, but I do have 4 external hard drives and none of them are ever turned on unless I'm using them.
Two have compressed backups that I update about once a month. One via Windows 7 Backup, the other Norton Ghost.

The other two have uncompressed data, like my photos, job files, and any recent projects, that I update every couple of days.

Right now I'm fixated on 3D Stereo images, using Anaglyphs.

I've found that the quality of the image can be much higher then I had always thought.
Now I'm working on Anaglyph 3D video.

Anyway: ever couple of days I turn on one of my external drives and backup the stuff that I don't want to lose.
But not the zillion bad attempt's that I've done in the meantime.
It keeps the size down and if all my other backups fail I still have my important data.

Of course if my house burns down I's out of luck.
I should keep a backup someplace else too.

Mike

 

[OldTimer]

Mike & all,
Keeping backups on external drives that you can just turn on and off is GREAT! I do that too.
But I wasn't referring to backups alone, but separate installs of various versions of
Windows and Ubuntu/Peppermint.

As was already mentioned, one OS can muck about with another version, if it can see it....
Like, removing restore points. Eh?

I just like the simplicity of having only ONE OS drive connected to the mobo and powered up
at a time.

I have enough problems, like age, health, finances, , , I don't need my computer messing with me.

Just a thought,

 

[reddice]

Some defraggers will delete system restore points when they run. I had one that keep doing this. Don't remember the name of it though.