To Disable or not to Disable System Restore

For older laptops of family members, I am wondering whether it would be best to disable system restore. It sucks up disk space, and fragments the drive considerably. It also slows the computers up when it does an automatic backup. So do you think it should be disabled on such computers?

 

I have restore disabled on all of my personal machines because I make a system image every 100 days or so, but I don't think I would ever do so for my Wife, daughter or parents' machines. Just too much to go wrong, and with no parachute, the outcome would be gruesome.

 

The pre-built PCs though have a factory image. That fixes a lot more than system restore.

 

True.....Your call.

 

Never used System Restore. I keep my personal files and image on a USB.

 

The first thing I do after I install Windows:

1- Disable System Restore
2- Disable Program Compatibility Assistant (useless crap)
3- Uninstall (or disable really) IE, WMP, Media Center, DVD Maker, and Tablet PC Components
4- Disable Windows Error Reporting
5- Disable the crappy Windows Defender

 

No keep it. I'm not noticing the fragmentation, but then again I have a defrag scheduled once a week.

 

I'd disable it. In the past, as far as I've seen, it's just about useless 95% of the time. You're much better off with some sort of imaging for backup....

 

+1
And disable ~30 useless services.

 

Okay, I think I will disable. It doesn't get back any lost files, and Windows errors can be fixed with sfc, or in the worst case scenario, restoring to factory defaults. And I have been disabling services unnecessary; it gave a noticeable performance boost in my Mom's laptop's speed.

 

Or as has been suggested earlier, maybe image their setups just as they are in their current preferred states. There are plenty of free imaging options to choose from. Factory restores will require a lot more work to get them up pre-crash state.

 

ive disabled system restore

 

Depends.

On my personal machines, I always disable Windows built-in "System Restore". I prefer other (better IMO) backup methods. One of those is regular system imaging.

But I guess "System Restore" may be an important feature when (for example) no other backup method is (properly) employed.

 

IMO it's useless, so i ALWAYS disable it.
Out of 10 times i've used it, it fails like 8 times.

 

I couldn't say it better.

 

I've disable system restore since windowsME days.

 

I disabled Windows System Restore and I now rely on routinely Imaging the Windows System Partition.

 

I never disable System Restore. Some people prefer to use images rather than System Restore. This is not a realistic option for me as my hard drive has over 400 gig of files on it, so obviously it is time consuming to restore an image.

I also never disable Windows Error Reporting as I find it way too useful.

I do disable Windows Defender as occasionally it's CPU use is fairly high.

 

I would never recommend to turn off system restore for the average user. I found the opposite that windows restore works most of the time when something as a bad update or a bad install to rollback.to a working system. There is pros and cons either way but It's something to consider before turning restore off.Not everybody is on wilders level with external HDD or USB and fancy image programs

 

Sure it does but who wants to go back to a factory image with extensive hours of updating and possiable software bloat removal. Of course depending on how long ago the factory image is and in my case a year.

 

I view it like this:

A system image is great, but not if data exists on the drive to be restored.

If data exists, and the OS isn't completely cluttered, then system restore offers a convenient way to get rid of those last few software installs or drivers that caused problems.

If data is handled properly, and images are used creatively, then system restore doesn't offer much as it would always be better for clean start than only rolling back parts.

I leave system restore on most machines I use/maintain. However, I do set them to only monitor the OS drive/partition, and I limit the space, usually hoping for 2-4 restore points at any given time.

When working on my machines, system restore has little use. When working on others, it is actually very valuable to me.

Sul.

 

Disable System Restore and use Rollback Rx.

 

Again! great idea's for intermediate/experienced users but not for children or granny or any that only care about one thing,turn the computer on and go.I could' only imagine trying to walk some one through rollback RX or ShadowPotect etc over the phone.Abortion comes to my mind.

 

I Only keep the Last System Restore Point.