Acquired 5 Gigabytes of Restore Points Over Several Years

I seem to be accumulating an excessive number of Restore
points. My Restore space was flushed and its limit set to
200 MB about 7 months ago and it's already using 658 MB
of disk space containing 283 files. During the past 5
months it seems to be growing at a little over 100 MB per
month. I've not set a single Restore point myself.

Does Windows automatically set Restore points every time
there's an automated Windows ScanDisk run during Boot-up
because of an improper prior shutdown (which I do have a bit
too frequently)?

Why does it Not limit the number of stored Restore points in
accordance with the disk space limit set (200 MB) in its
System Performance settings?
(ControlPanel: System Performance FileSystem HardDisk)

--
randau
Oregon, USA

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collecting email address that I don't use for anything else.
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randau2...(at)...proaxis.com

If SR is exceeding the space allocated for it, it's unlikely that it's going
to work when you need it, as it indicates that the control files are broken
in some way - I would suggest a reset of SR should cure the problem.
SR by default creates a System Restore point (of about 8-12MB) every 10
hours of computer up-time, or every 24hours real-time - which explains the
expansion, but not the corruption.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

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"randau" wrote in message
oups.com...
I seem to be accumulating an excessive number of Restore
points. My Restore space was flushed and its limit set to
200 MB about 7 months ago and it's already using 658 MB
of disk space containing 283 files. During the past 5
months it seems to be growing at a little over 100 MB per
month. I've not set a single Restore point myself.

Does Windows automatically set Restore points every time
there's an automated Windows ScanDisk run during Boot-up
because of an improper prior shutdown (which I do have a bit
too frequently)?

Why does it Not limit the number of stored Restore points in
accordance with the disk space limit set (200 MB) in its
System Performance settings?
(ControlPanel: System Performance FileSystem HardDisk)

--
randau
Oregon, USA

I read and post from the Google Groups web site using a Spam
collecting email address that I don't use for anything else.
So if someone wants to contact me, please cleanup and use
the Spam resistant Email address below.

randau2...(at)...proaxis.com

Why does it Not limit the number of stored Restore points in
accordance with the disk space limit set (200 MB) in its
System Performance settings?
(ControlPanel: System Performance FileSystem HardDisk)

Because the control files have become damaged in some way. This is often
one of the many unwanted side effects of installing malware from
Symantec/Norton although the damage can occur in other ways as well.
--
Mike Maltby



randau wrote:

I seem to be accumulating an excessive number of Restore
points. My Restore space was flushed and its limit set to
200 MB about 7 months ago and it's already using 658 MB
of disk space containing 283 files. During the past 5
months it seems to be growing at a little over 100 MB per
month. I've not set a single Restore point myself.

Does Windows automatically set Restore points every time
there's an automated Windows ScanDisk run during Boot-up
because of an improper prior shutdown (which I do have a bit
too frequently)?

Why does it Not limit the number of stored Restore points in
accordance with the disk space limit set (200 MB) in its
System Performance settings?
(ControlPanel: System Performance FileSystem HardDisk)

Does Windows automatically set Restore points every time
there's an automated Windows ScanDisk run during Boot-up
because of an improper prior shutdown (which I do have a bit
too frequently)?

No.


Why does it Not limit the number of stored Restore points in
accordance with the disk space limit set (200 MB) in its
System Performance settings?

Because it's not working properly. It does this from time to time. Disable
then re-enable it, rebooting not a moment later than the system tells you to
in the process of doing so. That should fix it.

(ControlPanel: System Performance FileSystem Troubleshooting)

Shane

"randau" wrote:

I seem to be accumulating an excessive number of Restore
points. My Restore space was flushed and its limit set to
200 MB about 7 months ago and it's already using 658 MB
of disk space containing 283 files. During the past 5
months it seems to be growing at a little over 100 MB per
month. I've not set a single Restore point myself.

Does Windows automatically set Restore points every time
there's an automated Windows ScanDisk run during Boot-up
because of an improper prior shutdown (which I do have a bit
too frequently)?

Why does it Not limit the number of stored Restore points in
accordance with the disk space limit set (200 MB) in its
System Performance settings?
(ControlPanel: System Performance FileSystem HardDisk)


If System Restore is working properly then it should automatically
conform to the allocated amount of disk space by deleting older
restore points as new ones are created.

