System Restore then and now :

System Restore was introduced in Windows XP to allow people to restore their computers to a previous state without losing personal data files (for example, Microsoft Office Word documents, graphics files, and e-mail messages). System snapshots (restore points) are automatically created, which you can use to revert your system to the way it was at a previous time. Restore points are created both at the time of significant system events (such as when you install applications or drivers) and periodically (each day). You can also create and name restore points at any time.

System Restore in Windows XP is based on a file filter driver that watches file changes for a certain set of file extensions, and copies files before they are overwritten. If you encounter a problem, you can roll back the system files and the registry to those from a previous date when the system was known to have worked properly.

Microsoft Windows Vista brings the shadow copy feature provided in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 to the client. In Windows Vista, System Restore allows recovery from a greater range of changes than in Windows XP. The file filter driver system for system restore used in previous versions of Windows is replaced with a new approach. Now, when a restore point is requested, a shadow copy of a file or folder is created. A shadow copy is essentially a previous version of the file or folder at a specific point. Windows Vista can request restore points automatically, or do so when you ask. When the system needs to be restored, files and settings are copied from the shadow copy to the live volume used by Windows Vista. This improves integration with other aspects of backup and recovery and makes System Restore even more usable.

Data Integrity with Windows Vista:

When you right-click a file or folder, you now see a Previous Versions tab that lets you copy any of the stored previous versions or restore the item to any of the prior states.

This feature is automatically enabled in Windows Vista. You can enable or disable the feature for each available volume using the System Protection tab on the System Properties control panel. To view or change the settings, click Start, right-click Computer, and then click Properties. In the window that opens, click System Protection.

By default, the space reserved for shadow copies will be 15% of the volume's size. You can use the command-line tool Vssadmin.exe to change the size of this reserved space.

Note: Using System Restore will require you to restart your computer after the restore process is complete. Make sure you close any open files or applications before you perform your restore.

Improvements:

The most important advance is that System Restore can now fix your computer, even if you can’t start Windows. System Restore can run in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), which is installed by many computer manufacturers and is available on the Windows installation media. This means you can fix a problem so serious that it prevents Windows from starting.

Copyright © 2005 - 2008 Bert Kinney