System Restore and registry saving

  • Thread starter Thread starter Drora
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D

Drora

Hello

After some bad computer troubles lately I was advised to daily use the tool
called "System restore"
So I made sure to set a new point of System restore each evening before I
shut the machine for the day, and I could see those points highlighted on
the system restore page.

BUT, when I tried today to restore the machine to a selected point, after
much screen flashes and other acrobatics it comes back and tell me that the
system can NOT restore the machine to the selected point. So much for this
lovely tool.

Then I was told that "Registry save" and restore later is a better choice
but I need some info about doing it.

I know how to get to the registry page.
Without touching anything I browsed the registry for some two hours and saw
how immense is this marvel, and I also noticed that a given program can be
found in almost all the keys and in dozens of folders, sometimes under
cover-up of a different name. (Probably the maker of this program doesn't
want you to delete it).

However, on the registry main page,

1) If I highlight the tag "My computer" at the top and order it to save,
does it mean it will save the registry of the entire computer?
And:
2) Later if I want to restore it to that date, is it enough to click the
relevant icon and the entire registry goes back to that date?

Is there any thing you can add to help or warn me about my actions?

Thank you
Drora
 
System restore is set to ON by default and should not be turned off. This
means the system
will create restore points automatically. You should allow it to do so.
Then, if you get a problem
you can select a date prior to the problem happening and do a restore in an
attempt to repair.
 
Hello

After some bad computer troubles lately I was advised to daily use the tool
called "System restore"
So I made sure to set a new point of System restore each evening before I
shut the machine for the day,  and I could see those points highlightedon
the system restore page.

BUT, when  I tried today to restore the machine to a selected point, after
much screen flashes and other acrobatics it comes back and tell me that the
system can NOT restore the machine to the selected point. So much for this
lovely tool.

Then I was told that "Registry save"  and restore later is a better choice
but I need some info about doing it.

I know how to get to the registry page.
Without touching anything I browsed the registry for some two hours and saw
how immense is this marvel, and I also noticed that a given program can be
found in almost all the keys and in dozens of folders, sometimes under
cover-up of a different name. (Probably the maker of this program doesn't
want you to delete it).

However, on the registry main page,

1) If I highlight the tag  "My computer" at the top and order it to save,
does it mean it will save the registry of the entire computer?
And:
2) Later if I want to restore it to that date, is it enough to click the
relevant icon and the entire registry goes back to that date?

Is there any thing you can add to help or  warn me about my actions?

Thank you
Drora
Click to expand...

The tools are fine.

The advice is seriously flawed.

Where do you get this advice?

You sound like you are learning more about it, so become smarter than
your advisor and then assign the advisor different responsibilities.
 
You should not have to manually make a restore point every day. You
should set System Restore to make automatic system checkpoints. To do
so, follow this procedure:

Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
In the System Properties dialog box, click the System Restore tab.
Click to clear the Turn off System Restore check box.
Click OK.

In the area below the check box, your hard drive volumes should be
listed...you should have at least C:, and it should show "Monitoring"
next to it if System Restore is turned on.

There is also a Settings button. If you click it, you can adjust the
amount of hard drive space is used for restore points. if too large a
space is used, too many points are collected and corruption can occur.
Usually only about 1GB to 2GB is required, so you can adjust the slider
till you get a manageable size.

There are many reasons why your restore may have failed, including
interference from programs installed, particularly some anti-virus apps.
Go here: http://bertk.mvps.org/
and hover your mouse over the heading "System restore in WinXP" to see
the drop-down menu of help pages, such as:

Tips on keeping System Restore healthy:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html

How to Adjust the amount of disk space System Restore uses to hold
restore points:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html

Troubleshooting steps to take when System Restore fails to create an
automatic restore point:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srauto.html

Here are some troubleshooting steps to take when System Restore fails to
restore:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html

"Restoration Incomplete. Your computer cannot be restored . . . "
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/symantecdoc1.html



Just saving the Registry is not as good an option as a working System
Restore, and saving and restoring the Registry using the Registry Editor
is definitely not recommended. Generally that should only be used for
particular Registry keys of relatively small size. When you export the
Registry and then import the exported copy, it overwrites things that
are there, and adds things that are in the export but no longer in the
Registry....BUT it does not remove entries that are in the Registry but
not in the copy you try to import.

