System Restore points

My restore points keep being deleted after only one day despite the fact that
I have enough room

I have a partitioned hard drive (does that make a big difference?):
One drive for System files [7.91GB] (with anywhere from 1.9 to 2.6 GB of
free space)
One drive for Data [66.6 GB] (10+ GB free space)

plus a separate Slave drive [28.6 GB] on which I turned off System Restore
(to see if that would help)

Recently, 7 restore points were created after I uninstalled some programs
when using Windows Add/Remove Programs. The amount of free space decreased
for each point and plenty of space was still available. I then did a System
Restore and it worked fine. The points were there for most of the next day,
but one by one, all of those restore points were gone, just like what happens
every other day

The Event Viewer has stated several times: The System Restore service has
been suspended because there is not enough disk space available on the drive.
System Restore will automatically resume service once at least 200 MB of free
disk space is available on the system drive. And then it shows another "Info
entry" that says it has resumed

I know several days of Restore points were usually available at one time,
but I haven't monitored it closely until recently

I tried advice that was given in these groups previously, but it didn't help

I have XP Pro with SP2 and run McAfee Security Center and ZoneAlarm 7.0

Thanks!

Patrick wrote:
My restore points keep being deleted after only one day despite the
fact that I have enough room

I have a partitioned hard drive (does that make a big difference?):
One drive for System files [7.91GB] (with anywhere from 1.9 to 2.6
GB of free space)
One drive for Data [66.6 GB] (10+ GB free space)

plus a separate Slave drive [28.6 GB] on which I turned off System
Restore (to see if that would help)

Recently, 7 restore points were created after I uninstalled some
programs when using Windows Add/Remove Programs. The amount of free
space decreased for each point and plenty of space was still
available. I then did a System Restore and it worked fine. The
points were there for most of the next day, but one by one, all of
those restore points were gone, just like what happens every other
day

The Event Viewer has stated several times: The System Restore
service has been suspended because there is not enough disk space
available on the drive. System Restore will automatically resume
service once at least 200 MB of free disk space is available on the
system drive. And then it shows another "Info entry" that says it
has resumed

I know several days of Restore points were usually available at one
time, but I haven't monitored it closely until recently

I tried advice that was given in these groups previously, but it
didn't help

I have XP Pro with SP2 and run McAfee Security Center and ZoneAlarm
7.0

Are you monitoring all your drives?
What are your System Restore settings (amount of space allowed)...?
What are your settings for hibernation?
What are your settings for pagefile?

You really only need to monitor your system drive (usually C and a system
partition of 8GB for Windows XP, I feel, is fairly small.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Patrick

Your problem sounds familiar.
http://snipurl.com/2u1vd [groups_google_com]

Zone Alarm -multiple rdb files? This could be implicated with other
factors.

Select Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced Settings and
verify that the box before "Show hidden files and folders" is checked
and "Hide protected operating system files " is unchecked. You may need
to scroll down to see the second item. You should also make certain that
the box before "Hide extensions for known file types" is not checked.

These changes still will not enable the contents of System Volume
Information folder to be seen.

I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report. Open Disk
Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and click on Save
As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents Folder and post a
copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it is more
informative. The most fragmented list can reveal large unknown hidden
files.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Patrick wrote:
My restore points keep being deleted after only one day despite the
fact that I have enough room

I have a partitioned hard drive (does that make a big difference?):
One drive for System files [7.91GB] (with anywhere from 1.9 to 2.6 GB
of free space)
One drive for Data [66.6 GB] (10+ GB free space)

plus a separate Slave drive [28.6 GB] on which I turned off System
Restore (to see if that would help)

Recently, 7 restore points were created after I uninstalled some
programs when using Windows Add/Remove Programs. The amount of free
space decreased for each point and plenty of space was still
available. I then did a System Restore and it worked fine. The points
were there for most of the next day, but one by one, all of those
restore points were gone, just like what happens every other day

The Event Viewer has stated several times: The System Restore service
has been suspended because there is not enough disk space available
on the drive. System Restore will automatically resume service once
at least 200 MB of free disk space is available on the system drive.
And then it shows another "Info entry" that says it has resumed

I know several days of Restore points were usually available at one
time, but I haven't monitored it closely until recently

I tried advice that was given in these groups previously, but it
didn't help

I have XP Pro with SP2 and run McAfee Security Center and ZoneAlarm
7.0

Thanks!

