April 1, 2008

Today, we are going to discuss the validity of using the system restore feature in Windows Vista.  The first thing I'd like to say is that system restore is only a so so utility.  What is does is keep a record of changes to system files, so if you have problems after an update, or after installing some software, you can tell your computer to go back in time to an earlier date before the bad happened.  Trouble is, system restore isn't very dependable.  Many times when you attempt a restore, it will tell you it can't restore to that date.  That's why I like to have customers use the Acronis disk imaging software, True Image.  You make an exact image of your computer, then you can restore it if you need to.

There is a major hiccup with system restore in Windows Vista.  Let's say for example that you have 30 gig of data on your hard drive.  Within a very short period of time, the system restore information will balloon to more than 3 times the size of the files on the disk.  This is a horrific waste of disk space.

My advice is, turn off the system restore altogether, and just use the True Image software.  I'd suggest that you setup Acronis to make files 4.34 gig so they fit on DVD disks, then copy your latest image every 3 to 4 months.  That way you will have a backup of the files on your external hard drive, and you will also have some older images in case you need data out of them.  Click here for setting up your imaging tasks, and click here for information on restoring your system.