Additionally, it only affects the Registry and does nothing to restore
anything else in your file system.


The best method to backup and restore the Registry is to use System
Restore.

A second method is to use the NTBackup utility to back up the System
State. The System State includes the registry, the COM+ Class
Registration Database, and your boot files. This article explains how
to install NTBackup and how to use it to create a System State backup:
Backup Registry Using Windows NTBACKUP
http://www.aeonity.com/frost/backup-registry-using-windows-ntbackup

A third method is to install and use ERUNT, allowing it to put itself
into your startup axis so it can backup the Registry every day:
Take a complete registry backup using ERUNT
http://www.winxptutor.com/regback.htm
 
Drora said:
Hello

After some bad computer troubles lately I was advised to daily use
the tool called "System restore"
So I made sure to set a new point of System restore each evening
before I shut the machine for the day, and I could see those points
highlighted on the system restore page.

BUT, when I tried today to restore the machine to a selected point,
after much screen flashes and other acrobatics it comes back and tell
me that the system can NOT restore the machine to the selected point.
So much for this lovely tool.

Then I was told that "Registry save" and restore later is a better
choice but I need some info about doing it.

I know how to get to the registry page.
Without touching anything I browsed the registry for some two hours
and saw how immense is this marvel, and I also noticed that a given
program can be found in almost all the keys and in dozens of folders,
sometimes under cover-up of a different name. (Probably the maker of
this program doesn't want you to delete it).

However, on the registry main page,

1) If I highlight the tag "My computer" at the top and order it to
save, does it mean it will save the registry of the entire computer?
And:
2) Later if I want to restore it to that date, is it enough to click
the relevant icon and the entire registry goes back to that date?

Is there any thing you can add to help or warn me about my actions?
Click to expand...

1. Read glee's response.

2. If you want to save and later restore a registry, go get ERUNT. You can
set it up to make a new "saved registry" every day keeping a many as you set
before it begins overwriting the previous (oldest) saved ones. Restoring a
registry is as simple as clicking the exe in each saved registry folder.
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
 
Drora

Who in the heck gave you such a bad advice. Do not follow that advice . It can only
lead to problems. See the reply that Jose and Unknown gave you and follow it.
 
You run it manually, and it will create a restore point at that time. You
don't have to wait for it to do it every 24 hours or whatever.
 
Did I misread or misunderstand?
If you highlight the tag (my computer) in regedit as the OP says, how do you
save?
 
I was talking about her running System Restore manually, which is what I
thought she had mentioned doing. (I sometimes will do that too, on occasion
(along with using ERUNT and image backups).
 
Hello

After some bad computer troubles lately I was advised to daily use the tool
called "System restore"
So I made sure to set a new point of System restore each evening before I
shut the machine for the day,  and I could see those points highlightedon
the system restore page.

BUT, when  I tried today to restore the machine to a selected point, after
much screen flashes and other acrobatics it comes back and tell me that the
system can NOT restore the machine to the selected point. So much for this
lovely tool.

Then I was told that "Registry save"  and restore later is a better choice
but I need some info about doing it.

I know how to get to the registry page.
Without touching anything I browsed the registry for some two hours and saw
how immense is this marvel, and I also noticed that a given program can be
found in almost all the keys and in dozens of folders, sometimes under
cover-up of a different name. (Probably the maker of this program doesn't
want you to delete it).

However, on the registry main page,

1) If I highlight the tag  "My computer" at the top and order it to save,
does it mean it will save the registry of the entire computer?
And:
2) Later if I want to restore it to that date, is it enough to click the
relevant icon and the entire registry goes back to that date?

Is there any thing you can add to help or  warn me about my actions?

Thank you
Drora
Click to expand...

If you can better describe the issues we can perhaps help come up with
a more elegant solution.
 
Hello to Glen
You may, or may not be a priest...but I have some sins to confess to as it
was not "Restore" alone that disappointed.
I have a part in it too. Here is the story and you be the judge if it is
only me or "RESTORE" had a part in it too.