- I'm monitoring C & D (the partitioned drive). No longer monitoring the
slave drive
- System Restore is set at the max 12% for both (973MB for the C drive,
8184MB for D)
- Hibernation is off
- I do not know where to locate the settings for pagefile


I did a clean install of Zone Alarm (as they recommend and which I never did
before)
Those RDB files are smaller now. Each is 1.24 MB (down from 4.5+ MB)

****
before Defrag:

Volume System (C
Volume size = 7.92 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 5.55 GB
Free space = 2.37 GB
Percent free space = 29 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 10 %
File fragmentation = 20 %
Free space fragmentation = 1 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 41,311
Average file size = 234 KB
Total fragmented files = 70
Total excess fragments = 1,098
Average fragments per file = 1.02

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 768 MB
Total fragments = 558

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 4,654
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 1

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 55 MB
MFT record count = 46,040
Percent MFT in use = 82 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
67 4 MB \WINDOWS\system32\config\system.sav
43 3 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\AutoRecover\26C097A9392F8C5 41AD42E89B7909073.mof
34 2 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvViTvSR.dl_
30 2 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\AutoRecover\3EC317800FF5082 10BB945C81C0EACE7.mof
27 5 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvDispS.dl_
23 256 MB \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\AOL\TopSpeed\2.0\cache.db
23 2 MB \WINDOWS\inf\mdmgl004.PNF
13 842 KB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvwdmcpl.dl_
12 1 MB \Program Files\LimeWire\lib\hsqldb.jar
11 2 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvViTvS.dl_
11 2 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvMoblSR.dl_
9 1 MB \WINDOWS\iis6.log
9 1 MB \Program Files\LimeWire\lib\jaudiotagger.jar
9 3 MB \WINDOWS\system32\mui\040D\xpsp2res.dll
9 2 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nv4_mini.sy_
9 1 MB \Program Files\LimeWire\lib\guice-1.0.jar
8 5 MB \WINDOWS\system32\nvoglnt.dll
8 3 MB \WINDOWS\Help\Tours\mmTour\tour.exe
8 866 KB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvwss.dl_
8 2 MB \WINDOWS\system32\dllcache\NT5.CAT
8 20 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{82B85F62-2C05-49E8-8972-2EF31325D441}\RP1334\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SO FTWARE
7 3 MB \WINDOWS\Help\Tours\mmTour\segment4.swf
7 1 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvGameSR.dl_
7 2 MB \WINDOWS\Help\Tours\mmTour\segment1.swf
7 1 MB \WINDOWS\FaxSetup.log
6 2 MB \WINDOWS\Help\Tours\mmTour\segment3.swf
6 1 MB \WINDOWS\inf\mdmrpciw.inf
6 1 MB \WINDOWS\system32\dx8vb.dll
6 1 MB \WINDOWS\system32\esent97.dll
6 2 MB \WINDOWS\system32\dxdiagn.dll

****
after Defrag:

Volume System (C
Volume size = 7.92 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 5.56 GB
Free space = 2.36 GB
Percent free space = 29 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 9 %
File fragmentation = 17 %
Free space fragmentation = 1 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 41,313
Average file size = 234 KB
Total fragmented files = 2
Total excess fragments = 579
Average fragments per file = 1.01

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 768 MB
Total fragments = 558

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 4,654
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 55 MB
MFT record count = 46,042
Percent MFT in use = 82 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Files that cannot be defragmented
23 256 MB \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\AOL\TopSpeed\2.0\cache.db

