System Restore not creating restore points

[parabellum]

Using Windows 7. I have lost count of the times I have set restore points and received the message that the point has successfully been created but when I later select 'System Restore' I get a message that says I have not created any restore points, never fails!

Any thoughts or ideas would be much appreciated.

Second point; I have Windows 7 Home Premium as my OS, if I were to run the CD Windows 7 Professional would it do an upgrade without wiping out all my data or would it do a clean install and dump all my other programmes and data? Info much appreciated.

[mixture]

System Restore is a waste of time. All it does is hog disk space and cause more headaches than it does solve problems.

Instead of wasting your time trying to "fix" it, go teach yourself how to implement a proper backup routine instead.

Second point; I have Windows 7 Home Premium as my OS, if I were to run the CD Windows 7 Professional would it do an upgrade without wiping out all my data or would it do a clean install and dump all my other programmes and data? Info much appreciated.

Don't quote me on it (because I've never touched anything less than Windows 7 Professional), however it would make sense to me that going from one Windows 7 edition to another is just a case of Microsoft tweaking the Microsoft bits and leaving your data alone.

But... ( I think you can guess what's coming next ) .... ALWAYS DO A BACKUP BEFORE YOU PROCEED WITH ANY MAJOR COMPUTER WORKS (whether its an OS upgrade or anything else) ... and no, "System Restore" does not count ... by any stretch of the imagination.

Rant over. Thanks for listening.

[lomapaseo]

I use system restore on my Win 7s to back up some of the critical bits in the OS.

I use external hard drives to back up stuff I entirely control like data

System restore has bailed me out when things no longer work for some mysterious reason (one of many things got loaded on my computer and it didn't act up for days).

My biggest problem is trial and error what program change is causing the newly developed problem. It seems I only have one restore point available to choose, that being the last one (typically a MS auto).

I tried making additional restore points as I go along, but anything more than one gives me the error insufficient memory in spite of the fact that I have oodles of free space on my OS drive.

My recourse is to spend the time to clone the whole drive a couple of times a year so at least I will have an old restore to choose from.

Being a simple minded user, I'm more afraid of screwing things up even worse if I try to trouble shoot stuff deep inside. I prefer the simply click on "restore" to set me right even if I give up a new program or two.

[mixture]

I use system restore on my Win 7s to back up some of the critical bits in the OS.
I use external hard drives to back up stuff I entirely control like data

As implied in my earlier post. That sort of routine has a very limited application and you certainly wouldn't find me condoning it.

For example......
- What happens if you apply a dodgy update ? Or your system looses power whilst installing updates ?
- What happens if you get a virus ?
etc. etc.

Those are just some of the sample "headaches" I alluded to when people misuse/abuse the limited capabilities of System Restore.

Trusting the system to backup "critical bits" on its own accord, onto the same drive the system is installed onto, is an exercise in futility.

P.S. For the benefit of the forum, the answer to the second point is .... For gods sake people when you figure out you have a virus, assuming you're not going to follow best practice of formatting your hard drive - since you can't fully trust your computer anymore - the first thing to do is to DELETE ALL system restores, NEVER,EVER attempt to make use of System Restore when trying to muddle your way through "fixing" a virus infested computer

[BOAC]

para - excuse the obvious, but have you allocated enough disk space and selected the drive/drives to be processed? Can you create a manual restore point and are there restore points for update events? Does the panel show NO restore points at all? It should create a point every 7 day unless there has been some other 'point' event.

[parabellum]

BOAC - Thanks, yes, I have 75% , 200GB available for restore, drive 'C' allocated as the drive to be restored and I have just created a restore point, (3GB used), which I now try to access only to be told I have not created a restore point! Current usage reverts from 3.0GB to zero! Very frustrating as there are no other obvious buttons and selections that might affect the finding of the restore point, there must be at least two dozen in there, just won't come out!

Mixture - Thanks, yes back up always done to an external hard drive. Being in a rather lowly position on the totem pole of computer knowledge System Restore comes in very handy for doing what it says on the tin, i.e. "undo unwanted system changes and restore older versions of files", MS have a polite way of saying "Undoing your stupid fcuk ups"! I don't have the OS disc for Windows 7 Home Premium, only 7 Professional and I was hoping for a repair function that might sort out this problem.

[lomapaseo]

I have 75% , 200GB available for restore, drive 'C' allocated as the drive to be restored and I have just created a restore point, (3GB used), which I now try to access only to be told I have not created a restore point! Current usage reverts from 3.0GB to zero! Very frustrating as there are no other obvious buttons and selections that might affect the finding of the restore point, there must be at least two dozen in there, just won't come out!

I was under the impression that during the restore you needed a backup as well of the unrestored portion, just in case your restore really mucked it up.

Also I wouldn't be surprised that with all the files being moved around during the restore that it does need a good deal more of disk space than the finished product..

Of course I would also like to know just how much it needs in GB rather than percent ?

[BOAC]

Hmm, para - that's weird. Did a bit of Goggling
What To Do About Missing Windows 7 Restore Points « IT Expert Voice

[parabellum]

Thanks BOAC, fair bit to work through there! I'll post again after I've tried both options!