Create Windows 10 Restore Point Every Night

[TromboneAl]

Yesterday I had another Win 10 problem demanding four hours of debugging. I've now set things up so that Windows creates a restore point every night. Not much downside to that.

I've tried to do that in the past, but it never worked. Here's what finally worked for me:

Run this every night via the task scheduler:

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k "wmic.exe /Namespace:\\root\default Path SystemRestore Call CreateRestorePoint "My Shortcut Restore Point", 100, 7"

See this:

http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/create-system-restore-point-script-windows-10-8-7-vista-xp/

and this:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials...re-point-creation-frequency-windows-10-a.html

The Task Scheduler looks like this:

 

[SumDay]

I am genuinely impressed with this.


Full disclosure: I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. And I also am extremely confused by the alphabet soup of Medicare.

 

[zinger1457]

Why the need to create a restore point every night? It would seem like the best time to create a restore point is before manually updating drivers or before a major OS update which I believe Windows 10 does automatically. By doing it every night you'll probably soon end up over writing the restore point before the last OS update.

 

[hesperus]

I'm not a fan of restore points. Instead, I clone my OS drive as often as needed. It's bootable, so if some nefarious malware or other undesirable problem arises, I simple reboot to the cloned disc and everything is back where I left it.

 

[easysurfer]

I have system and data backups automatically run every morning using scheduled backup software (paid version, non-subscription). I'm a believer of having backups done every day as I never know when something terrible (human error by me or outside threat like a ransomware strike may hit).

 

[TromboneAl]

Why the need to create a restore point every night? It would seem like the best time to create a restore point is before manually updating drivers or before a major OS update which I believe Windows 10 does automatically. By doing it every night you'll probably soon end up over writing the restore point before the last OS update.

An example:

You're using your computer, and all of a sudden you realize that the system fonts aren't right. Lots of things are hard to read. Also, when you choose to view icons in Windows Explorer, you find that they won't display as icons. No error message, they just won't display. Things aren't drawing properly in some windows:*

Things were okay yesterday. You spend time Googling, and you can't figure out what's wrong.

You decide to go back to an earlier restore point, but find that you haven't made one for about a week.

That's an example of a situation in which it's good to have a recent restore point.

Note that backups aren't so helpful in that situation, unless you want to go through the bother of completely restoring your system from last night's backup.

Since I have 737 GB free on your 905 GB drive, I allocate plenty of space for restore points with little worry about overwriting any that I need.

*I figured out what was causing these problems—can anyone guess?

 

[kcowan]

The restore point has nothing to do with your data that you are responsible for I see no reason why just returning to the last Windows restore point will not work. I have had the odd opportunity to go back to 2 or 3 previous restore points before things work properly. The Problem is that the issue gets introduced but you did not discover it!

 

[ERD50]

...I have had the odd opportunity to go back to 2 or 3 previous restore points before things work properly. The Problem is that the issue gets introduced but you did not discover it!

Right. How many restore points can you save (I'm not a Windows guy)?

I have programs that I may not use for months. If I go back and find a problem, I have no idea when it became a problem.

-ERD50

 

[zinger1457]

Right. How many restore points can you save (I'm not a Windows guy)?

I have programs that I may not use for months. If I go back and find a problem, I have no idea when it became a problem.

-ERD50

On my computer I just use the Windows default settings so the amount of disk spaces saved for restore points is 2% (10GB). You can increase that size to available disk space. Looking at the number of restore points saved on my computer it looks like 10GB is only enough for 3 restore points, when a new restore point is created the oldest one is deleted. Windows automatically creates a restore point before every update, I've never felt a need to do more than that, never had to use that feature. I create disk images 3-4 times per year and do regular data backups if I ever need to go back in time but that rarely if ever happens..

 

[davebarnes]

Or, use MacOS

 

[misanman]

My understanding is that the size of the restore point depends on the incremental amount of data that has changed, so restore points created every night should, in theory be smaller than restore points created at a longer interval.

 

[zinger1457]

My understanding is that the size of the restore point depends on the incremental amount of data that has changed, so restore points created every night should, in theory be smaller than restore points created at a longer interval.

Windows 'System Restore' only backs up your System files and registry settings, it doesn't back up your data files. The backup it does isn't incremental, it does a full backup each time.

 

[TromboneAl]

A problem I've had recently is that I choose to go back to a restore point, but after waiting and waiting, it comes back and tells me that it can't restore because I have some antivirus app running. That means I have to do it from safe mode, which is more bother. The only antivirus thing I run is what came with Windows. I disable that but still have the problem.

