Vista - Is it smart to disable the System Restore Point?

Is it safe to disable System Restore Point by unclicking the checked box so
it doesn't automatically save Restore Points everytime? When I disabled it I
recovered 7 gigs back. Is it hazardous if I do so or is it okay if I know
what I am doing with my computer and how I'm using it for.
--
Toshiba A200 TH108C - Core 2 Duo, 2 gig memory, 200 hdd, 15.4''''''''

Hi,

Here are the instructions on how to disable System Restore in Windows Vista:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/disablesrv.html

Before doing so, may I ask why you want to do this?

Disabling System Restore will not only delete all existing restore points
and eliminate the ability to restore the system, but it will also disable
Previous Versions.

Previous Version:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/shadow.html

If you are concerned about disk space, then the amount of disk space used to
hold restore point and previous versions can be adjusted.

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


Quaresma wrote:
> Is it safe to disable System Restore Point by unclicking the checked box so
> it doesn't automatically save Restore Points everytime? When I disabled it I
> recovered 7 gigs back. Is it hazardous if I do so or is it okay if I know
> what I am doing with my computer and how I'm using it for.

"Quaresma" <Quaresma@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:11E81D40-A852-4182-B2E8-CD2DE580B12B@microsoft.com...
> Is it safe to disable System Restore Point by unclicking the checked box
> so
> it doesn't automatically save Restore Points everytime? When I disabled it
> I
> recovered 7 gigs back. Is it hazardous if I do so or is it okay if I know
> what I am doing with my computer and how I'm using it for.
> --
> Toshiba A200 TH108C - Core 2 Duo, 2 gig memory, 200 hdd, 15.4'''''''''

Well, if you've never used System Restore and have no intention of ever
using it, then it's safe since that's its function. Other than that, it
provides nothing to to the system in terms of functionality.

That said, I find it a useful first line of defense even though I'm well
backed up and create periodic images of my setup. Sometimes, something
seemingly inconsequential changes a setting or settings and things don't
function quite as you want them but you are uncertain of precisely what it
was that made this change. System Restore can be a quick and easy means of
setting things right again though I always recommend your data files be well
backed up as precaution before using this feature.

That said, if only your data is backed up, which is fine by the way, your
means of setting things right in the above circumstance is possibly a lot of
trial and error or a clean install of Vista and restoring your data files a
much longer and involved process than System Restore so it can save you a
lot of trouble and seems a small price for the space it occupies especially
given the size of hard drives today at relatively modest prices.

--
Michael Solomon
Backup is a PC user's best friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

If you need to ask if you should disable System Restore, that's proof to me
that you should not, in my opinion.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] rgharper@gmail.com
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Quaresma" <Quaresma@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:11E81D40-A852-4182-B2E8-CD2DE580B12B@microsoft.com...
> Is it safe to disable System Restore Point by unclicking the checked box
> so
> it doesn't automatically save Restore Points everytime? When I disabled it
> I
> recovered 7 gigs back. Is it hazardous if I do so or is it okay if I know
> what I am doing with my computer and how I'm using it for.
> --
> Toshiba A200 TH108C - Core 2 Duo, 2 gig memory, 200 hdd, 15.4''''''''

In response to all your comments I read I have a few questions to ask...

First off is,if Vista starts killing off the restore point from oldest and
make new ones whats the point of making sure that I even have it at that
exact point in time i want to restore because Vista will kill it off anyway...

How do I manually create Restore Points? I already disabled it? Will it
affect anything if I enabled it again? I see my harddrive space keep
depleting with this function on and I gained back 7 gigs with it disabled. I
have a 200 hdd and i dont have any intention to get more harddrive space.

I have the recovery disc that I already created, isn't that good enough? I
know that with system restore i can decide when to save my files etc so I
dont have to start back at square one. I don't know, I'm new with Vista so
trying to get more performance out of this O/S. I might even reduce the
shadow storage size but for some reason I can't get to the cmd prompt line in
order to access the command to reach to the vssadmin. Any ideas?

--
Toshiba A200 TH108C - Core 2 Duo, 2 gig memory, 200 hdd, 15.4''''''''


"Adam Albright" wrote:

> On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:14:35 -0400, "Richard G. Harper"
> <rgharper@email.com> wrote:
>
> >If you need to ask if you should disable System Restore, that's proof to me
> >that you should not, in my opinion.
>
> It shouldn't matter anyway since Vista will start killing the restore
> points, oldest first, if it ever gets to the point your root drive is
> running out of room.
>
>

"Quaresma" <Quaresma@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5517C25D-F536-41C5-9219-75EE360650A8@microsoft.com...
> In response to all your comments I read I have a few questions to ask...
>
> First off is,if Vista starts killing off the restore point from oldest and
> make new ones whats the point of making sure that I even have it at that
> exact point in time i want to restore because Vista will kill it off
> anyway...

Because it's designed to handle relatively recent issues. If it were
unlimited, it would have to start deleting files on the hard drive would it
not. If you make regular backups, don't you eventually delete older backup
files to make room for new ones; same principle.
>
> How do I manually create Restore Points? I already disabled it? Will it
> affect anything if I enabled it again? I see my harddrive space keep
> depleting with this function on and I gained back 7 gigs with it disabled.
> I
> have a 200 hdd and i dont have any intention to get more harddrive space.

Yes, you would have to turn it back on. If you made manual restore points
they would be in addition to the automatic restore points made by System
Restore but still would take up no more room than the amount of space
allocated.
>
> I have the recovery disc that I already created, isn't that good enough? I
> know that with system restore i can decide when to save my files etc so I
> dont have to start back at square one. I don't know, I'm new with Vista so
> trying to get more performance out of this O/S. I might even reduce the
> shadow storage size but for some reason I can't get to the cmd prompt line
> in
> order to access the command to reach to the vssadmin. Any ideas?

A recovery disk takes you back to square one, or the point at which the disk
was created. If you've added applications, hardware, changed hardware,
added software since the disk was created, whatever isn't on the recovery
disk, needs to be reinstalled.

Suppose you have an issue, you click something and something is supposed to
happen and for some reason it doesn't. You can't think of of what you might
have done but you do know it worked yesterday but not today. If you have a
restore point that takes you back to a time prior to when the event began,
you can run System Restore to see if it resolves without having to take more
time or resorting to more drastic measures. Everything else should remain
intact, no muss, no fuss though you should always be sure your data is well
backed up in case something goes wrong. But assuming things work as they
should, it's a relatively painless first step that can save you a lot of
time and effort that is often involved in doing a full system recovery.
>
> -- >
>>>

--
Michael Solomon
Backup is a PC user's best friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

If you are worried, first, about the7GB-ish used for restore, then you should have bought a bigger HD. That is your main issue imho.

Restore...for Vista at this time is a life saver. I have had to use it a couple times. And I am happy I had it on...very happy.