Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   learn.microsoft[.]com/en-us/windows/configuration/point-in-time-restore?tabs=csp

   This was included in June's Optional Windows update, so it'll be rolling out in July's regular update.

   You still have the old System Restore setup which works alongside the new functionality. You can access the old setup via Control Panel -> All Control Panel Items -> Recovery. Alternatively you can access the System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog via Settings -> System -> About -> System Protection [same result as clicking the 3rd or bottom option in Control Panel Recovery]. Note that you want System Restore Points turned on for SSDs, so that Windows will defrag them occasionally -- it's not the normal defrag for a regular HDD, and it's not Trim, and Windows allegedly needs it. You use that System Properties dialog to turn Restore Points on/off, and set the max size it can grow to. You can also delete any that are saved.

   The dialog for the new Point-in-time Restore is in Settings -> System -> Recovery -> Point-in-time Restore, where you can see how many have been created, their existing size, set the max size, turn it on/off, set how often they're created, and set how long they're kept. The differences between the old & new methods are shown in a table on the linked Microsoft web page.

   Restore points set by the old & new setups are stored in the restricted System Volume Information folder. Deleting all Restore Points for a drive using the System Properties dialog *is supposed to* delete everything stored in that folder by both System Restore methods. Do Note that nothing about restore points is bullet proof. You can accumulate stored data in that System Volume Information folder that should not be there, including after you click the button to delete all restore point data, turn restore points off, etc. You might find a few MB, or Many GB (!). Because that folder is restricted, you need to use something like WizTree to find out.

   diskanalyzer[.]com/

   The NTFS file system stores a master table that indexes where everything on a hard disk/SSD is -- WizTree reads that table rather than finding files/folders conventionally, e.g., like Explorer. Unfortunately, if you've got a lot of garbage in that folder, AFAIK the only way to get rid of it is to either install a fresh [new] copy of Windows, or boot to Linux, which will let you access and delete stuff in that folder.

   Posted 2 weeks ago #
2. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   There's *to me* a major limitation with the restore points set with Point-in-time Restore... Old style restore points can be restored from the dialog in Windows, while the new type cannot -- those can only be restored from Windows Recovery Environment.

   learn.microsoft[.]com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-recovery-environment--windows-re--technical-reference?view=windows-11

   There are a few problems with that... One, Windows RE is like restore points themselves, far from bullet proof, so you're adding another layer of uncertainty. Two, the Recovery partition may be missing, either because Windows setup screwed up, or it was eliminated to reclaim the space. And three, if the Recovery partition is there, it may or may not be in working order -- I've found several copies of Win 10 & 11 where it was not. You can use the following command at the command prompt to find out: reagentc /info . You can try to fix it with the command reagentc /enable , which again may or may not work. I found this web page with a more involved method if enabling the RE did not work. Note that prior research included another command performed alongside gpt attributes -- set id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac . And again, I've had that more involved repair work & not work.

   learn.microsoft[.]com/en-us/answers/questions/3852242/help-me-recreate-win11-recovery-partition

   Once Point-in-time Restore is added to Windows, it may or may not be enabled by default -- it was on for this copy of Windows, but my Insider copy of Windows had it turned off.

   Posted 2 weeks ago #
3. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   zdnet[.]com/article/windows-11-point-in-time-recovery/

   Ed Bott has an article that gives a bit more info, while I experienced one downside to having Point-in-time Restore turned on -- SSD wear. I'm [perhaps overly] protective of my SSDs since AI brought on the RAMpocalypse, with replacement SSDs no longer affordable, and warranty coverage increasingly being limited to refunds of the original purchase price. The NVMe SSD I use daily for this copy of Windows surprised me, dropping a percent of life left since Point-in-time Restore arrived a couple of weeks ago. I've turned it off.

   Posted 1 day ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.