Tech Tip of the Day: How to save space on Solid State Drives (SSDs) - Part Three: System Restore

Description: This is a technical article on to the topic of saving space on Solid State Drives. Part three covers limiting the amount of space available for System Restore.

The purpose of this article series is to show how to save space on Solid State Drives, which are typically smaller than standard hard drives. In this article we will limit the amount of space used by System Restore to free up (and prevent further use by System Restore) space on your solid state drive.

System Restore
System Restore is a troubleshooting feature, designed to roll your computer's configuration back to a previous date while not affecting your files. What we will do is limit the ability of System Restore to save restore points, so the end result is instead of being able to restore the computer by a month or more, you will only be able to restore it by a week or so.

1. Go to Start, right-click on Computer and choose Properties.
   
   


2. On the left in this new window, choose System Protection.
   • Note: Approve or allow any permission dialogues.
   
   


3. On this new window, select the Local Disk (C:) and choose Configure.
   
   


4. On this page, you can change the system restore settings or even turn off the feature completely to save the maximum amount of space. We do not recommend turning it off completely unless you are an advanced user who runs regular system image backups.
   
   


5. You can see the current usage, and select the Max Usage option here, as well as delete previous restore points. It is recommended to leave at least 1.5GB to 2GB of space. Once finished, choose Apply to make the changes.
   
   


6. Restart the computer to complete the process.

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

How to use System Restore in Windows 7

Description: How to use Windows 7 System Restore to recover from software problems. A System Restore is used to recover from problems caused by software that was working a short time ago but has suddenly stopped working or is not working correctly. Windows 7 has the ability to make what are called "restore points" which make a snap shot of the programs and settings of the computer at a specific time. Win 7 does this automatically when updates are applied but it can also be done at any time a user wants to do this. The restore will go back to a previous registry, and to previous software that was installed before the restore point was made. System restore can be accessed through several paths.

1. The first is by using the search function found in Windows 7.
   • Click on Start
   • Type the word restore in the "search programs and files" field.
     
     
   
   
2. The Control Panel is another path.
   • Click on Start 
   • Control Panel 
   • In the top right, change view to small icons
     
     
   • Click on the System Icon (alphabetical order)
     
     
   • In the window that opens, look to the top left and choose System Protection
     
     
   • In the pop-up box choose the System Restore button
     
     
   
   
3. The repair section of the F8 menu is also a path.
   • Power off the computer
   • Press the power on button and immediately start tapping F8 about twice a second.
   • A black screen with white writing and several menu items will appear.
   • One item will be Repair Your Computer
   • Move the arrow buttons on the keyboard to highlight this and then choose the repair menu by pressing the Enter (return) key on the keyboard.
   • Choose System Restore from the list of options.
4. Using System Restore
   • There are two options on the opening screen:
   • Recommended restore  - This is the latest restore point that has been created.
     
     
     
     
     • Click on Scan for affected programs to see a list of programs that are known to have been changed since the restore point was made.
       
       
   • Choose a different restore point
     
     
   
   
   • This will be a list of all the restore points available.
     
     
   
   
   • First put a check in the box in the lower left "show more restore points"
   • Choose the restore point date to go back to.
   • Then click on "scan for affected programs"
   • A list of programs that will be changed or restored will appear.
     
     
   
   
   • Close the box and if this is the desired restore point, click next
   • A "confirm your restore point" box appears.
   • Click on the Finish button to complete this.
     
     
   
   
   • The computer will take about 5 minutes to finish this restore and the computer will reboot. When this is finished log back into the computer and test to see if the issue has been resolved.

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

How to create a system restore point in Windows 7

System Restore is a very handy feature of Windows that will allow you roll your computer back to a previous date without losing any personal document. One of the most common reasons for this is to restore your computer to a working state after a Windows update has corrupted, or maybe just a program you installed. Doing a system restore allows you to keep all of your documents, but will remove any programs that have been installed since the date you select to restore to.

1. Click start and in the search box type "system restore" and press enter.
   
   


2. This will open System Restore. Click "Next".
   
   


3. This step gives the dates to select from to restore the computer. If a date isn’t shown that you would like to restore to there is an option to "Show more restore points." The other thing that can be done here is “Scan for affected programs.” This will show the programs that will be uninstalled by doing a system restore. Once the date has been selected click "Next."
   
   


4. Click "Finish" once the restore date has been confirmed from the previous page.
   
   


5. Click "Yes" confirming you would like to continue with the System Restore, keeping in mind this can’t be undone and the computer will need to restart during this process.

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.