Windows XP users, read this

brc64 · Feb 27, 2003, 07:52 AM

Lots of people probably already know about this, but for the rest of you, I've got quite possibily the best Windows XP tweak around.

Windows ME introduced it, and Windows XP continued the tradition. In theory, System Restore is a wonderful thing. In actuality, for most users (especially those concerned with optimizing their computers), it's pretty much useless. The "tweak"? Turn it off. There's a System Restore tab in the System Properties window ("System" in Control Panel, right-click My Computer and select Properties, WinKey+Pause, or however else you want to get to the System Properties window).

The thing about System Restore is that it takes up massive amounts of harddrive space (20%, I think), AND it is enabled on every drive (or partition) in your computer by default. By disabling it, you not only reclaim large amounts of harddrive space, but you also get a bit of a performance boost since it's no longer constantly backing things up.

I've never once needed to use System Restore. If you have, or you're paranoid that you might need to, leave it be. If you have no need for it, turn it off. I reclaimed at least 25 gigs in harddrive space, just by disabling a feature I never used.

- Me

merry · Feb 27, 2003, 08:08 AM

I would ammend that a little...

You can set the amount of space taken by restore backups, I limited the space to - I don't remember right now... 600MB I think, it accomodates one backup. And you can set this independently for every drive, I only keep it on for the system drive. I actually find it useful, especially whith beta drivers.

ToshiroOC · Feb 27, 2003, 08:33 AM

Thanks for the reminder! I totally forgot to do it for this Windows install, just got 10gb back

dai · Feb 27, 2003, 09:05 AM

i agree with merry better safe than sorry don,t use very often does not always work but is a godsend when you need to get your computer back in a hurry until you have time to sort out the problems properley as long as you limit it,s size it is a small price to pay

***craig5320*** · Feb 27, 2003, 09:09 AM

I never use it, I'd go as far as to say hate the thing

If summit goes wrong with drivers, last known good configurations usually sorts it, or a repair of the windows install with the XP disk, failing all, I have no problem with formatting every once in a while.

nieves · Feb 27, 2003, 09:24 AM

Recently I was in the situation to curse the initiative I had a few weeks ago to turn off system restore. I uninstalled nvidia detonator and installed via4in1. After this skillful move, no detonator driver would install properly (tried 4 of them including Omega's and Dell's tweaked one)... Finally I traced the problem in the via4in1 installation... But, If I had system restore up and running, the whole mess would have been sorted out in a few clicks and one reboot. Boys and girls (if any) keep your system restore on... it's a feature and not a drag... Basically, it's what Configsafe does, but it's system integrated, which means better speed and reliability. Disable it on anything else than your system partition (it's useless on your mp3 and movies partition)

The size I have set it on is as big as I could considering I left 20% of the drive space free for Diskeeping purposes...

nieves · Feb 27, 2003, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by craig5320
I never use it, I'd go as far as to say hate the thing If summit goes wrong with drivers, last known good configurations usually sorts it, or a repair of the windows install with the XP disk, failing all, I have no problem with formatting every once in a while.

Last known good configuration restores only part of the registry file (it doesn't keep a full backup) and the repair with the install disk won't work in all cases. I always keep a base backup with Rapid Restore PC. If I mess something really bad, it restores the system to the post-install, drivers & primary software packs state... A clean install is time consuming... click that, fill this, press next...

merry · Feb 27, 2003, 10:25 AM

not to mention you have to dig out the damn CD

1.5% of my HDD is not the end of the world, less then a Divx movie

dipstick · Feb 28, 2003, 02:57 AM

This is one of the first things I do when I install windows. My PC has always gotten worse whenever I've used it.

Vampyromaniac · Feb 28, 2003, 06:46 AM

I think for those who don't alter their system every day, and app such as Ghost would be more suitable.
I certainly like it.

merry · Feb 28, 2003, 09:58 AM

I would, too... but I'd need more HDD space

nieves · Feb 28, 2003, 10:21 AM

Space... something I can never have. I can hear Trent Reznor singing in my head

I'm absolutely crammed in here. I have 4 computers on my desk, thank God two are laptops, but still... no space at all... I had to give up my mug and throw away the mouse... My feet are resting on a pile of CAT5 cable, laptop rechargers and stuff like that... The coolest thing is an external CD-RW drive which i had to stick in a drawer. It works from down there, no prob...

Besides real space, HDD space is never enough. I always fill my HDD from home with so much crap... And when it comes to cleaning, I don't want to get rid of it...Who knows when I might need that 500megs satellite image of my city

merry · Feb 28, 2003, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by nieves
Who knows when I might need that 500megs satellite image of my city

Ah, well, I want that too!

nieves · Feb 28, 2003, 12:58 PM

Okie. Just lemme try to squeeze it to 50kb and I'll e-mail it to you

j/k

In all it's beauty, about 500megs, uncompressed TGA...

Sending...

Damn this e-mail server! It won't send

Scotty · Feb 28, 2003, 07:10 PM

OR....

You could simply leave System Restore turned on and open up Disk Cleanup... START> All Programs> Accessories> System tools>,
Click the More Options tab, and under System Restore click Clean Up. This will remove ALL of your previous restore points EXCEPT the last one. So make sure your last one is a good one.

It is nice to know that you will at least have some measure of protection if you screw something up, and still regain your lost HD space.
I personally keep System restore turned on and run the Restore cleanup once a week.

