Solved No System Restore points

[highstream]

On a Win 7-8 dual boot with 8 primary, I've had problems creating restore points via the Instant Restore Point script and RevoUninstaller Pro in Win 8 too. Manual via the CP creates them ok, as does Windows Backup. Using IRP, I can get one restore point and then can't get another for hours or until the next day. With RevoUninstaller Pro set to create a restore point before uninstall, I get none. Only one drive is shown with system protection on in each OS, but with Win 7 four restore points show, although without space allocation, while in Win 8 I never get more than two and usually only one showing, unless I do them with the CP. Win 8 is set to 4% allocation.

I just tried the reg hack in Win 7, but nothing has changed with Win 8. I did notice that DWORD is 32-bit and QWORD is 64-bit. I went with the former, per the instructions and because I didn't notice anything said here about it, but it made me wonder. Any thoughts?

 

[PeterSt]

System Restore Points - Stop XP Dual Boot Delete - Vista Forums

Shawn, I have an addition to this, or a variation if you want :

In my case under W7 there was no drive of W8 visible. It just never received a drive letter (somehow). This obviously means that no Offline entry can be created in the Registry for it. Well, not right away;

Just (thus under W7) assign a drive letter explicitly do the disk/partition where W8 sits, and next apply above tweak.

Btw, I must have booted 50 times in order to find out what was going on and what really destroyed my Restore Points (and this really is not about W8 not creating them, you will just loose them once going to the other OS) before I read this thread. All this time my W7 Restore Points had stayed. UNTIL I applied the tweak from your link which I first applied the other way around (let not see W8 the W7 disk); then those were gone too.
With all set, both now stay.

Peter

 

[highstream]

PeterSt, would you please explain again what you did to get both to stay (or what someone should do). I've also noticed that in Win 7, Win 8's drive "disappears" in a file manager, but not vice-versa. Thanks,

 

[PeterSt]

highstream,

If you are referring to the problem of the W8 drive not being visible in the W7 active OS :

W7 is running.
Open Explorer, rightclick on Computer, choose Manage;
In there, choose Disk Managament;
Find the partition which will represent the W8 disk/partition (in my case W8 and W8 are on the same disk);
(assumed is it has no drive letter assigned - as was the case here)
Rightclick the partion and choose Change Driveletter/Paths;
Assign a drive letter (for comfort I used the same drive letter as the W7 partion has when the W8 OS being active);
Now you will be able to apply the registry "hack" the other way around.

Ok ?

 

[PeterSt]

In the mean time, here's another addition. And please notice, this is (in my case) all about knowing in advance that you will need the Restore Point. So, I am trying to depend on it, which may count for others just the same. And point is : it shouldn't disappear without notice (but it will when you're not cautious and by now it even has become logic to me why it does, although it is and remain stupid over-precautious logic from some MS nerd) :

I, by accident, managed to have some 3rd boot option in the boot menu. Say,
1 - Windows 8
2 - Windows 7
3 - Repair

This latter is an official thing although normally it should not be there. The whole point is, this comes from W7. So, choose the 3 and some W7 repair will boot. The trickery or pitfall if you want, is that you WILL try this option when you can't find the others (this is about (shift-)F8 lacking and more nonsense (which will happen at some stage to everyone). But you can guess it : once this W7 boots, your W8 restore point has gone again.

Since this is a special boot section/partition created by W7 (but might exist for W8 just the same) I wouldn't know where to be to again apply this Registry stuff; I don't think this "Repair" will ever allow to have a normal sort of W7 running where we can start Regedit and such. And so moral : KNOW that the second you boot into that other OS, you WILL have lost your restore point. And this also implies :
1. The soon it happened that you booted into this OS of which you know you did not apply the hack to, make a new Restore Point;
2. The moment you are up to repairing things BUT some option only even smells like that other OS, do NOT choose it. Only when you know you won't be needing a restore point you can.


Let me also say that especially with W8 the whole lot seems to be explicitly consistently built so you WILL loose your OS at some stage. This is not only about the vanishing Restore Points (which happened to W7 just the same), but mainly in combination with F8 not being there, Shift-F8 not working at all, the boot menu disappearing after some sort of "Refresh" and what not. The main clulprit here is the new graphical boot menu and its options which are not there by some default, hence when gone should be added one by one by means of BCDEdit - and which seems undoable (about GUIDs and stuff). Instead, do this :

Go to a command prompt (cmd). Type :
bcdedit /set bootmenupolicy legacy [enter]
reboot

Now you will have
- right away boots in either (instead of an intermediate boot for W7 (you will see what I mean));
- the old dos style boot menu;
- a first option "Repair" in there which will bring you to the W8 further repair options;
- with down in there the revert to Restore Point possibility.

