Should System Protection be Enabled on a Data partition?

[gregrocker]

What opinions do others have about enabling System Protection on a separate Data partition (D)?

I do not recommend this normally because System Restore only restores OS and Programs anyway, so why have it possibly interfere with keeping the latest data set intact on D in case C needs Restore or Reimaging.

I may be missing something. What do others think about this?

 

[kado897]

Yes. As I mentioned in another thread for previous Versions.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/85679-previous-versions-restore-files-folders.html

 

[Brds7t7]

I always have mine enabled as the Previous Versions tab has saved me a few files in the past

 

[Hopalong X]

I have back ups of my back ups. So why image the back ups again.

I guess it depends on how you have things backed up. Two back up images on seperate HDD's should be sufficient.

Greg you got me thinking. I'll put an image on my USB stick also.

 

[seavixen32]

I have a data partition that is backed up to an external drive each night using Microsoft SyncToy's Echo command.

I see no need to have system protection enabled on the data drive while SyncToy does a good job.

 

[Brds7t7]

Hey seavixen,

I'm using freefilesync for my data partition, is that pretty much the same as ms sync toy?

 

[kado897]

It's SyncToy on steroids.

 

[Brds7t7]

In a good way I hope?

 

[kado897]

Yes. I have it set up to backup most of my data folders once a day with a single job run from Win 7 task scheduler. I did a video on its basic use. Backup With FreeFileSync - YouTube

 

[Brds7t7]

Great Video Kado, thanks for that! I always use the mirror option. I can see now how it keeps different versions of files.
I've had it set to delete files but it's great to know you can set a folder to keep different versions of the files in.

 

[kado897]

Thank you Burdus. That is by a fair margin the most viewed of my videos.

 

[Brds7t7]

Some very useful tutorials there kado,

I've now got ffs set for versioning now, very useful feature.

I was just wondering what the option for "Symbolic Link Handling" actually does? I've left it set to exclude. Not exactly sure what symbolic links are!

 

[kado897]

Thanks Burdus. For what It is worth here is the Wikipedia definition of a symbolic link. Symbolic link - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . In windows I think Junction Points are Symbolic Links.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I'm with Hoppy and Seavixen.

My data partition is not subject to System Restore and is not imaged at all. But it is backed up in several ways, all using a file-by-file method of some type (drag and drop to an internal, via automated program to an internal, drag and drop to a USB thumb drive, drag and drop to an external sitting in a dock, etc). I have never lost a file since I got halfway serious about backups.

Unlike some, I have had excellent luck with System Restore generally. I use it perhaps 10 or 15 times a year and it has failed to restore successfully only 2 or 3 times out of maybe 80 or 100 attempts. It works well enough that I have never had to restore an image of C.

I've never clearly understood why it does not work well for some users.

 

[kado897]

In a lot of cases the AV is the culprit in failures. I too have had many successful SRs but only since I turned of Tamper protection in Norton immediately prior to the SR.

 

[Brds7t7]

The only problem I have had after a system restore is a black screen and just a cursor after logon. If I then reboot into safe mode and reboot again the system restore completes ok. It's only happened a couple of times in the past few years.

 

[GeneO]

It doesn't work too reliably anyway. I use Synctoy that permits me to back up what I want to multiple drives and it doesn't have the problem of propagating corruption - that, combined with checksumming data directories with cdcheck, saved a few of my photography images that were corrupted by a failing sector. In addition, the shadow copies are on the same disk and that doesn;t protect you from that disk failing.

 

[F5ing]

I read a few years ago how the CIA/FBI/NSA/etc. loved the new behavior of System Restore.

That said, although I've never had any problems with it and it has always worked (since XP), I've never turned it on for my data. I've got multiple versions of all data that goes back for decades.

When I work on or set up someone's machine I'll usually turn it on. Most folks that I know have no true concept of backup.

So for me, I didn't vote (as I don't use it myself, but do activate it for some other folks' machines).

 

[kado897]

It doesn't work too reliably anyway. I use Synctoy that permits me to back up what I want to multiple drives and it doesn't have the problem of propagating corruption - that, combined with checksumming data directories with cdcheck, saved a few of my photography images that were corrupted by a failing sector. In addition, the shadow copies are on the same disk and that doesn;t protect you from that disk failing.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that System Protection is a substitute for backups. It is just another tool in the armory. I helped a guy here last Sunday to recover accidentally deleted folders using Previous Versions.

 

[F5ing]

I don't think anyone is suggesting that System Protection is a substitute for backups. It is just another tool in the armory. I helped a guy here last Sunday to recover accidentally deleted folders using Previous Versions.

+1

Additionally, System Restore is not a substitute for images.