System Restore - Implementation Differences

Implementation Differences

There are considerable differences between how System Restore works under Windows XP and later Windows versions.

• Configuration UI - In Windows XP, there is a graphical slider to configure the amount of disk space alloted to System Restore. In Windows Vista, the GUI to configure the disk space utilized for System Restore points is not available. Using the command-line tool Vssadmin.exe or by editing the appropriate registry key, the space reserved can be adjusted. The GUI to configure disk space is available once again, starting with Windows 7.

• Maximum space - In Windows XP, System Restore can be configured to use up to a maximum of 12% of the volume's space for most disk sizes; however, this may be less depending on the volume's size. Restore points over 90 days old are automatically deleted, as specified by the registry value RPLifeInterval (Time to Live - TTL) default value of 7776000 seconds.
  In Windows Vista and later, System Restore is designed for larger volumes. By default, it uses 15% of the volume's space.

• File paths monitored - Up to Windows XP, files are backed up only from certain directories.
  On Windows Vista and later, this set of files is defined by monitored extensions outside of the Windows folder, and everything under the Windows folder.

• File types monitored - Up to Windows XP, it excludes any file types used for users' personal data files, such as documents, digital photographs, media files, e-mail, etc. It also excludes the monitored set of file types (.DLL, .EXE etc.) from folders such as My Documents. Microsoft recommends that if a user is unsure as to whether certain files will be modified by a rollback, they should keep those files under My Documents. When a rollback is performed, the files that were being monitored by System Restore are restored and newly created folders are removed.
  However, on Windows Vista and later, it excludes only document file types; it does not exclude any monitored system file type whatsoever its location and operates on the entire volume.

• Configuring advanced System Restore settings - In Windows XP only, several System Restore settings can be configured via the Registry. System Restore in Windows Vista and later versions no longer supports configuring its settings through the registry. File types and file paths can also no longer be included or excluded from monitoring by System Restore by editing %windir%\system32\restore\Filelist.xml as was possible in Windows XP. This file no longer exists in Windows Vista and later.

• FAT32 volume support: In Windows XP, System Restore works on FAT32 volumes and can be enabled for smaller disks, less than 1 GB. On Windows Vista and later, System Restore does not work on FAT32 disks and cannot be enabled on disks smaller than 1 GB.