Do notice that this latter is NECESSARY to find, because in Safe Mode no Restore is possible (the whole option is nowhere).
Btw, via the graphical (W8) boot menu, this needs F10 on the screen with 9 options and next the one option in there to get to the same repair menu.


Last but not least, hey, I am creating Restore Points from within my own programming. In W8 - without any error - they are just NOT created. I'm looking for the reason of *that* right now.

Am I ranting ?
Yep.

 

[PeterSt]

Restore Points which won't be created programmatically

So, here we have another clue to Restore Points not being created. Mind you, this will be about ALL procedures in whatever programs. Could be mine, could be a driver install. It is TOTALLY RIDICULOUS. Here goes :

Remarks

Windows 8: A new registry key enables application developers to change the frequency of restore-point creation.
Applications should create this key to use it because it will not preexist in the system. The following will apply by default if the key does not exist. If an application calls the CreateRestorePoint method to create a restore point, Windows skips creating this new restore point if any restore points have been created in the last 24 hours. The CreateRestorePoint method returns S_OK.
Developers can write applications that create the DWORD value SystemRestorePointCreationFrequency under the registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore. The value of this registry key can change the frequency of restore point creation.
If the application calls CreateRestorePoint to create a restore point, and the registry key value is 0, system restore does not skip creating the new restore point.
If the application calls CreateRestorePoint to create a restore point, and the registry key value is the integer N, system restore skips creating a new restore point if any restore points were created in the previous N minutes.


​

(took me well over an hour to find this text, and that while I knew something had to be going on for Windows 8)

This does not apply to any normally (manually) created Restore Points, nor is it related to them vanishing; It is about Restore Points created from within programs which by freakin' default just doesn't work (like installed drivers normally imply a Restore Point - which now won't work). Yea, after 24 hours it will again.
Also notice the line which tells that no error code will be returned when the time has not elapsed and no Restore Point was created. This is how a user will *think* all is right, while as a matter of fact nothing happened.
This is what we call NOT upwards compatible (because in previous Windows versions this just worked or an error code would tell it did not).

I am working for days now to get a certain sequence done. Piece by piece I run into the same sort of thing : ALL has been done to prevent you from being able to Restore. It really comes from all angles. Like it's me seeing ghosts. Will this be the last part of it ? I sure hope so. But one more of this and I will start conspiracy theories.


Summarized, add the SystemRestorePointCreationFrequency DWord (32 bits) value to the key mentioned. Leave the value at 0 and now all Restore Points will be created whenever programmatically asked for. I tested it myself.

 

[gruc]

The key is the creation of the SystemRestorePointCreationFrequency DWord (32 bits) and leaving its value at 0.

Good fine.

Tooks me 2 days of searching for what you found in an hour.

see http://www.eightforums.com/performa...ystem-restore-not-creating-restore-point.html

 

[highstream]

highstream,

If you are referring to the problem of the W8 drive not being visible in the W7 active OS :

Ok ?

No, I was referring to Win 7 not being visible when Win 8 is active OS.

Thanks to you and gruc for resolving the restore point creation with dual boots.

 

[Shawn]

This thread is mixing loss of win 8 restore points with creating auto-restore points in win 8 scheduler and win 8 visibility. So, I am unclear about the solution to loss of win 8 restore points:

1. Does the xp-vista registry edit fix the win 8 restore points loss with win 7 dual system?

2. Is this loss related to simply losing win 8 restore points without entering win 7? (my problem: after refreshing win 8 (on dual setup) and never entering win 7, my win 8 restore points were all gone in a day or so).

thanks

 

[PeterSt]

Shawn,

The XP fix IMO will just work. That is, if it were about drives from the other OS being visible in the one. So, avoid that and it will work (not tested with XP, but with W7 as the other OS).

Your #2 is about just "breathing" into something else than the normal Boot and you will loose it. So, already chosing a choice and press cancel right away and it's too late (tested all that extensively). The "Refresh" just seems logical to me about losing everything. So, as you will have noticed the Refresh loses more than what e.g. a Restore point will lose (which never is about data) while the Refresh just sustains Metro Desktop settings or so. But already not those made to the Explorer desktop.
The point is : the boot into a repair is already that other boot. So, bye Restore Point. If you dive into the why it is even logical. Not handy though. Far from.

Peter

 

[Shawn]

I understand. My fix was to bitlock the win 8 partition. No problem.