System Restore In Win-xp

[opalhort]

When I create a system restore point in XP, does this include 'History', 'Favorites' and 'saved/remembered login info'?

Am using XP Pro SP2 and SP3 (two different PCs) with IE6

opalhort

[Guest Reimar]

When I create a system restore point in XP, does this include 'History', 'Favorites' and 'saved/remembered login info'?

Am using XP Pro SP2 and SP3 (two different PCs) with IE6

opalhort

It's just a kind mirror of the system as at the time you create the restore point. So, it would be include all!

Cheers.

[A_Traveller]

To expand, any documents you created would still be there, but if you had installed a new program, or received an update to a program then they would not. However, some add-ons, for example to a browser will not always roll back {usually a good thing}.

Regards

PS Sorry connexion hic-cup, just to add that the system should record the details of the accounts as well, so they are also recovered. Recently I used the system to back out a failed Adobe upgarde {the Thai internet strikes again} but the product did not comply 100% with the process so the first time, the installer reappeared {I almost expected a dodgy Austrian accented "I'm back" } but by going further back I was able to recover, delete and then reinstall the program.

Edited July 23, 2008 by A_Traveller

[JSixpack]

When I create a system restore point in XP, does this include 'History', 'Favorites' and 'saved/remembered login info'?

No, they would NOT be included, contrary to the advice above. You didn't say which login info you meant, but assuming you meant IE login/passwords, rather than, say, MSN Messenger, the answer is again no.

Normally, however, in a System Restore situation these are not at risk or issue. That is, there likely won't be a need to restore them anyway and so they are not backed up. If you want to be sure they are backed up, or maybe you'd like to move them to a different machine, you'll have to do it separately. Most convenient is to use a backup utillity for the purpose such as

http://www.backsettings.com/internet-explorer-backup.html

Edited July 24, 2008 by JSixpack

[A_Traveller]

^ OK. understand what you are saying, but the position is that the information is not changed, that is if you restore from 1 month ago it does not overwrite what is in place today. Therefore if you changed your password yesterday it survives. XP restore is not a system designed to transfer information to another computer, for example.

So the full answer is the present environment as the OP described is not copied nor restored, it remains in situ.

However, you are right to point out that I had replied in an assumptive manner, and I apologise for any confusion the reply might have caused.

Regards

/edit see JSP was amending the post as I was typing so we seem to be saying the same thing, should have checked to see if he was italicised//

Edited July 24, 2008 by A_Traveller

[Naam]

^ OK. understand what you are saying, but the position is that the information is not changed, that is if you restore from 1 month ago it does not overwrite what is in place today.

i beg to differ Traveller. if i restore by going back to an earlier date my latest saved spreadsheet containing financial data is overwritten with the data of the "restore day".

[A_Traveller]

^ really, I know there's some discussion of this happening with Vista {a sub directory is created with the 'un-mirrored files'}, but I've not seen this with Excel under XP. Given your usage is the sheet linked {DDE} or dependent on another program, or nomenclature specific?

Regards

[Naam]

Traveller,

for reasons unknown i can't answer your PM. here's my answer:

believe it or not... i am using a DOS based spreadsheet (Quattro Pro5) last version from 1992 which is based on Lotus. this must be the reason why system restore works in a different way. there was no way for me to switch as i have 24 (TWENTY FOUR) years, representing about 15,000 manhours (writing macros and subroutines which did not translate), invested in it.

without my spreadsheet assisting me i won't be able to go for a pee joke aside. hardly a single decision involving any finance is done without consulting my spreadsheet!

if i ever lose it i might as well commit suicide the spreadsheet is backed up whenever saved (up to 100 times a day) on three harddrives and three USB-sticks.

[A_Traveller]

OK understand, that probably accounts for it. QPro now there's a name from the past, did you know the internal name for the original project was Buddha {as in assume the Lotus position} and of course 4 was chosen for the name as in 123.. .

Regards

[opalhort]

Thanks for all your replies.

I know how to back-up my favorites, but can't get the history to back-up and don't even know where XP stores all the 'remembered passwords'.