Patrick

The nature of your problem is obvious from the information you have
provided. Your pagefile settings are "System Managed" This is what most
users recommend in these newsgroups, and this will result is a
fragmented pagefile. This in turn causes other files to be fragmented,
whenever you make changes to the system. Given you only have 29% free
space it is difficult to totally remedy. You need something like 60%
free space to achieve but not to retain a completely contiguous
pagefile. The reason is that the system places the pagefile in the
middle of disk and if there are files already occupying the disk space
the pagefile cannot be placed in this location so the pagefile is put as
near as possible to that position.

Another complication is that when you try to consolidate the pagefile
you have to restart the computer. This action starts the fragmentation
process on a newly defragmented partition, as on shutting down the
changed system settings are written to disk inevitably creating
fragmented free disk space. On rebooting the creation of a new pagefile
is written to the fragmented free space and the pagefile is fragmented.
If your free space is 60% or more this factor does not come into play
because the fragmented free space is in the first 40% of the partition
leaving the new pagefile to be written in the next 20% free space which
will be contiguous . If the pagefile is a custom setting with the
minimum and maximum the same size the pagefile will remain contiguous
until the pagefile setting is changed. If you achieve a contiguous or
near contiguous pagefile it is best not to change pagefile settings.

Something else research has thrown up about your
AOL\TopSpeed\2.0\cache.db
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=65404

The comments in the link and elsewhere suggest that if you are using
broadband you do not need this.

Having explained the reason for your multi fragmented pagefile let's see
if we can get it to consolidate into two or three fragments.

My first suggestion is that you download and install cCleaner
(freeware). I will explain about using it later.
http://www.ccleaner.com/ccdownload.asp
http://www.ccleaner.com/

You should now change your pagefile settings. Select Start, Control
Panel, System, Advanced, Performance Settings, Advanced, Virtual Memory,
Change and place the cursor on C drive in the next window. Check the box
before "No pagefile" and click on Set, OK and exit.

Next maximise your free space by taking the following measures. Turn off
the monitoring by System Restore on all drives and partitions. You
should only be monitoring your C partition but for now you need to win
free disk space. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and
select System Restore. Check the box before "Turn off System Restore on
all drives. Now run cCleaner.

With any cleaner you need to proceed with caution. When using cCleaner
think twice before checking Autocomplete Form History under Internet
Explorer. You do get a warning but this one has irritating consequences.
You may need to restore your system's recollection of passwords after
use so keep a record off computer so that they can easily be re-entered.

Leave the Scan for Issues option alone.

Now run Disk Defragmenter and when this has completed restart your
computer. Rebooting enables the pagefile change to take effect so at
this point you will have maximised your free disk space. Run Disk
Defragmenter again. You should now change your pagefile settings again.
Select Start, Control Panel, System, Advanced, Performance Settings,
Advanced, Virtual Memory, Change and place the cursor on C drive /
partition. Select Custom Size and set a Minumum and a Maximum of 1,000
mb. When you have made your selection click on Set, OK and exit. You
will need to restart your computer for the new settings to take effect.
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

You will now have got the pagefile to the best you can achieve. If you
do not subsequently change your pagefile settings the number of
fragments, if any, should not increase. The pagefile will most likely
display as a limited number of contiguous green unmoveable areas in the
graphical display in Disk Defragmenter. It may display as a solid green
unmoveable area, which is the ideal and a completely contiguous
pagefile.

One final task is to put your System Restore arrangements back in place.
The default allocation to System Restore is 12% on your C partition,
which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right click your My
Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore. Place the cursor
on your C drive select Settings but this time find the slider and drag
it to the left until it reads 700 mb and exit. When you get to the
Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit. Now turn System Restore
back on for just your C partition. Right click your My Computer icon on
the Desktop and select System Restore. Uncheck the box before "Turn off
System Restore on all drives. You now need to stop the monitoring of all
drives / partitions except C. The instructions to do this are in the
next link:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/drivedisable.html

The method described above is complicated and convoluted but it only
needs to be done once. In future providing you maintain 15% free disk
space defragmenting will be a bit quicker and you should get better
results when you run Disk Defragmenter.

