To What Restore Point Does System Restore Restore To?

Let's say I have restore points in the following order by date (earliest to latest):

Restore Point 1
Restore Point 2
Restore Point 3

If I restore to Point 1 does that mean that changes to the system that occurred at Point 2 and Point 3 also get restored? So, effectively I lose those two Restore Points? Or are Restore Points 2 and still valid and can be used?

BuddhaNature said:

Let's say I have restore points in the following order by date (earliest to latest):

Restore Point 1
Restore Point 2
Restore Point 3

If I restore to Point 1 does that mean that changes to the system that occurred at Point 2 and Point 3 also get restored? So, effectively I lose those two Restore Points? Or are Restore Points 2 and still valid and can be used?

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Welcome to ElevenForum.


I'm pretty sure that your other restore points will NOT be affected when you perform a System Restore.
Most of us use 3rd party backup software... because it's much better than System Restore.

Because backups are stored in a different location, they are "definitely" not affected when you restore from a backup.






Here's some other things that may help during your Windows 11 journey...

Hi,
No, you would not loose any other restore point. Each restore point is snapshot of the registry at the
time it is created and are all different but, you would loose whatever changes or installation of apps
and /or drivers you have updated from that time period.
@Ghot is not wrong but, I prefer cloning to imaging. That's a personal choice and one you should make for
yourself.

Ghot said:

Most of us use 3rd party backup software... because it's much better than System Restore.

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Thank you for the welcome. :0)

Yes, I have used Terabyte software for creating image files of partitions for many years. It has got me out of trouble several times.

I was just thinking of System Restore as an option but on reflection I decided not to try it. From some of what I've now read there is too much room for something to go wrong.

BuddhaNature said:

From some of what I've now read there is too much room for something to go wrong.

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System Restore "merges" the restore point with Windows, as it exists at the time you do a System Restore.
Backup software, on the other hand "overwrites" Windows with the backup.

This, of course makes backup software the more useful of the two.

Just my .02... For system snapshots I have always used Rollback RX for both server and workstation deployments.
For backups I use Macrium Reflect It's our business to protect your data

​

Everyone feel free to chime in here ==> Other than Windows system restore there is no other current software based snapshot solution on the market that I know of other than RX where you can have multiple snapshots and move back and forth (roll back/roll forward) at will. The only other solution that comes close is a tool called deep freeze but it did not allow for multiple snapshots the last time I looked at it and could only roll back to the last known good state (EG: used in a classroom/internet cafe type setting)

The only other solution I ever used was SAN hardware based snapshots.

All the other solutions like Terabyte, Acronis, macrium, etc. are backup apps vs snapshot based like the Windows system restore for which I never used.

I left RollbackRX in 2015 when the first "Delta Restore" imaging product became available... Macrium Reflect. Since then until very recently, REFLECT has always been my goto tool for snapshot restorations. With their Rapid Delta Restore feature, the time to return to a snapshot is only slightly longer than RBrx, especially with modern SSDs. Of recent, I have started using the Hasleo Backup Suite for exactly the same purpose... it also includes a "delta restore" feature. The time difference between RBrx and delta restore has not been an issue unless you're part of some super race.

Using a delta restore imaging tool for this purpose also has given me the added benefit of a complete System backup imaging solution which RBrx never offered. I really don't know why I would go back to a pure snapshot solution anymore... working completely under the Windows purvue of control like RBrx or its clone, EazFix is just a little too dangerous for me.

Hey Froggie, I will have to look into the Rapid Delta Restore feature, I have not tried that. I will also look into the Hasleo Backup Suite.

Thanks for the feedback.


The only 2 major gripes I have with RX these days is:

1. An issue when installing SW that uses things like visual c++ redistributables. Often an install will just hang and the only solution I can perform is to either try to disable the VSS service and try the install again or to go into task manager and look at wait chains for anything that is waiting on dllhost.exe and then kill that thread so the install can finish.

2. Often when creating a snapshot in Windows the snapshot entry in the gui is in RED text which is a warning from RX that some verification process:

Why are my RollBack Rx snapshots shown in red color - Powered by Kayako Help Desk Software

In RollBack Rx, a snapshot shown in red color indicates that the system might not have been in a consistent state when the snapshot was taken1. This can happen when the Windows Volume Shadow Service (VSS) fails to successfully save all data from the memory cache into the hard disk1.

RollBack Rx will still go ahead and take the new snapshot, but it will be shown in red color to indicate the potential inconsistency1. It’s okay to have a red snapshot once in a while as these are still good working snapshots1. However, if you consistently see red snapshots, it might be necessary to investigate why the VSS is failing to flush the memory cache1. One common cause could be conflicts with third-party apps, especially automated backup software, that also use VSS1.

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in these cases i just force a reboot after the "suspect" snapshot then rename my "reboot" snap accordingly. Its a small pain but a good work around until I can look into a new solution. I will have to try your suggestions in a VM and see if i like their approaches to the issue.


Thanks!!

Pls understand that "delta restore" imaging Systems are not as fast as RBrx... but darn close when using modern SSDs. The few extra seconds don't bother me at all when using a fully Windows API-verified tool which RBrx surely is not.

Unless you need the absolute fastest snapshot restoration on the planet (with its associated risks), today's more modern imaging tools are a very good solution. I was (and still am) an extreme snapshot user... mostly due to software testing and honeypot usage (chasing infections and ransomware) so I need to have reasonably speedy restores, delta restore gives me that (although not quite as fast as RBrx).

Your storage requirements will be basically the same although not on the same volume. RBrx requires the snapshot storage to be on the volume being protected, imaging, of course, requires it on a different volume other than the one being protected.