William, glad to hear the reinstall worked for you. I hate to recommend
that, but in your case that's what I would've done myself.
You ask good questions about restore points. We've written up how this works
in our blog at
http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/arc...ows-vista.aspx
(sorry for the long URL). This will tell you how to see how many restore
points you have, how much space they use, etc.
Are you using Ultimate version? If so, you could take a Complete PC Backup
of your newly configured computer and save it on DVD. This is a kind of
"point in time" image of your computer. Note that you could also save this
to hard disk, but we use incrementals for all but the newest image, so
eventually your very first Complete PC Backup will be purged as the restore
points age. See the above article for more info.
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Want to learn more about Windows file and storage technologies? Visit our
team blog at
http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
"William Beard" <wabeard6596@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:F5F9FA0B-735F-473C-A95F-3551DB5BF8F9@microsoft.com...
> OK Jill...
>
> It's done. I reinstalled Vista. In fact, the drive had been partitioned
> (by the seller) so I removed the partition to insure a new clean drive C:.
> The problem with the Group Policy is GONE. I can and did do a system
> restore from a CD boot.
>
> One problem, though!
> I created three restore points myself, not counting the points the system
> created. They all reported as successful completion. When the Window
> opened to select the point to restore from, there were only four (4)
> points listed. Both, from the selection from the System properties
> window, and from the CD (reboot), only four choices were available.
>
> I just now created a new point then checked the System properties and it
> showed the new point in the queue and the count was five. I think that
> upon rebooting (or shutting down), the system only keeps four of the
> latest points and at least does not SHOW any others (I don't know if the
> system actually deletes them or just doesn't show them.) even though there
> is room in the window listing for maybe a dozen point to be displayed. I
> do not know what the criteria is, but I have Vista a 232 (usable) GB Hard
> Drive. I'm sure there is room for more than four or five restore points.
> In fact, if nothing else, the system should have kept my original system
> point. So, if need be, I could have returned the system files to their
> original condition. Thereby, eliminating the need to reinstall in order
> to get the system files back to their starting point.
>
> Firstly, there should be space reserved for system backups just as the MFT
> has non-movable continuous reserved disk space, so to should the system
> backups have the same consideration. As for the size, it can be a
> percentage of the disk space available (even user adjustable).
>
> Secondly, if the queue for the points are restricted to four (for whatever
> reason), then it would be a relatively simple programming job to keep the
> first point and cycle the next three points.
>
> Jill, I think this is an important point for all users who doesn't want
> to, at some point, have to buy a new copy of Vista just because Microsoft
> put a cap on reinstalls.
>
> Lastly, if you would like me to post any of the Event Logs error that are
> reoccurring, let me know. Oh, and by the way, I have NAV reinstalled and
> it does not affect the system restore point function at all.
>
> "William Beard" <wabeard6596@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:82344B4A-28AC-47D5-BF49-5C52A92F3342@microsoft.com...
>> Jill,
>>
>> Unstable is a good word for it. OK, on your advise, I'll start over. I
>> just hope Microsoft doesn't freak-out. They don't seem to understand
>> about users starting over. They tend to think you're trying to cheat
>> them. I'll see you on the flipside and let you know if it worked. This
>> may take a couple of days. Thanks for working with me. Later, later..
>>
>>
>