For the future cCleaner does not remove restore points. You need to use
Disk CleanUp for this. Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System
Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and remove all but the
latest System Restore point before running Disk Defragmenter.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Patrick wrote:
- I'm monitoring C & D (the partitioned drive). No longer monitoring
the slave drive
- System Restore is set at the max 12% for both (973MB for the C
drive, 8184MB for D)
- Hibernation is off
- I do not know where to locate the settings for pagefile


I did a clean install of Zone Alarm (as they recommend and which I
never did before)
Those RDB files are smaller now. Each is 1.24 MB (down from 4.5+ MB)

****
before Defrag:

Volume System (C
Volume size = 7.92 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 5.55 GB
Free space = 2.37 GB
Percent free space = 29 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 10 %
File fragmentation = 20 %
Free space fragmentation = 1 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 41,311
Average file size = 234 KB
Total fragmented files = 70
Total excess fragments = 1,098
Average fragments per file = 1.02

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 768 MB
Total fragments = 558

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 4,654
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 1

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 55 MB
MFT record count = 46,040
Percent MFT in use = 82 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
67 4 MB \WINDOWS\system32\config\system.sav
43 3 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\AutoRecover\26C097A9392F8C5 41AD42E89B7909073.mof
34 2 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvViTvSR.dl_
30 2 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\AutoRecover\3EC317800FF5082 10BB945C81C0EACE7.mof
27 5 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvDispS.dl_
23 256 MB \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\AOL\TopSpeed\2.0\cache.db
23 2 MB \WINDOWS\inf\mdmgl004.PNF
13 842 KB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvwdmcpl.dl_
12 1 MB \Program Files\LimeWire\lib\hsqldb.jar
11 2 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvViTvS.dl_
11 2 MB \NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvMoblSR.dl_
9 1 MB \WINDOWS\iis6.log
9 1 MB \Program
Files\LimeWire\lib\jaudiotagger.jar 9 3 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\mui\040D\xpsp2res.dll 9 2 MB
\NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nv4_mini.sy_ 9 1 MB
\Program Files\LimeWire\lib\guice-1.0.jar 8 5 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\nvoglnt.dll 8 3 MB
\WINDOWS\Help\Tours\mmTour\tour.exe 8 866 KB
\NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvwss.dl_ 8 2 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache\NT5.CAT 8 20 MB
\System Volume
Information\_restore{82B85F62-2C05-49E8-8972-2EF31325D441}\RP1334\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SO FTWARE
7 3 MB
\WINDOWS\Help\Tours\mmTour\segment4.swf 7 1 MB
\NVIDIA\Win2KXP\93.71\nvGameSR.dl_ 7 2 MB
\WINDOWS\Help\Tours\mmTour\segment1.swf 7 1 MB
\WINDOWS\FaxSetup.log 6 2 MB
\WINDOWS\Help\Tours\mmTour\segment3.swf 6 1 MB
\WINDOWS\inf\mdmrpciw.inf 6 1 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\dx8vb.dll 6 1 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\esent97.dll 6 2 MB
\WINDOWS\system32\dxdiagn.dll

****
after Defrag:

Volume System (C
Volume size = 7.92 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 5.56 GB
Free space = 2.36 GB
Percent free space = 29 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 9 %
File fragmentation = 17 %
Free space fragmentation = 1 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 41,313
Average file size = 234 KB
Total fragmented files = 2
Total excess fragments = 579
Average fragments per file = 1.01

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 768 MB
Total fragments = 558

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 4,654
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 55 MB
MFT record count = 46,042
Percent MFT in use = 82 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Files that cannot be defragmented
23 256 MB \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\AOL\TopSpeed\2.0\cache.db