I have a sound card that is activated by its own original software made for
Window 2000 but I run an XP PRO.
Very long ago someone installed it on my machine, then he used the "Program
compatibility wizard" a tool of XP to adjust the program to work with XP.

It worked excellent for a long time, almost two years.

For some damn reason either the sound program, or XP, changed their minds.
The sound program stopped working properly, only half worked, and I tried
to remove it from the ADD/REMOVE page but the damn thing just won't leave
and it is still there.
Even worse, now it started to issue notices of .DLL missing so I decided to
ask the registry itself to find and remove it.

Before doing this, I decided to use the "SYSTEM RESTORE" tool, {and believe
me I do know how to use "RESTORE"} , and after I had a restore point for
this moment, I went into the registry.
I never realized this sound program is so big because "REGEDIT" kept digging
folders and folders of the same name and REGEDIT removed them all.

When this fun was over, the machine recycled but despite the ton of folders
removed from the registry relating to that product, LO and BEHOLD all the
icons of the program are still there intact on the screen.
It is still also there on the ADD REMOVE page as if I did nothing in the
registry, and still the ADD REMOVE can't find the program to remove it.

Now I was angry and I went to the program folder itself on C:\ and simply
killed it.
It is gone as far as I am concerned but the icons on the screen are still
there, and the demands for .DLL are not stopping.

So now tell me:
Do I have the right to say that "RESTORE" failed to keep the info and
folders for restoring the system to the point I specifically set for it, to
the point before I started to mess around with it ?

Any detailed constructive reply will be welcome.
Thank you
Drora
 
Well, if you got the message you mentioned from System Restore, then it
could not restore from the restore point you made, so from that
perspective, it failed you. However, there are a lot of possible
reasons why it may have failed. Some are listed in the links I gave
you. I suggest you read them and see if you can create a healthier
environment for your System Restore so you don't get corrupt restore
points.

In the situation you describe, where you are removing keys from the
Registry, a Registry backup wouldn't have hurt either, but the best tool
for that, in terms of ease of use, is ERUNT.

Now, you say you are getting messages related to the sound program,
stating a DLL is missing. Please give the exact error, word for word,
in its entirety.

Also please provide the name of the program and sound card involved.
 
Hello Glen,
I expected too much from RESTORE so I wasn't mad at it when it disappointed.
I removed files from the registry and now I know that files removed or lost
can't be restored by RESTORE as now I know that RESTORE is not such a
comprehensive program.

RESTORE can only work with what it has and if the files are lost Restore
can't restore them.

This is why I came with the idea of exporting the entire registry but from
some reactions here it is even a worse idea as re-importing the registry
will cause eve a bigger mess.

The entire problem is because I used to install my programs on my "D"
external disk as *D* is much bigger the my *C*. I did it for four years and
all my programs were on that External disk *D*.

Then last Friday my dear *D*, full of 140 GIG of data and programs simply
went blank in front of my eyes. The icon of *D* gone from "MY COMPUTER" and
I could only find it in "Disk Management" where I found it with a different
name and -0- content.

It took me two days of personal shock and frustration to just overcome my
own shock and start to understand the size of my loss. The computer was off
for two days. I hated it.
When I came back, now the machine is asking for this and that program that
were on *D* that is now gone and buried.

ADD\REMOVE still contain the lines about all those programs which mean they
are on the registry but deleting them from add remove doesn't work as it
comes back and tell me it can't find the file: D\-----------
Of course it can't find *D* as *D* no longer exist.!

And for my fast machine it moves very slow, often freezes, all in all not
fun.

I will go for this ERUNT and install it, ""what the hell can I lose now""
but I doubt even ERUNT can straighten this mess and it will have to be
formatted and clean installed. Thanks to MS that gave us this solution of
format and clean install.

I don't know where you are Glen but here in a suburb of TORONTO this Sunday
is a lovely summer day in all its glory and I'll leave the damn machine and
go out to the sun.

Be well Glen and thanks for every thing

Drora
 
Drora said:
Hello Glen,
I expected too much from RESTORE so I wasn't mad at it when it
disappointed.
I removed files from the registry and now I know that files removed or
lost
can't be restored by RESTORE as now I know that RESTORE is not such a
comprehensive program.

