System Restore files exceed allocated space. Why?

  • Thread starter Thread starter wylbur37
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wylbur37

I'm running Windows XP Pro on a computer with approximately 30GB on
the HD. The System Restore settings indicate that the disk space usage
used by System Restore should be "12% (3307MB)".

If I understand correctly, this means that the total space in the SVI
("System Volume Information") folder (the place where the System
Restore files are supposedly kept) should not exceed 3307MB (or
thereabouts). And according to what I've read, if the SVI hits this
maximum, it's supposed to dump the earliest System Restore point(s) so
that the maximum is not exceeded.

However, when I check the Properties of the SVI folder, it says "Size
on Disk 5.26GB". (And every time I reboot the computer, another 2.1 MB
get added to the SVI folder). And when I look at the System Restore
"calendar" of previous restore points, every one of them is there
since the operating system was initialized.

Is this caused by a bug in the system, or is there some setting
that I didn't set correctly?
 
wylbur37 said:
I'm running Windows XP Pro on a computer with approximately 30GB on
the HD. The System Restore settings indicate that the disk space usage
used by System Restore should be "12% (3307MB)".

If I understand correctly, this means that the total space in the SVI
("System Volume Information") folder (the place where the System
Restore files are supposedly kept) should not exceed 3307MB (or
thereabouts). And according to what I've read, if the SVI hits this
maximum, it's supposed to dump the earliest System Restore point(s) so
that the maximum is not exceeded.

However, when I check the Properties of the SVI folder, it says "Size
on Disk 5.26GB". (And every time I reboot the computer, another 2.1 MB
get added to the SVI folder). And when I look at the System Restore
"calendar" of previous restore points, every one of them is there
since the operating system was initialized.

Is this caused by a bug in the system, or is there some setting
that I didn't set correctly?
Click to expand...

I don't think that the only thing kept in the SVI folder are Restore Points,
which would explain the discrepancy. System Restore Points, however, are
only kept for 90 days, as the oldest hits the 90 day mark, it's deleted ,
making room for newer points. If you have points older than 90 days, then
yes, something very odd is going on.
 
If you have Index Service on, the in Index Service catalog (catalog.wci) is
also kept there.
 
wylbur37 said:
I'm running Windows XP Pro on a computer with approximately 30GB on
the HD. The System Restore settings indicate that the disk space usage
used by System Restore should be "12% (3307MB)".

If I understand correctly, this means that the total space in the SVI
("System Volume Information") folder (the place where the System
Restore files are supposedly kept) should not exceed 3307MB (or
thereabouts). And according to what I've read, if the SVI hits this
maximum, it's supposed to dump the earliest System Restore point(s) so
that the maximum is not exceeded.

However, when I check the Properties of the SVI folder, it says "Size
on Disk 5.26GB". (And every time I reboot the computer, another 2.1 MB
get added to the SVI folder). And when I look at the System Restore
"calendar" of previous restore points, every one of them is there
since the operating system was initialized.

Is this caused by a bug in the system, or is there some setting
that I didn't set correctly?
Click to expand...

To start with, your System Restore archive is vastly in excess of what
should normally be needed.

System Restore should never be used to set the system back more than a
week or perhaps 10 days, and therefore your archive need only provide
for enough system restore points to allow this. Going back further
than 10 days with System Restore will almost always cause more
problems than it ever solves.

For most users, the System Restore archive should be about 800 mb or
so. And if there are multiple partitions or hard drives then System
Restore should be turned off on any drives/partitions that are just
used for data files and/or backup archives such as disk images.

For more information about System Restore see MVP Bert Kinney's System
Restore pages: http://bertk.mvps.org/index.html

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Ron Martell said:
To start with, your System Restore archive is vastly in excess of what
should normally be needed.

System Restore should never be used to set the system back more than a
week or perhaps 10 days, and therefore your archive need only provide
for enough system restore points to allow this. Going back further
than 10 days with System Restore will almost always cause more
problems than it ever solves.

