How much of the restore file can I dump?

[Five Rings]

My mom (kayofcircles) said that this was the place to go for info. Well, I have Windows ME and it has saddled me with a 1.3 gigabyte restore folder
(C:\_Retore\archive\). There are a ton of .cab and .reg files in there, and my question is how many do I need and can I get rid of most of them? I understand that this feature helps when I screw up my computer (which is often), but how much is dated?

[mjc]

Hello child of Kay, and welcome,

I'd say start dumping them by date...starting with the oldest, just find all the files from a certain date and dump them, if you want you can keep the last 2 or 3 and maybe the oldest (should be from when the system was new), but if I remember correctly ME will start dumping them on its own after either a certain date or the file reaches a certain size (you can control how big it gets...but I'm not on a ME machine right now so I can't tell you where http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif ). Just grab the average size of the files...and then figure out how many you want to keep and set the size for that.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[sea69]

Hi and Welcome oh spawn of kay...... LoL

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

as I do not have/use winME, I will go by the "experts"


Because it’s continually watching for changes to system files there is an impact on processor time, not to mention an impact on disk space.


System Restore will not work on a system that has less than 200MB of free disk space. If your drive size is 4GB or smaller, System Restore uses 200 to 400MB to store its data. You can adjust this setting using the Control Panel’s System Properties dialog box. Click on the Performance tab, and then on the File System button. In the File System Properties dialog, the middle slider sets the amount of disk space that will be used. This is adjustable from 200MB to 12% of your drive, the default setting.


When the size of the System Restore folder (a hidden folder named “_RESTORE” on your WinMe boot drive) reaches 90% capacity, restore points are automatically deleted. The oldest ones are deleted first, until the folder is 50% full. ........

..............>>>>>>>>>

more here (http://www.canadacomputes.com/v3/story/1,1017,5046,00.html?tag=132&sb=297)

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sea1_69@hotmail.com

homepage (http://www.seanweb1.homestead.com/3.html)


;)~

[bassman]

Hello five rings,
Another thing to concider is turning OFF system restore. If you have used it successfuly and like the feature, then that would not be the right choice. I myself have never used it, so, no point in it taking up space.
From the same dialog box that SEA discribed, click the "Trouble Shooting" tab, look at the bottom of the list, check "Disable system restore"

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If I tell you to think for yourself, then you're not doing it.
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This is not directed at those asking questions in order to gain knowledge. That shows you are thinking.

[Five Rings]

Thanks for all the help! I changed the settings in the control panel and the computer ate most of the file up. According to sea69 it would have grown to approximatly 4.8 gigabytes on a 40 gig drive. I don't know who who thought that would be efficient. Anyway, on the topic of dumping the restore feature, how do I know when it is used? I know it runs in the background, but I still occasionaly get the blue screen of death. So when does the restore actually restore? Do you get some kind of notification, or does the computer just default back and not tell you the bad (or good) news?

[sea69]

Windows is increasingly fashioning their operating systems to coincide with the "Toaster Effect".

in an attempt to make windows more 'dummy proof', they have added all types of safegaurds, (restore)- and many other 'my network places' (sounds almost obscene).. hehe -'user proof' changes.

a toaster or x-box in every room in the house is what they're after.

with no user knowlege or input needed.

the restore feature of winME is a scaled down version (less features) of a program called "Go back"

It saves settings, you can "go back"-to any point where everything was as you liked it. (in theory)

win9x has DOS scanreg_/restore that gives you 5 backup copies of your registry, and a program called Test Run by BB (http://sites.netscape.net/berniebuilt/), will save back up and auto create a Master of your system as you want it (for future restore).

which has literally saved my system from catastrophy...

others that actually use this OS everyday may shed more light.

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif



**finally done editing.....

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

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sea1_69@hotmail.com

homepage (http://www.seanweb1.homestead.com/3.html)

[This message has been edited by sea69 (edited 09-05-2001).]

[Ghost_Hacker]

This Microsoft KB article might answer your question.
Q267951 (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q267/9/51.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=Q267951&rnk=1&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=CHS)


Hope that helps http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Comment heard from a Klingon programmer.

"Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it and let them flee like the dogs they are!"

[This message has been edited by Ghost_Hacker (edited 09-05-2001).]

[Five Rings]

Thanks to Sea69 and Ghost_Hacker for their help. After reading all the articles I have realized that I have never used System Restore and probably don't need it. Hopefully I can find another Back Up system. Any suggestions? "Test Run" will/will not work with Windows ME. I emailed the software creator (Bernie) and he answered very quickly. He's a cool guy.
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Windows ME doesn't support the closing down of windows to run a DOS program.... win 95 and 98 does. It is essential to close windows in order to swap the registry, since the file cannot be accurately maintained if windows is still running. So, accordingly, Test-Run is designed for win95 and 98.

The processes used in Test-Run will work in windows ME but the manual closing of windows then the restarting is not neat and tidy, so I didn't release that version.
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So basically I need another back up program or I need to figure out how to run Test Run with ME. Could I just open the DOS prompt from ME? Or is there another way around the issue? Or should I just go for another program. Thank you for all your input. I have learned alot.