Resolved Win7/64 System Restore Points

Win7 is supposed to drop the oldest SR point when the allocated HDD space for SR points is used up. In my case, that's not happening if the to-be-dropped point is a "System Image Restore Point "....only the oldest non-SIRP is dropped. Thus the allocated disk space for SR points is filling up with SIRPs. So how can I get rid of the SIRPs?

 

This shows the settings for system restore points and how to delete them.

http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/how-to-delete-system-restore-points-windows-7/

 

Mark...there are several alternatives that do what you suggest, ie, delete all but the most recent point. But I want to leave all the SR points where they are, except for the SIRPs. Why don't the SIRPs drop away "when their time comes" like the regular SR points do?

 

You should only need to create one SIRP unless you have changed the software on your system in which case you should manually delete the old image and create a new one.

On the other hand if you want to keep up to date system images Windows Backup should be used to keep an up to date back up of your files, this will add new or changed information to subsequent backups and can include a system image.

 

Mark...I make a system image once or twice a month so that I keep up with Windows updates and any changes I may have made with my software. The old image is overwritten by the new one (ie, my backup drive only has the latest image on it), but the SR points "list" has all the SIRPs, including the overwritten.

I use SynchBackSE to back up data files. This does not cause a SR point to be created.

 

This link wil show how to use CCleaner to delete individual RP's and that should include the SIRP's. There is plenty of information available for dealing with RP's but not so for SIRP's. SIRP's are obviously dealt with by the system in a different manner and perhaps take priority in the alloted disc space over the RP's.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/336-system-protection-restore-points-delete.html

You may be able to find more answers from the links at the bottom of the page.

 

I hope the above post is of some help.

I have studied this problem you are having and read through a lot of literature. As far as I can understand Restore Points are made automatically unless disabled, but they are not specific to events. That is to say a Restore Point has only one type. The only thing you can adjust is what the restore point saves, files and settings or just files. In the list of Restore Points it will simply indicate why the Restore Point was made, be it for a full System Image Backup being created or due to a Microsoft Update being installed etc.

I cannot find anything that could explain why your system appears to be retaining the Restore Points made when you do a System Image Backup and only removing the oldest Restore Points made for other reasons.

 

Mark....thanks for your thoughts. CCleaner doesn't work because SIRPs don't appear on CC's system restore points list. (!!!)

Your link is very interesting....there's a guy named Marsmimar (12-30-2009) who has exactly the same problem. He even goes down the same thought trails that I've been pursuing. It all ends with someone named Smoothchat, who may have had success with the "manage space option ". I'm going to give that try, will post back.

Here's how it looks:
http://img153.imageshack.us/i/screenshot001xb.jpg/

 

"Manage space option" doesn't work either. The screen says you can "check here" and remove all system images. However, once a system image is overwritten by a later one, a record of that earlier SIRP is permanently on the SR points list. Thus you cannot do an overwrite, you must remove the old system image before you generate a new one. M$ should fix this.....SR in XP was much easier to work with.

 

Information on deleting the Image Restore Points is not easy to find, but I have a couple more suggestions.

Have you tried Method Two in the link I gave to run Disk Cleanup on the external drive. That might get rid of the Image Restore Points as they only relate to that drive.

To stop any more being created when you do the image backup to the external drive try following the guide in Method One to turn off System Protection for the external drive.

I think if you disconnect the external drive and then re-connect it the System Protection will re-enable itself so you may need to turn it off each time you re-connect it.

It does appear that this element of Windows 7 has some room for improvement.

 

Mark...method 2 didn't work, the ext drive contains only the latest image (that overwrote the previous image), nothing else to delete. Maybe go into the registry??

What I have learned is that the existing image on the ext drive must be deleted before a new image is made....you can't allow an overwrite to occur, else the record of the previous image won't be removed from the SIRP list.

Happy New Year, and Thanks........Chris

 

I am out of ideas now. Out of all the information I have found, including a search through a very concise book I have on windows 7, there doesn't seem to be anything that relates to the two different types of Restore Points. They all seem to be discussed in the same bag.

I can only repeat what I said in my last post about turning off System Protection for the external drive to stop further Restore Points being created for your system image backups.

If you try any registry edits, and I would not know where to look, make sure you do a registry back up first.

Not an ideal solution but handy to know

If you do find a solution to delete the SIRP's please let us know for future reference. Or maybe microsoft will deal with this when SP1 arrives.

 

Can I interrupt and ask how you make a SIRP? Even a 'how to link' would be helpful. Thanks.

 

Alicia, an SIRP is created when you do a system image backup.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/615-backup-user-system-files.html

 

Thank you for the link. I'm off to do some reading. It's time to buy an external hard drive.

 

OK, I was able to pin things down some more. I went to System Protection and deleted all restore points...about 20 points were deleted, but all SIRPs remain. Why?

 

Have'nt you already answered that question in post 11

 

Mark....it's just that I have a bunch of SIRPS created from before I knew what was going on, and I'd like to clear the list.

 

Other than doing a repair install of the OS (which should clear the list of everything) I have found no solution to this problem.