# How to Permanently Save a System Restore Point ?



## Cherry Bomb (Jun 17, 2008)

Is it possible to make a System Restore Point that is "permanent" ? Frequently while troubleshooting an intermittant problem over a longer period of time, I find that it would be real handy to be able to go back to a point where I *KNOW* it was good. But unfortunately the System Restore points get over-written within a few days. And I'm not real enthusiastic about dedicating a huge amount of disk space (say, 30% or more) to save System Restore points.

Seems that other people must have had this idea.

Is there any way to do this ?


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## Cherry Bomb (Jun 17, 2008)

Hay I think this is a really good question, and is worth a 

BUMP


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

you can try to back it up

1 winkey+R to open the Run box.
2. Open Regedit and select OK
3. In regedit go to the File Menu and select Export
4. The export window will open.
5. Under export range select All
6. Under file name, put an appropriate name.
7. Save as file type Registration Files (*.reg)
8. Click save


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

Just to note:

This is a good question, but system restore points involve more than the NT registry itself. It restores parts of other system/ system-type folders like Program Files, Windows, windows\system32, windows\system32\drivers, etc... Backing up the registry is a great idea, but you may find in one or two months that you will not be able to just import that registry which you exported back when.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## Cherry Bomb (Jun 17, 2008)

Okay, this looks like a "Clash of the Titans" situation. Two equally qualified people saying two different things.

On the registry:

What's being saved ? Just the registry ? I didn't know it COULD be saved. This interests me greatly, because another burning question I have had for a while is if it is possible to do registry edits outside of the actually registry being used by the current O/S.

This goes toward the idea that have learned to do as much malware removal with the "suspected bad" HD off the machine and installed as a secondary drive. I've had limited success with this, as the registry is a problem when trying to boot an infected drive.

Is the registry a real file on the HD ? If so, what is it named, etc... Is it accessable and editable when the HD is not the (current) boot drive ? Is it possible to edit the registry of a boot HD off it's normal system in such a way as to the equivalent of an "MSCONFIG", and turn off all the crud you are trying to get rid of ? I'm really interested in learning how possible this is.

And on the subject of System Restore points, I always thought these were the files with the random-seeming character filenames under "System Volume Information". I guess I was expecting the answer to have something to do with them. Hoping it would be a simple matter of simply write-protecting a single file or folder, and giving it a unique name for future reference.

So now my question is more broad. How does System Restore work ? How many files/folders are involved ?


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## *Richard* (Jun 5, 2008)

Hi,
Have you considered Acronis True Image?
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

Richard.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

No clash of anyone or anything in this forum, I assure you. My information on the areas outside of the registry were simply supplemental in nature.

As for the Vista NT Registry, many of your questions can be answered in THIS Microsoft bulletin. Making a back-up of the registry is known as an "export". The resulting file(s) will have a .reg file extension. Please note that double-clicking on any .reg file is tantamount to doing the same on an .exe file - it runs it, or in the case of the registry - it merges it.

As for the files that make up the registry and their location - If you take a look in the folder c:\windows\system32\config, you will find 5 primary files among the dozen others: system, software, sam, security and default, that make up the registry. You can find more on these files in THIS Microsoft XP bulletin. I have not yet had the opportunity to try these exact steps with Vista, but I can tell you that I have tried to import a back-up registry from the same system back into it after a fresh install, and it will not complete successfully.

System Restore can roll your system back to an earlier period, but it cannot rebuild it on a newly formatted disk. Additional information on System Restore can be found HERE and HERE as well. 


Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## mommabear (Apr 5, 2008)

*Richard* said:


> Hi,
> Have you considered Acronis True Image?
> http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/
> 
> Richard.


Or Ghost. This is the only way to create that perfect restore point. Create an exact "image" of your operating system when it's working great. And do it regularly. So if and when it's needed, you never have to start from scratch again.


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, complete PC backup seems to be the only way inbuilt windows tools will effect this, the restore points in windows are limited and even ERUNT will fail you, best to create "complete PC backup" start programs accessories system tools backup...


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