System Restore in XP Pro?

[LawyerRon]

Has anybody used System Restore in Windows XP? I’m thinking about restoring a system on a friend’s computer to about 6 weeks ago. I understand you won’t lose any documents, saved files, etc. And, you can restore it back to the current configuration if you’re not happy with the System Restore.

Does it work as advertised? Is it reliable?

[doctorgonzo]

Yes, I have used it many times, and it has always worked as advertised. No data loss, but the system is changed back to whenever the restore point was saved. It has been totally reliable for me, and I have used it on a few occassions to undo mistakes. Assuming there is a restore point from 6 weeks ago, things should work fine.

[LawyerRon]

OK, the restore point might be the problem here; are you saying a restore point must be manually entered? If so, I'll check it out and see if they did that.

[doctorgonzo]

Restore points can be manually saved. Windows also usually saves a restore point every day or when something new is added. Depending on how much space is set aside for System Restore, only a couple restore points may be available, from the past couple days.

[LawyerRon]

Thanks DrG and sorry for the dumb question; I just discovered the automatic restore points you referred to for certain events. The problems all started after some software and user changes were implemented so I see the "bold dates" on the calendar that are the restore points.

Thanks again.

[Psychodic_Greak]

Im not too sure, but on Win XP you can only go back 2 months, you should really hurry to 'restore' his computer

P_G

[LawyerRon]

Just did the system restore; cooooooooool feature!!!!

[Tuf]

It seems to be better in Pro than in home.

[Psychodic_Greak]

Originally posted by Tuf It seems to be better in Pro than in home.

You said it!

[HAL9000]

Its the same in Pro as Home... I use it all the time when messing with settings, drivers and such and it has always worked flawlessly for me.

[lil Jimmie]

The Pro version is more robust by offering ASR.

[Confused]

For me the restore feature of XP is worth the purchase price. I use it all the time. I do a manual checkpoint prior to any changes I make. And have used it on numerous occassions to restore.
Chas

[MaXimum SMOKE]

Curious, but is this the same technology as Roxio Go Back?, or a 'lite' version...

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by lil Jimmie The Pro version is more robust by offering ASR.

I'm searching for ASR and see nothing specifying that it is a Pro version only function. I've got the instructions on my Home Edition how to do it.

[HAL9000]

OK, go figure, found info that it's not supposed to work in Home Edition, but I installed the backup, ran the ASR wizard, and it worked for me.

[not important]

What is ASR?

[HAL9000]

Automated System Recovery

[Tuf]

I have very little experience with Home, but I know M$ uses the statement the Pro has a more thorough restore process than Home to sell us Pro over Home. I have seen some comparisons on M$ site but I don't remember the differences. I do know the few times I have helped people on the phone that Home doesn't seem to work quite the same as Pro.

[lil Jimmie]

Hal, I’m not surprised that the ASR works with the Home version, but I’m with Tuf here I have read that the Pro version of system restore is supposed to be more “robust” than the Home version. However I have not been able to find the links to where I have read this info. Also, I have only one system here running the home version and it has been so darn stable that I don’t mess with it because it is what the wife is using and in a years time the only problem she has complained about is that UT 2003 wouldn’t run too well with her video card, so I dropped in a Radeon 9100 and she is happy as can be.

[HAL9000]

Well... after screwing around with video drivers for the past month (finally found out my system doesn't like Smartgart), I don't see how it can be any more robust to justify the expense of Pro. I have used my restore CONSTANTLY in the past month messing with the driver to get things just right and every time it has put things right back to normal. Also been using it like crazy with customers getting hit by the Yaha virus, and once again, talk about an easy no hassles cleanup. So far after a lot of searching, the default install of ASR is the only difference I find between the two.