With 'remembered PWs' I mean the ones XP keeps on file for all the web-sites I visit which allow the remember function at log-in.

Example: last week I cleared the IE cache which also cleaned out the history (I know it was my own fault), tried system restore but history was still gone.

Regarding stored PWs: Some of my PW records go back to the WIN95 days and recently I fouled up a PW on a very old site and the stored PW was gone. System restore did not help! Finally found the PW in a pile of papers 6 years old.

If I could find a way how to back-up the history and the PW file this would be great.

Thanks again

opalhort

[A_Traveller]

^ on that basis JSP's link would be worth reviewing. Backrex have been providing software in this field for some time. The link is to the freeware version, though I have to say I use FF which makes these things more accessible.

Regards

PS Please consider upgrading to IE7 it is a much better browser and reduces security issues for you.

/edit note link is to free version //

Edited July 24, 2008 by A_Traveller

[opalhort]

Thanks A_Traveller,

Will give the linked program a try as long as it is free.

As for IE7, yes you are correct, will try it out and see if I can get along with it. My son and wife have IE7 on their PCs but I'm still running on IE6. Call me oldfashioned. My PCs are running in classic mode whereas theirs is in original XP mode.

Security wise we are quite well protected. Only my son manages to get the occasional malware or virus but they are always caught by protective software before they can do any harm.

opalhort

[sjaak327]

System restore is not a replacement for a backup utility, I have never had to use it running Vista, I however had to use it frequently when I was still running XP. And it does also revert back some documents. For instance I ran it once, just before I downloaded a fairly big program, had to download that program again, as system restore deleted it.

Of course if you are after saving and revealing of passwords (IE7, messenger and other related passwords) have a look at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/index.html

[opalhort]

Most convenient is to use a backup utillity for the purpose such as

http://www.backsettings.com/internet-explorer-backup.html

Thanks,

This is exactly what I have been looking for.

Why can't system restore handle this task?

opalhort

[A_Traveller]

^ Because it was specifically designed not to do it.

The concept was to reset the OS, and programs , note a new program downloaded would be deleted, that is the correct function, but documents created by the program should be retained {though that can be dependent of the programs settings} to the position they were at that date, whilst intentionally retaining personal account information as of now. After all if you have changed your account password on XP if it reset everything to the past state you might not be able to log in {eh.. what was my password last week.. month etc.} .

HTH

Regards

Edited July 24, 2008 by A_Traveller

[opalhort]

Just downloaded the program from www.backsettings. It turns out to be a demo and not freeware.

Tried to install it on two PCs (one XP-SP2 and one XP-SP3) and in both cases the PC hangs during installation. Had to use system restore to get them back!

Is there a freeware program like this available somewhere? Tried Goggle already but so far no success.

opalhort

[JSixpack]

Just downloaded the program from www.backsettings. It turns out to be a demo and not freeware.

Tried to install it on two PCs (one XP-SP2 and one XP-SP3) and in both cases the PC hangs during installation. Had to use system restore to get them back!

Is there a freeware program like this available somewhere? Tried Goggle already but so far no success.

opalhort

I just downloaded it and it installed (standard Wise installation) and ran just fine on my WinXP SP2+updates. It's a very simple little program. Although it says demo, it seems to have no obvious limitations. In fact that particular product, Internet Explorer Backup, isn't even listed as being for sale on the vendor's site.

It seems odd that the installation hung you up or that you'd have to through a whole drastic System Restore to boot back up. This happen often? Suggest as a start maybe a cleanout w/ CCleaner (which BTW will by default clean out your History, so you might want to uncheck that option, and exempt any cookies you want to keep, like banking site cookies), boot as Admin, close all other programs (maybe you had a conflict), and try again to install.

Dunno of any other free program like it that does so much. I would in any case recommend a fairly secure password manager for your logins and passwords (for IE, try free http://cutepasswordmanager.com or http://keepass.info/download.html (is portable, too)); and you can backup your Favorites with the IE File | Export | Favorites function.