RESTORE can only work with what it has and if the files are lost Restore
can't restore them.

This is why I came with the idea of exporting the entire registry but from
some reactions here it is even a worse idea as re-importing the registry
will cause eve a bigger mess.

The entire problem is because I used to install my programs on my "D"
external disk as *D* is much bigger the my *C*. I did it for four years
and
all my programs were on that External disk *D*.

Then last Friday my dear *D*, full of 140 GIG of data and programs simply
went blank in front of my eyes. The icon of *D* gone from "MY COMPUTER"
and I could only find it in "Disk Management" where I found it with a
different
name and -0- content.
Click to expand...

Well, I already mentioned one other possibility, and that was trying out
Easeus Data Recovery Wizard to see if you can get *anything* back from your
D: drive. I don't see what you have to lose by trying, and it's a pretty
good tool for that. I expect you could at least try installing it on the C:
drive and seeing if it can find anything on your D: drive, assuming that
drive is still recognized. It probably will at least tell you if it can
find anything, even without purchasing it (which would be necessary to
actually get the data retrieved).
It took me two days of personal shock and frustration to just overcome my
own shock and start to understand the size of my loss. The computer was
off
for two days. I hated it.
When I came back, now the machine is asking for this and that program that
were on *D* that is now gone and buried.

ADD\REMOVE still contain the lines about all those programs which mean
they
are on the registry but deleting them from add remove doesn't work as it
comes back and tell me it can't find the file: D\-----------
Of course it can't find *D* as *D* no longer exist.!

And for my fast machine it moves very slow, often freezes, all in all not
fun.

I will go for this ERUNT and install it, ""what the hell can I lose now""
but I doubt even ERUNT can straighten this mess and it will have to be
formatted and clean installed. Thanks to MS that gave us this solution of
format and clean install.
Click to expand...

ERUNT will NOT be able to straighten this mess out. All that ERUNT can do
is make a backup of your current registry, and/or restore one from that,
afterwards. It only saves and restores the registry and its associated
files - nothing more.

OTOH, System Restore is much more thorough, in that it backs up (and can
restore) much more than just the registry, but even it is limited in what it
can do.

The only REAL solution for backups is to use an imaging or cloning program,
like Acronis True Image, or Casper, respectively. (I say this for the
future when you presumably reinstall Windows and your programs on the C:
drive, just as it should be. It won't get your data back now obviously)

Only THEN you will be able to image or clone your system and be in good
shape, from that time forward.
 
As Bill pointed out, ERUNT can't help now, as it only backs up and
restores from the time you install it.

If your external drive suddenly showed up as empty, and it was a
USB-connected drive, it's possible that the data is still on it, but the
drive enclosure's internal USB bridge failed. I have seen it happen
before. It is sometimnes possible to get the external drive enclosure
opened, and the drive inside is usually just a standard hard drive,
which can then be installed internally in the computer and be read
again.
The drive itself may not be bad, just the electronic bridge that allows
it to be used via USB.

I know you are in Canada, by your ISP info in your headers. I am in
North Carolina, where the weather was wonderful and sunny this
weekend...but we will cool off again in a couple of days.
 
After some bad computer troubles lately I was advised to daily use the tool called "System restore"

In my opinion, you'd be better off getting a second hard drive, partitioning
the second hard drive, installing another instance of the OS (or a compatable
OS) on the second hard, drive, boot into the other instance of the OS,
and then backup your primary OS partition by simply copying it to the second
drive partition.

If your primary OS is on the C: drive, there's no easy way to restore the
boot sector and boot files (NTLDR, msdos.sys, io.sys), but you can delete
all the other files and restore that way.

Better still would be to partition you primary hard drive and not install
any OS on the C: partition. Install the primary OS on the D: partition,
then backup the D: parition by copying files.

You can use windiff (do a websearch for this) to verify a backup or restore.

After a backup and verify, you can quick format the D: partition, and copy
from the backup partition to defrag or restore a corrupted OS.

The only issue I've had doing this is \windows\installer directory gets
emptied the first time you do any update. After this occurs, you can
copy from the backup parition a second time and \windows\installer will
not get emptied a second time.
 
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