Just my $0.012573. ($0.02 less sales tax CDN)

Feb 27, 2003, 07:52 AM	#1
brc64 Zeeky H. Bomb Join Date: May 2002 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 826 Rep Power: 0	Windows XP users, read this Lots of people probably already know about this, but for the rest of you, I've got quite possibily the best Windows XP tweak around. Windows ME introduced it, and Windows XP continued the tradition. In theory, System Restore is a wonderful thing. In actuality, for most users (especially those concerned with optimizing their computers), it's pretty much useless. The "tweak"? Turn it off. There's a System Restore tab in the System Properties window ("System" in Control Panel, right-click My Computer and select Properties, WinKey+Pause, or however else you want to get to the System Properties window). The thing about System Restore is that it takes up massive amounts of harddrive space (20%, I think), AND it is enabled on every drive (or partition) in your computer by default. By disabling it, you not only reclaim large amounts of harddrive space, but you also get a bit of a performance boost since it's no longer constantly backing things up. I've never once needed to use System Restore. If you have, or you're paranoid that you might need to, leave it be. If you have no need for it, turn it off. I reclaimed at least 25 gigs in harddrive space, just by disabling a feature I never used. - Me

Feb 27, 2003, 08:08 AM	#2
merry gargouille Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha Posts: 962 Rep Power: 0	I would ammend that a little... You can set the amount of space taken by restore backups, I limited the space to - I don't remember right now... 600MB I think, it accomodates one backup. And you can set this independently for every drive, I only keep it on for the system drive. I actually find it useful, especially whith beta drivers. __________________ There is a war between the ones who say there is a war and the ones who say there isn't. ~~Leonard Cohen

Feb 27, 2003, 08:33 AM	#3
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for the reminder! I totally forgot to do it for this Windows install, just got 10gb back __________________ [img][/img] [color=White]Peace be with you, Joe.[/color] Driverheaven Staff Member (Supermoderator)

Feb 27, 2003, 09:09 AM	#5
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,579 Rep Power: 445 System Specs	I never use it, I'd go as far as to say hate the thing If summit goes wrong with drivers, last known good configurations usually sorts it, or a repair of the windows install with the XP disk, failing all, I have no problem with formatting every once in a while. __________________ HardwareHeaven on Facebook

Feb 27, 2003, 09:24 AM	#6
nieves personality tweaker Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Jormania Posts: 288 Rep Power: 0	Recently I was in the situation to curse the initiative I had a few weeks ago to turn off system restore. I uninstalled nvidia detonator and installed via4in1. After this skillful move, no detonator driver would install properly (tried 4 of them including Omega's and Dell's tweaked one)... Finally I traced the problem in the via4in1 installation... But, If I had system restore up and running, the whole mess would have been sorted out in a few clicks and one reboot. Boys and girls (if any) keep your system restore on... it's a feature and not a drag... Basically, it's what Configsafe does, but it's system integrated, which means better speed and reliability. Disable it on anything else than your system partition (it's useless on your mp3 and movies partition) The size I have set it on is as big as I could considering I left 20% of the drive space free for Diskeeping purposes... __________________

Feb 27, 2003, 09:05 AM	#4
dai DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 126 Rep Power: 0	i agree with merry better safe than sorry don,t use very often does not always work but is a godsend when you need to get your computer back in a hurry until you have time to sort out the problems properley as long as you limit it,s size it is a small price to pay

Feb 27, 2003, 10:25 AM	#8
merry gargouille Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha Posts: 962 Rep Power: 0	not to mention you have to dig out the damn CD 1.5% of my HDD is not the end of the world, less then a Divx movie __________________ There is a war between the ones who say there is a war and the ones who say there isn't. ~~Leonard Cohen

Feb 28, 2003, 02:57 AM	#9
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 71 System Specs	This is one of the first things I do when I install windows. My PC has always gotten worse whenever I've used it.

Feb 28, 2003, 06:46 AM	#10
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 77 System Specs	I think for those who don't alter their system every day, and app such as Ghost would be more suitable. I certainly like it. __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Feb 28, 2003, 09:58 AM	#11
merry gargouille Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha Posts: 962 Rep Power: 0	I would, too... but I'd need more HDD space __________________ There is a war between the ones who say there is a war and the ones who say there isn't. ~~Leonard Cohen

Feb 28, 2003, 10:21 AM	#12
nieves personality tweaker Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Jormania Posts: 288 Rep Power: 0	Space... something I can never have. I can hear Trent Reznor singing in my head I'm absolutely crammed in here. I have 4 computers on my desk, thank God two are laptops, but still... no space at all... I had to give up my mug and throw away the mouse... My feet are resting on a pile of CAT5 cable, laptop rechargers and stuff like that... The coolest thing is an external CD-RW drive which i had to stick in a drawer. It works from down there, no prob... Besides real space, HDD space is never enough. I always fill my HDD from home with so much crap... And when it comes to cleaning, I don't want to get rid of it...Who knows when I might need that 500megs satellite image of my city __________________

Feb 28, 2003, 12:58 PM	#14
nieves personality tweaker Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Jormania Posts: 288 Rep Power: 0	Okie. Just lemme try to squeeze it to 50kb and I'll e-mail it to you j/k In all it's beauty, about 500megs, uncompressed TGA... Sending... Damn this e-mail server! It won't send __________________

Feb 28, 2003, 07:10 PM	#15
Scotty DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	OR.... You could simply leave System Restore turned on and open up Disk Cleanup... START> All Programs> Accessories> System tools>, Click the More Options tab, and under System Restore click Clean Up. This will remove ALL of your previous restore points EXCEPT the last one. So make sure your last one is a good one. It is nice to know that you will at least have some measure of protection if you screw something up, and still regain your lost HD space. I personally keep System restore turned on and run the Restore cleanup once a week. Just my $0.012573. ($0.02 less sales tax CDN)