For most users, the System Restore archive should be about 800 mb or
so. And if there are multiple partitions or hard drives then System
Restore should be turned off on any drives/partitions that are just
used for data files and/or backup archives such as disk images.

For more information about System Restore see MVP Bert Kinney's System
Restore pages: http://bertk.mvps.org/index.html

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
Click to expand...

Thanks, Ron..... Your post prompted me to take another look at my System
Restore settings. I was shocked to see that it is/was set to 28,109 MB on
this 250 GB HD. LOL I had turned SR off for my external HD, long ago,
but...... If I understand you correctly, I should also turn it off for the
Recovery Partition of this HD? This machine is only 2.5 mo.s old & want to
protect it in the best ways possible.

Carol2
 
"Ron Martell" wrote
Click to expand...

Thanks, Ron..... Your post prompted me to take another look at my System
Restore settings. I was shocked to see that it is/was set to 28,109 MB on
this 250 GB HD. LOL I had turned SR off for my external HD, long ago,
but...... If I understand you correctly, I should also turn it off for the
Recovery Partition of this HD? This machine is only 2.5 mo.s old & want to
protect it in the best ways possible.
Click to expand...

That is correct Carol. Do not let System Restore monitor a recovery partition.
And for that matter it is best not to let SR monitor any partition other than
the one Windows is installed on.

Here are some tips on adjusting disk space usage and keeping System Restore
healthy:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html
 
Bert Kinney said:
That is correct Carol. Do not let System Restore monitor a recovery
partition. And for that matter it is best not to let SR monitor any
partition other than the one Windows is installed on.

Here are some tips on adjusting disk space usage and keeping System
Restore healthy:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bert....& sorry for the delay in checking back here. I think I have
it all sorted now....but was only presented with low-end SR setting options
of 200 MB or 2990MB & chose the latter. It is much preferable to the 28 GB
set previously, by default. 8^) I'm going back to reading more of the tips
& links.

Carol2
 
Thanks, Bert....& sorry for the delay in checking back here. I think I have
it all sorted now....but was only presented with low-end SR setting options of
200 MB or 2990MB & chose the latter. It is much preferable to the 28 GB set
previously, by default. 8^) I'm going back to reading more of the tips &
links.
Click to expand...

Hi Carol,

Yes, 200mb's is to low. If 2990MB is the next higher setting, then use it.
 
Thanks, Bert.......that's what I thought, too. I was hoping for an option to
type in the desired level, but it doesn't exist on this setup, anyway.
Click to expand...

The disk space set to hold restore points is not fixed. If the space is not
being used to hold restore points it is free and available to other apps. To
work around the 2990mb setting, the amount of days set to hold restore points
can be reduced to say 14 days. There a utility (XPSystemRestoreLife.vbs) on the
following page that will allow you to change the amount of days restore points
are held. Download the zip file and extract the vbs file from it. Double click
to run.

System Restore Scripts & Utilities:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srscripts.html
 
Bert said:
Hi Carol,

Yes, 200mb's is to low. If 2990MB is the next higher setting, then use it.
Click to expand...

I have been following this thread with interest.
Following your advice, I have now reduced system restore space to 1% (1967
MB).
However, although I have a Dell (which is supposed to have a recovery
partition), status only says - {C} Monitoring.
Is the (recovery) partition hidden?
 
Bert Kinney said:
The disk space set to hold restore points is not fixed. If the space is
not being used to hold restore points it is free and available to other
apps. To work around the 2990mb setting, the amount of days set to hold
restore points can be reduced to say 14 days. There a utility
(XPSystemRestoreLife.vbs) on the following page that will allow you to
change the amount of days restore points are held. Download the zip file
and extract the vbs file from it. Double click to run.

System Restore Scripts & Utilities:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srscripts.html

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org
Click to expand...

Thanks for the additional info, Bert.....I'll be checking out that link,
shortly. 8^)

Carol2
 
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