However I do not consider 200 mb to be an adequate disk space
allowance for System Restore. In my opinion you should allocate about
800 mb of disk space for System Restore under typical usage
situations, and should increase this somewhat if you are in the habit
of regularly installing and uninstalling large application programs
such as Microsoft Office or Visual Studio.

Good luck

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

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

Hello, Noel!
You wrote on Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:33:53 -0000:

NP If SR is exceeding the space allocated for it, it's unlikely that it's
NP going to work when you need it, as it indicates that the control files
NP are broken in some way - I would suggest a reset of SR should cure the
NP problem. SR by default creates a System Restore point (of about 8-12MB)
NP every 10 hours of computer up-time, or every 24hours real-time - which
NP explains the expansion, but not the corruption.

PMFJI.. so does this mean that the restore points that I have created
manually (with labels/names), say about a month ago, would eventually get
replaced/erased as each 10hr or 24hr cycle progresses?

Ogg wrote:

PMFJI.. so does this mean that the restore points that I have created
manually (with labels/names), say about a month ago, would eventually
get replaced/erased as each 10hr or 24hr cycle progresses?

Yes. FIFO, first in first out applies with the state manager discarding
older checkpoints however crated together with the associated archived
files so as to make room for new checkpoints and archived files. You must
remember that system restore is not a replacement for a proper backup
regime, simply a mechanism that allows a system to be rolled back a few
days or perhaps a week or two.
--
Mike Maltby
MS-MVP Windows [2001-2006]

Noel, in an earlier thread on Aug 21 2005 you wrote:
It's not unusual (with modern hard drive sizes) to be unable
to set an SR point between 200 and 400MB - I've slightly
modified my advice in some messages to say 'one notch above
the minimum'. The reason is that the default setting is 12%
of the C:\ drive size, (your C: drive is 20GB), and there
are eight (IIRC) notches - in your case that would mean that
each notch is worth 2200/8 = 275MB, so the first notch would
be at 475MB. Such a setting would be fine - and less likely
to cause problems when doing large installs.

In reexamining what you said then, I don't now understand
your numbers. There are more than 8 notches on the disk
space use slider. There are 11 notches and I just moved the
pointer to the 4th notch indicating 842 Mb to see if it will
take control there.

Wouldn't 12% of my 20 Gb (20,480 Mb) disk be 2,457 Mb or
2.4 Gb? If so, does that imply that it won't control for
less than 2.4 Gb of Restore space? If so, why wouldn't they
just default to that control setting and not offer the
smaller notch settings?

--
randau

Ron Martell wrote:
However I do not consider 200 mb to be an adequate disk
space allowance for System Restore. In my opinion you
should allocate about 800 mb of disk space for System
Restore under typical usage situations, and should increase
this somewhat if you are in the habit of regularly
installing and uninstalling large application programs such
as Microsoft Office or Visual Studio.

Ok, I moved the Restore disk space allowance pointer to the
4th notch which indicates 842 Mb. I'll wait and see if it
controls there.

--
randau

There are 11 notches and I just moved the
pointer to the 4th notch indicating 842 Mb to see if it will
take control there.

But have you reset system restore? If not then you haven't rebuilt the
control files and the size of the archive will continue to grow regardless
of the space you have allocated to it.

There are 11 notches.

That is as it should be with the first being 200MB and the eleventh 12% of
the size of the partition containing the windows folder with the other
nine being equally spaced between those two extremes.

If so, does that imply that it won't control for
less than 2.4 Gb of Restore space?

The space used will be up to the space allocated be it 200MB or 2.4GB but
not until you reset system restore and rebuild the control files.
--
Mike Maltby
MS-MVP Windows [2001-2006]



randau wrote:

In reexamining what you said then, I don't now understand
your numbers. There are more than 8 notches on the disk
space use slider. There are 11 notches and I just moved the
pointer to the 4th notch indicating 842 Mb to see if it will
take control there.

Wouldn't 12% of my 20 Gb (20,480 Mb) disk be 2,457 Mb or
2.4 Gb? If so, does that imply that it won't control for
less than 2.4 Gb of Restore space? If so, why wouldn't they
just default to that control setting and not offer the
smaller notch settings?