How does System Restore work??

DaRuSsIaMaN

DaRuSsIaMaN

Geek Comrade
I don't get it. I recently tried getting rid of some newly installed stuff by doing a system restore. But it didn't quite work. The programs were gone from the add/remove programs list but one thing was still in my computer (I was trying to get rid of yahoo toolbar). So then I did system restore again and picked a day earlier than today, in essence undoing my system restore. And all the programs I was trying to remove were then back in my add/remove programs. And then I went through and uninstalled each manually by clicking add/remove. I don't understand how it works that windows can just go from a point where these programs were supposedly not installed anymore and jump back to a point when they are installed and just restore them back into their proper places. Can anyone explain? Also, does keeping track of all those system checkpoints take up lots of space or anything?
Thanks a lot
 
AFAIK System Restore takes snapshots of system files and possibly programs at every restore point. All this is stored in a massive file which takes up a considerable percentage of your system disk space. I prefer to have it disabled myself, makes defragmenting easier.
 
I personally wouldn't recommend to use system restore. It screws the whole Windows installation and you get hige fragmentation.
 
wow, i was searching for another thread I had started, and saw that I kind of forgot about this one ...
Thanks guys! (belatedly) ... and how do you disable system restore? thx
 
I have it turned off as well - saves A LOT of space and digital resources. AND usually doesn't work properly. Either you create a custom backup system or you simply regulary reinstall Windows - that's the best solution. That's why system vendors supply their own backup software and/or images...
 
Anyway, the System Restore is not for what you are trying to do. It is not an image of your system. It mostly stores configurations and registry values.
All the installed programs will remain in your PC until you manually uninstall them. Even though, those new programs you installed after the point you choose, may have problem to work since the registry values they wrote in the installation process will be lost.
 
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