As for History, it seems deleting it is a lot more popular than saving. But the history of various sorts and times is kept in index.dat files in several locations, e. g.,

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Cookies\index.dat

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\History\ . . . \index.dat

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5

\index.dat

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\UserData\index.dat

which could be backed up into a zip file w/ full pathnames. Needless to say, if you've doing regular backups of your drive, you've got these and they could be copied out from the backup in an emergency.

[opalhort]

It seems odd that the installation hung you up or that you'd have to through a whole drastic System Restore to boot back up.

Thanks for your reply.

The installation problem was obviously caused by some of my security programs (AVG, avast, BoClean). Shut them all down and installation went okay in a few seconds. Backup also worked smooth.

The security programs are up and running again and it is still working.

And, yes, it is freeware now. This is only stated in their Read Me file to which I did not have access prior to installation.

opalhort

[JSixpack]

It seems odd that the installation hung you up or that you'd have to through a whole drastic System Restore to boot back up.

Thanks for your reply.

The installation problem was obviously caused by some of my security programs (AVG, avast, BoClean). Shut them all down and installation went okay in a few seconds. Backup also worked smooth.

The security programs are up and running again and it is still working.

And, yes, it is freeware now. This is only stated in their Read Me file to which I did not have access prior to installation.

opalhort

Excellent!

[JSixpack]

I have never had to use it [system Restore] running Vista

Merely a sign of inexperience. Of course, Vista hasn't been out all that long anyway.

But read more than 8000 needs and problems re: Vista System Restore here:

http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.p...=system+restore

and browse the same group for many, many thousands more Vista problems and headaches. Anyone browsing that Usenet support group for Vista will be utterly convinced that paradise ain't yet at hand!

Hopefully most of such problems will be resolved by Windows 7 SP1 .

Me, I've never had to use System Restore on my XP machine either. Of course, I long ago turned it off anyway and I use Erunt . I used to do lots of expermenting, like using Autoruns to delete things I didn't think I needed, only to find out later that (cough) I very much did need them) and even foolishly used registry cleaners. But enough confession. Eventually, one learns how to avoid situations that may lead to the need for a restore--or, heaven forbid, a re-install.

[sjaak327]

I have never had to use it [system Restore] running Vista

Merely a sign of inexperience. Of course, Vista hasn't been out all that long anyway.

But read more than 8000 needs and problems re: Vista System Restore here:

http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.p...=system+restore

and browse the same group for many, many thousands more Vista problems and headaches. Anyone browsing that Usenet support group for Vista will be utterly convinced that paradise ain't yet at hand!

Hopefully most of such problems will be resolved by Windows 7 SP1 .

Me, I've never had to use System Restore on my XP machine either. Of course, I long ago turned it off anyway and I use Erunt . I used to do lots of expermenting, like using Autoruns to delete things I didn't think I needed, only to find out later that (cough) I very much did need them) and even foolishly used registry cleaners. But enough confession. Eventually, one learns how to avoid situations that may lead to the need for a restore--or, heaven forbid, a re-install.

Well It could of course be quite the opposite, experienced users don't need system restore, as they are more prudent and experienced and are less likely to bring a sytem down with that bad driver, or dodgy application. Of course Vista has been out for over 1,5 years already, and for some (myself included) a few months longer, and including beta releases, you can savely add another year (I have been running numerous builds of vista when it was in beta).

Of course re-installs on Xp are very necessary as that OS has a well known tendency to become sluggish over time, and the quickest way to deal with that is a re-install using sysprep. My Vista install incidentially doesn't seem to be suffering from the same problem, it's not become sluggish over time.

[A_Traveller]

^ Oddly enough I've had the slowdown creep occur with Vista {and know of others who have}, and like many used the opportunity of SP1 to reinstall from scratch. This did speed things up, but on, to all practical purposes identical hardware, XP is still more efficient.

Regards

/edit typo/

Edited July 26, 2008 by A_Traveller

[katana]

...Me, I've never had to use System Restore on my XP machine either. Of course, I long ago turned it off anyway and I use Erunt ...

Same here. I turned off the XP's resource-hungry System Restore and have used Erunt for a couple of years. It's saved me several times now, when programs didn't uninstall properly.