System Protection, System Restore Points

[BrooklynRuben]

On my home PC in the system restore, should a check be in the box for monitoring the Recovery (D) drive for automatic restore points, or a check on the (C) system drive, automatic restore points only OK.

[1badGuard · Accepted solution]

Ruben, Uncheck the D: drive monitoring. Leave the C: drive checked.

Unchecking the D: drive will also prevent future error messages telling you that D: drive is full.

Example:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01555992&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=3340239

[c0rnel]

By default when you run Restore D: drive is unchecked but it still asks if you wanna check it.

I recommend always to leave it UNCHECKED.

[wguru]

I'm certain many users would like to find more shared information on how system restore needs to be properly configured.

With respect to the recommendation of this string ('don't tick D drive, just C') and with respect to MS' recommendations ('put a checkmark in the checkboxes next to each hard drive listed...as recommended at .bleepingcomputer.com / tutorials / tutorial143), I'm sure users would appreciate an explanation as to why these two recommendations differ.

Note that the article seems to be for Vista users having (likely) the standard partitioned hard drive (where system restore and/or system recovery are on the d drive) and as such, seems to advise enabling system restore on the d drive.

While that article's recommendation probably can be explained by assuming it is considering that users potentially are installing things and/or storing things on the d drive (other than whatever is OEM installed on the d drive).

Nevertheless, users (me for one) would like shared whatever the context is behind 'enabling or not enabling' the d drive for system restore.

Obviously where a user hasn't installed or stored anything on the standard Vista's d drive, it seems pointless provide restore point for the d drive, especially since the OEM files like the system restore utility itself cannot/need not be restored (except for the assumedly restorable restore points).

So it seems for the standard Vista d drive's restore points, there probably is no reason to provide a restore point for them, except perhaps in the case where some users may wish to perform system restore in safe mode (which is where it's reported that such restorations cannot be undone to any point more current than that of the one performed in the safe mode).  And for those users, perhaps it's plausible that having ticked d drive for system restore, might enable the user to undo a safe mode system restore point (otherwise impossible).

Maybe I'm a little 'off base' there, but I can find nothing really explaining what the differences are in turn on system restore for the d drive as opposed to only the c drive. I mean I do 'get it' that this string's advice will prevent over taxing the d drive's storage space (as likely doing otherwise at some point probably can result in automatic resore points not being created, but is that all there is to ticking or not tick the d drive for system restore? 

Message Edited by wguru on 12-01-2009 04:52 PM

[BrooklynRuben]

Your reply makes sense, why else would there be the option of having restore points on a restore drive.