Solved Need help to understand those restore points !

[icacream]

hello,
here's the story :

on the 25th avast created 2 restore points (I had been fiddling with avast)
on the 27th, avast updated and created 2 more restore points - so I had 4
today, 28th, window update created a restore point... but why did all the previous ones disappear ? :huh:

I just do not understand !
thanks for any light !

 

[oscer1]

Think has to do with the allocated amount you set for system restore. You can raise or lower the amount. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/335-system-protection-change-disk-space-usage.html

 

[whs]

Restore points are stored in the shadowstorage. The space is used with a FiFo algorithm (first in, first out.). Each restore point takes about 500MB to 1GB. If e.g. you have only 3GB of shadowstorage, chances are that no more than 5 or 6 restore points can be stored and the oldest ones will always been thrown out to make room for the most recent. You can allocate shadowstorage with this command:

vssadmin resize shadowstorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=10GB

The 10GB is just an example. You can chose any size that fits on your disk.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

the oldest ones will always been thrown out to make room for the most recent.

But that's not what happened in this case.

When the April 28 restore point was made, the oldest restore point was NOT thrown out--dating back to Feb.

Instead, the two restore points from April 25 were thrown out. The older restore points from Feb and March were kept.

Maybe Windows does not treat restore points made by Avast in the same way as restore points made by Windows?

 

[RolandJS]

...Maybe Windows does not treat restore points made by Avast in the same way as restore points made by Windows?

That's what I'm suspecting; System Restore Manager from Windows Club seems to bear this out, in an indirect way.

 

[Layback Bear]

Why would Windows 7 care about restore points made by a 3rd party program?

Windows 7 cares about Windows 7 and it's ways and methods.

 

[icacream]

hi !
thanks for all the input
the allocated amount was way above the current use, so too little storage space is not the answer

all the dates listed as "system image restore point" correspond to my back ups, these are made on an other drive... or do those back ups also store something on the C drive ?
do any of you know ?

on an other thread, someone suggested I disable avast secure virtual machine
immediately after I did, the current use dropped from over 25 GB to less than 6 GB without any restore point vanishing - I was happy !!!

but it did not last, the used space is again very erratically going up and down, I just have no idea why...

there is a suspicion avast is the culprit
have to find the avast forum

 

[Layback Bear]

Correct. Avast has been known to cause this problem.

Take a look here.

http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/368050-dwindling-free-space-my-c.html

And here.

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=166697.0

 

[icacream]

. Avast has been known to cause this problem.

a real pain !
this morning all my restore points are gone :huh:
I created a manual one which I find very suspicious as the current usage went to only 71.20 MB
been using avast for many many years, time to give it up ?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Why would you stay with something you yourself define as a "real pain", particularly when you can go back to it if and when the developers ever sober up and provide a fix?

 

[DavidE]

In your other thread linked to by Layback Bear in post # 12 you stated

stranger, I changed avast as DavidE suggested, yet did not restart my computer (as requested)

Have you restarted yet ???

I use sleep and hibernate and normally don't reboot for 1-2 weeks.
If i make any change that requests a reboot, i do it.

I also reboot anytime i install/uninstall/update any program or Windows Updates, even if a reboot is not "requested".

I don't make other changes until any "new/pending" changes are completed with a successful reboot.

 

[icacream]

avast has served me well for many years
I might give it a few weeks to see if it gets fixed
I fear no antivirus comes without its unwelcome peculiarities
better the devil you know....

 

[icacream]

In your other thread linked to by Layback Bear in post # 12 you stated

stranger, I changed avast as DavidE suggested, yet did not restart my computer (as requested)

Have you restarted yet ???
.

sorry, had not seen your post
yes I made several restarts as a matter of fact.
I shut down the PC each evening
unfortunately, in spite of changing avast as you suggested, the saga of my restore points is still as wild
as I just wrote, I will give it a few weeks... with crossed fingers, avast can't keep this up !

 

[DavidE]

The last i read on the Avast forum the problem should be fixed in a June/July release.

Are you saying you uninstalled Avast Secure Virtual Machines, and you still have the problem with Avast creating restore points and changing the max usage ?

 

[icacream]

Are you saying you uninstalled Avast Secure Virtual Machines, and you still have the problem with Avast creating restore points and changing the max usage ?

yes I did, and I do
just after I unistalled Avast Secure Virtual Machine, the current usage dropped from 25.31 GB down to 5.87 GB - that seemed real good
but after I restarted things went awry again
what I find most disturbing is that avast removes windows restore points, the opposite is true also - and it's not due to insufficient max space
2 days ago, ALL RESTORE POINTS WERE GONE !
I created a manual one, which ist still there

I read the same you did about avast sorting things out by june/july.... so I guess I'll be patient and keep an eye on things

in the meantime can you tell me whether the System Image Restore Point which are listed in the restore window and correspond to my back ups can be used the same way as the manual or system restore points ?

that would make things safer for me....

 

[DavidE]

I can't help with Restore Points questions.
I use Macrium and Acronis full System Backup images and have "System Restore / Restore Points" turned off.
I trust my full backup images more than i would restore points.
I have read about too many problems about issues with recovering using restore points.