As usual, this is a problem that many people have been puzzling over for years, but there isn't an easy solution.

This week I've come closer to deciding to move to MacOS than ever before.

I gave in and let Windows update, and two hours later I had a blue screen crash. I've spent about ten hours dealing with OS issues in the last few days.

 

[kcowan]

Funny about BSOD. I seldom see it since Windows got respectable.

 

[cbo111]

Or, use MacOS

+1. I have about 25 years buying Microsoft OS products, beginning with my 486DX that cost about $2400 back in '92. Last year went iMac and will never go back. Never a hiccup or hard reboot needed, less spam, way less bloatware.
You pay a premium, but to me its worth it.

 

[Jerry1]

+1. I have about 25 years buying Microsoft OS products, beginning with my 486DX that cost about $2400 back in '92. Last year went iMac and will never go back. Never a hiccup or hard reboot needed, less spam, way less bloatware.
You pay a premium, but to me its worth it.

I have also been using MS pretty much since the beginning. I have also usually had an Apple product. Personally, I lean toward MS just because it's what I used at work and I'm more comfortable with it.

To get rid of the majority of problems people have with MS, IMO, you need to start with a clean install. My machines are built for me. They are configured exactly how I want them and the OS is clean. No bloatware or any "extras". Similar to a MAC, you pay a premium for a build like this, but it's worth it.

 

[ejman]

+1. I have about 25 years buying Microsoft OS products, beginning with my 486DX that cost about $2400 back in '92. Last year went iMac and will never go back. Never a hiccup or hard reboot needed, less spam, way less bloatware.
You pay a premium, but to me its worth it.

Or, I suppose one could go Linux Mint and there would be no premium at all to pay, never a hiccup or a reboot, no spam at all and absolutely no bloatware. Plus it will run just fine on both older and newer hardware

 

[TromboneAl]

I've gotten the BSOD about five times in the last two months. I'm hoping that the upgrade of the driver it referred to will fix it netwbw02.sys.

Every error of this type should have a code. You should be able to enter that code and have MS tell you the possible fixes for it. Instead, you Google it, you find hundreds of people with the same problem, each with some solutions that may fix it and web sites with tools promising to fix it (but not trustworthy enough to trust).

>To get rid of the majority of problems people have with MS, IMO, you need to start with a clean install.

Yes, but over time, your computer gets less clean.

It's the realization that I no longer do programming. I mostly do novel writing and internet surfing. So: I don't need a Windows machine anymore. I'd get a Chromebook if my writing app (Scrivener) could use it.

 

[davebarnes]

I've gotten the BSOD about five times in the last two months.

The last time I had the Spinning Beachball of Death was when my 5 year old hard drive was dying.

 

[jim584672]

Every six months Windows needs a clean reinstall. Somehow Win 10 knows how to activate itself after it.


For backups I use Clonezilla on a bootable USB. It can backup any OS.

 

[mountainsoft]

That's an example of a situation in which it's good to have a recent restore point. Note that backups aren't so helpful in that situation, unless you want to go through the bother of completely restoring your system from last night's backup.

My C: drive is for Windows and applications only. I keep all of my personal data on a separate D: drive. I perform a full image backup of my C: drive every night, takes about 20 minutes tops. Not that it matters because I'm sleeping at the time. I perform incremental backups of my D: drive nightly, usually takes less than 10 minutes.

The problem with a restore point is it's everything or nothing. If one thing gets messed up (fonts for instance), you have to restore everything else back to that point also. With a backup I can restore a single file if I need to without messing up all the other changes I made.

The other problem with Windows restore points is they don't backup everything. So you may not be able to recover from a situation the restore point didn't include.

Another problem with Restore points is the data is saved on the same drive. If your drive fails you lose Windows and your restore data in one swoop.

Backup frequently, and have backups on multiple drives, with at least one off site somewhere.

 

[Scrapr]

I'm loving my Chromebook now. I have a MS Office machine for work. But home laptop is CB. Probably won't change out the office machine because I don't want to run Quickbooks in the cloud. But we dump MS Office for Google docs. Very very easy. And it's now ready to retrieve anywhere

 

[kcowan]

I use the free CrapCleaner on my Win7 laptop. Must do every 2 weeks. Keeps it running OK. Of course I have my iPad for everything but spreadsheets. And email distribution lists.