On Sun, 24 Jun 2018 10:22:44 -0500, Char Jackson wrote:

The topic of SR and its value comes up every now and then in these
groups, and the general consensus is that, even though it's opaque and
it usually doesn't work, it *might* work now and again, so keep it.

I have to agree with you on both sides of zero on the System Restore number
line. I've almost always never found the System Restore to be useful in
Windows 10 but I have found, in the past, particularly on Windows XP, that
the System Restore is useful (as I recall those distant days).

I disagree with that consensus. Not because it usually fails and not
because Restore Points can swell your (hidden) System Volume Information
folder and not because Restore Points can carry malware that would be
restored along with the Restore Point. No, I disagree because it's
opaque.

The times I've needed System Restore is usually when the machine won't boot
as I have not been infected by a virus since, oh, the floppy disk days, so
most of the time it's the OS corrupting itself, or, me corrupting it when I
try the tricks Paul suggests from Linux, for example.

Usually the boot gets corrupted for one of three reasons:
1. I was messing with a Microsoft file to turn something off, or,
2. The OS chews itself up on its own, or,
3. Some unknown cause.

In the case of the unknown cause, the disabling of the auto boot after a
problem will, as you noted prior, help to pinpoint what happened because it
may be more obvious at boot time if I'm in front of the screen at boot.

When you apply a Restore Point, what happens? Microsoft tells you, in a
general sense, that your system is being restored to a prior date or
time. You apply the RP and you hope that your issue is resolved. But
what really happened? What are all of the changes that were just made to
your system? No one knows, but it's a very safe bet that the RP that you
just restored carried more than one change within it, and not just the
single change that you needed to fix your current issue. That bothers
me.

Yes. I agree. I make scores to hundreds and maybe even thousands of changes
(who knows how many changes there are in time) to a system between restore
points. I think of a System Restore as one step shy of re-installing the
entire operating system.

In both cases you lose a lot, but in a System Restore, you lose less than
you would with a clean install.

My solution is to disable System Restore. As is, I consider it to be an
abomination and I don't want to be tempted to use it out of laziness. I
prefer to fix each issue properly, rather than taking a shotgun approach
or what some call poke-and-hope.

You explained your position well, where I understand every one of your
points, and I agree with your logic - but - where I will lean on the other
side of the logic, which is to allow a few restore points (all I ever
really need is one, I think).

I'm not sure what's the best way to allow that (I think I set a slider at
one point to a percentage of the OS - but I'd have to check) - but that's
the decision I'll make - where I respect your decision as your logic is
apropos.

To fix it, I'd need to see a screen that says, 'When you select and
restore this RP, the following changes will be made to your system."
However, look at how MS describes each of their KB software updates
these days, with language so vague and generalized that most people
really have no idea what MS is talking about. That doesn't cut it for
software updates, and it wouldn't cut it for System Restore.

Your explanation is good in that there are likely hundreds of changes (if
not more) between restore points.

For me, that's ok only because I use the System Restore as one step shy of
re-installing the operating system (which I find I have to do about every
six months, although almost always that's due to me fiddling with the files
that Microsoft doesn't want fiddled with).

That's my mini-rant on System Restore. I think it's a great idea for a
feature, just very poorly implemented.

I agree with all your logic as everything you said made perfect sense,
where I appreciate the candor and ability to explain your point of view.

I think others may benefit from this conversation; so that's good also.