System restore don't do squat!?!?

So has anyone else done a system restore to an earlier date only to note that it doesn't really do much of anything?

I had done an install of a game and wanted to go back before I had installed it and ran the system restore program only to find that after I ran it I had little to nothing changed. All the same stuff was on the HDD (I didn't loo in the registry though, and I had done the restore for a month before the game went on). Does the restore function go back to how your PC was on a particulat date like advertised or just take up a lot of time and do nothing like on my PC?

Anyone else do this yet with different results? Am I missing something?

At work i've used the restore feature of Me as a mean of fast & easy windows service.
The results are a bit dissapointing.The problem is that u can't pinpoint what exactly makes the difference between a working restore and a disaster.in similar cases of ordinary office users ,the restore option once made my life easier and twice boring (having to install over the previous version)
I don't think that keeping a restore is a bad idea,that is if it will work when needed , but why use ME . i think 98 are better.(even in the troubleshouting side)
See ya.

I've used it once where it worked. It's usually doesn't help too much though. I just use Norton Ghost now, much better than system restore.

It woks only when its in the mood.
"WINME DON'T DO SQUAT!!!"
:eek:

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Originally posted by ilovetheusers:
So has anyone else done a system restore to an earlier date only to note that it doesn't really do much of anything?

I had done an install of a game and wanted to go back before I had installed it and ran the system restore program only to find that after I ran it I had little to nothing changed. All the same stuff was on the HDD (I didn't loo in the registry though, and I had done the restore for a month before the game went on). Does the restore function go back to how your PC was on a particulat date like advertised or just take up a lot of time and do nothing like on my PC?

Anyone else do this yet with different results? Am I missing something?

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Look in your registry. It does not remove software that you installed but it does back up your registry, along with some .DLLs and .Vxd's. It is basically a fancy version of what Win98 puts in the Windows/sysbckup along with a registy backup.

System restore will not remove any files.

For example, I had WinME and Rogue Spear installed. I installed some othe rprogram that screwed my system. I used Restore that returned my PC to before I installed RS. However, the Rogue Spear Directory and all files associated with RS were still on my harddrive. The only difference was that window's registry was in a state before both programs had been installed. Restore does NOT remove files from harddrive, it simply sets the registry back to a previous state.

I used sys restore on WIN ME and the prog said shut down puter for changes to take effect, i shut it down, restarted it then nothing hapened. Turns out it had trashed the MBR somehow, as all files were on the drive but me wouldn't boot.

Now i happily use 98se!!!! :eek:

System restore has never solved a problem for me yet.

Can't help with this one...haven't had a problem that needed 'System Restore' with any of the systems I'm responsible for yet.

Sometimes I wonder if Microsoft doesn't release different "regional" versions of their software and those of us relatively close to the HQ get the better versions....

The one time I went to use system restore I couln't use it because I had disabled it. :)

Doh

I fixed the problem the hard way. Trial and error. (Note to self: 'No more tweaking hard disk cache')

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Originally posted by LagMonster:
The one time I went to use system restore I couln't use it because I had disabled it. :)

Doh

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lol me too i screwed my puter up by installing an incorrect driver and was all exited about this new restore function so i tried it then remembered i had dissabled it after reading a post on windrivers!! I now use Ghost same amount of time less amount of grief!! Ghost is the bong!!

There's an MS ME patch for the restore function, responding to "known issues."

support.microsoft.com

I just saw the article number, but can't for the life of me remember it...a little searching should bring it up.

Maybe it's the solution.

I have had some success with system restore. The mom&pop I work for used to use Lucent Winmodems. If you try to load a generic driver for a LT modem instead of the one ME wants to load, it won't work at all until you do a system restore to before the new driver was installed.

Cold Neck

I once did a system restore purely for test purposes. First I downloaded some small apps and put them in the holding folder I have created, well away from Windows and Program Files. I then went back to the most recent restore point and lo all my new files had disappeared. I reversed the procedure and my files were all back - QED it works! You should always set a restore point if you are going to do anything dodgy or install a file or application you are unsure about, and if you have a Zip drive or CD Writer, back up your important files and do a complete system backup once a week. If any of the techs disagree with what I have said, please let me know as I am not an IT professional.

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Originally posted by morselady:
If any of the techs disagree with what I have said, please let me know as I am not an IT professional.

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How can you disagree with what is right. It seems to have worked for you and that's good, I just had different results.

I had installed a game and wanted to put another version of it on and it saw itself as already installed and would not proceed. I ran the restore function back way before the game was ever on there and it still had all the registry entries, wasn't uninstalled and was still resident of the HDD. in fact everything that I had oput on in the last was still there as well even though I had taken it back more than a month. Oddly, there were restore points that were present before the PC was even built. That really grabbed me as funny.

Its worked fine for me so far, when customers screw something up, I tell them over the phone how to restore, worked every time so far (altho i am sure if it is a really serious problem it may not)so far its been printer software problems or a software installation gone bad, etc... i even did it at home after windows update to IE5.5sp1 blew things up, tried the restore worked perfect. I always set a restore point right before I do anything major now so I can go back to one I know is good.

I actually like the system restore function. I've used it a handful of times with great success.

The only bad thing about system restore is that it can't be accessed if Windows won't load. Thats when you need to restore the system most!!!! What we need is a way to access system restore from a boot disk. :rolleyes:

I've noticed that Systen Resote works better when you give it more HD space to use. If you use the minimum (200MB) it seems to keep what it backs up to a bare minimum (reg files) but if you let it go nuts and eat away your HD space, it will do wonders!
Also makeing many restore points helps also.

I have had very good results from using System Restore. I have 2 computers, each running Windows ME. On one of them I installed the wrong video driver with the result that I couldn't get back to the Desktop. I was forced to go into Safe Mode and activate System Restore.I'm glad to say that it worked perfectly and I was able to change to the correct driver.

A friend of mine used ME (I later convinced him to upgrade to 2000)...he was having a problem where his system wouldn't boot. We tried everything, finally we just decided to go into safe mode and choose System Restore, and it fixed the problem instantly.