Windows Tips 'n' Tricks II

Nikhil Rastogi, Apr 20, 2008 1126 hrs IST

AVIs bringing your PC down? Vanishing system restores? Here's how to fix 'em and tweak the blues away!

EXPERT REVIEW

My System Restores Have Vanished!!

Has this happened to you? Strange as it may sound, a friend of mine has indeed had this complaint. (For those who don't know, System Restore brings back the PC to an earlier good working state.) Say you've installed a new program and it causes a problem even after uninstalling it -- System Restore can help you here, as it backs up important system files and the Registry automatically. But there are reasons for it not doing so. After some investigation, here are a few important facts I found.

1. System Restore needs space. You need to dedicate some space for System Restore activities. Windows does this automatically, but if you aren't like my silly friend, don't fill up your primary partition's C drive with all your data, which can cause System Restore to not make any further restore files. See that you have at least 1 GB to 2 GB free on your C partition for Windows to work properly.

2. System Restore needs the Task Scheduler service to function. I'd made this mistake myself -- I'd disabled the service since I don't use Windows Task Scheduler. To check whether you have the Task Scheduler service running:

a. Go to Start | Run or just Start in Vista.

b. Type in services.msc, and click OK.

c. Click on any one of the entries on the right pane and hit T on the keyboard to quickly run down to Task Scheduler.

d. Check whether the Statusis set to Started (meaning "running,") and that Startup Type is Automatic.

e. If it's not, double-click on it, set the Startup Type to Automatic and click on the Start button to instantly start the service.

3. Last, if you can't get System Restore Points to work, just disable all system restoration and re-enable it. This will give System Restore a fresh start. To do this:

a. Right-click My computer and go to Properties.
b. Go to the System Restore tab.
c. Click on the first option (Turn off System Restore on all drives).

USER COMMENTS

just a help from me too when there is system restore on u will find a folder (start nero + add files+ go to C drive+where u find a folder system volume information) or type C:\system volume information when u open that folder u will find all ur backup file but wid other name so copy them & paste to ur other drive & also if ur pc is infected by virus & u use system restore to back stage ur infected files r there in above mentioned folder so delete that file too

by Abhishek, Raipur, on Apr 21, 2008 07:58 PM, Report abuse Reply

Thanks for that wonders from Asmara

by hamdani, Asmara, on Apr 25, 2008 07:04 PM, Report abuse

Thanks for knowledge. But many r known facts. Try to include some unknown, astonishing and new one's.

by Vinod, Bangalore, on Apr 25, 2008 02:36 PM, Report abuse Reply

u rock dude, thank u :) i like all ur stuff

by Jaideep Singh, Karnal, Haryana, on Apr 24, 2008 05:53 PM, Report abuse Reply

ausome

by ankur bhardwaj, Meerut, on Apr 23, 2008 04:17 PM, Report abuse Reply

i really like this. plz keep sending me hese type of mails

by sujan, hyd, on Apr 22, 2008 01:03 PM, Report abuse Reply

2 things one should know about system restore....a. it never helps when u need it and b. as yogeshb329 from New Delhi says whenever ur pc is infected by anything when system restore is on...consider all ur restore points infected too...so as far as i see, i always disable the service as i call it a waste fo time and resources...however, many may not share my view but jus another peice of crap from microsoft..... hey dude this article is jus too basic and not that informative for many noobs who would be looking out for such stuff...

by Vishal_Kadakia, mumbai, on Apr 21, 2008 07:17 PM, Report abuse Reply

System Restore is always useful. Specially if u r person like doing R & D. If we are tweaking with some system settings or registry and accidentally u have done something wrong and didn't understand what to do, system restore will always become useful at that time.

by Atul, Mumbai, on Apr 21, 2008 08:17 PM, Report abuse

And you have forgotten to mention a very critical disadvantage of System Restore. Everytime there's a viral or trojan attack, erst assured the goose for your PC is cooked and ready for disaster. S.R. will create back of each attack. Until you delete all the restore point you'll never be able to disinfact the machine. Go ahead talk to any vaccine designer and he'll advise to keep S.R. off particularly on your system drive such as 'C'

by yogeshb329, New Delhi, on Apr 20, 2008 11:27 PM, Report abuse Reply

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