System Restore points have disappeared

Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore to a point on
1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that restore and now I have no restore
points beyond 1st July.

Is this normal?

Gallopinhairpin

ReySantos
Mon Jul 14 01:40:05 PDT 2008

System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management feature that
purges the oldest restore points to make room for new ones. System Restore
requires a minimum of 200 MB of free disk space on the system drive at
installation. When the amount of free disk space falls below 50 MB on ANY
monitored drive, System Restore switches to standby mode and stops creating
restore points. All restore points are deleted at that time. System Restore
reactivates and resumes creating restore points as soon as 200 MB of disk
space is free on the system drive.
My system restore is set at 8,512 MB (Max) an I had only one restore point
for the month os June. So, in your case I'd its normal.

--
Rey


"Galloping Hairpin" wrote:

> Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore to a point on
> 1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that restore and now I have no restore
> points beyond 1st July.
>
> Is this normal?
>
> Gallopinhairpin

GallopingHairpin
Mon Jul 14 09:37:01 PDT 2008

My system drive currently has 7.19Gb free space. One would have though that
ought to be adequate.

Because of the loss of the restore points it now looks like I will have to
reformat and perform a clean install, with all the side-issues that's likely
to throw up.

In fact at the moment I feel like throwing up!

"Rey Santos" wrote:

> System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management feature that
> purges the oldest restore points to make room for new ones. System Restore
> requires a minimum of 200 MB of free disk space on the system drive at
> installation. When the amount of free disk space falls below 50 MB on ANY
> monitored drive, System Restore switches to standby mode and stops creating
> restore points. All restore points are deleted at that time. System Restore
> reactivates and resumes creating restore points as soon as 200 MB of disk
> space is free on the system drive.
> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB (Max) an I had only one restore point
> for the month os June. So, in your case I'd its normal.
>
> --
> Rey
>
>
> "Galloping Hairpin" wrote:
>
> > Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore to a point on
> > 1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that restore and now I have no restore
> > points beyond 1st July.
> >
> > Is this normal?
> >
> > Gallopinhairpin

Gerry
Mon Jul 14 10:31:26 PDT 2008

Galloping Hairpin

Restore points are "stale" by the time they are 14 days old.

Please explain what makes necessary for you to need a restore point so
old. We can then see if there is another way around your problem less
dramatic than doing a clean install.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> My system drive currently has 7.19Gb free space. One would have
> though that ought to be adequate.
>
> Because of the loss of the restore points it now looks like I will
> have to reformat and perform a clean install, with all the
> side-issues that's likely to throw up.
>
> In fact at the moment I feel like throwing up!
>
> "Rey Santos" wrote:
>
>> System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management
>> feature that purges the oldest restore points to make room for new
>> ones. System Restore requires a minimum of 200 MB of free disk space
>> on the system drive at installation. When the amount of free disk
>> space falls below 50 MB on ANY monitored drive, System Restore
>> switches to standby mode and stops creating restore points. All
>> restore points are deleted at that time. System Restore reactivates
>> and resumes creating restore points as soon as 200 MB of disk space
>> is free on the system drive.
>> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB (Max) an I had only one restore
>> point for the month os June. So, in your case I'd its normal.
>>
>> --
>> Rey
>>
>>
>> "Galloping Hairpin" wrote:
>>
>>> Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore to
>>> a point on 1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that restore and
>>> now I have no restore points beyond 1st July.
>>>
>>> Is this normal?
>>>
>>> Gallopinhairpin

Gerry
Mon Jul 14 10:39:54 PDT 2008

Rey

My system restore is set at 8,512 MB!!! Why?

Normally 1,000 MB is all that is necessary. Holding restore points
beyond 10 / 14 days is pointless. If you only have one restore for the
month of June I suggest you investigate whether your System Restore is
working as intended.

http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html

http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srauto.html

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rey Santos wrote:
> System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management
> feature that purges the oldest restore points to make room for new
> ones. System Restore requires a minimum of 200 MB of free disk space
> on the system drive at installation. When the amount of free disk
> space falls below 50 MB on ANY monitored drive, System Restore
> switches to standby mode and stops creating restore points. All
> restore points are deleted at that time. System Restore reactivates
> and resumes creating restore points as soon as 200 MB of disk space
> is free on the system drive.
> )My system restore is set at 8,512 MB (Max an I had only one restore
> point for the month os June. So, in your case I'd its normal.
>
>
>> Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore to a
>> point on 1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that restore and now
>> I have no restore points beyond 1st July.
>>
>> Is this normal?
>>
>> Gallopinhairpin

M
Tue Jul 15 00:58:45 PDT 2008


"Gerry" <gerry@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:e0vytid5IHA.2260@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Rey
>
> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB!!! Why?
>
> Normally 1,000 MB is all that is necessary. Holding restore points beyond
> 10 / 14 days is pointless.

Whilst generally true, there can be occassions where you wish you had an
older one. Though usually when I get to that situation, it is sometimes
easier just to restore a backup.

Gerry
Tue Jul 15 06:01:33 PDT 2008

An active user using the computer daily will be more likely to create
more changes to use up the allocated space for restore points more
quickly. If a user does not use the computer on a daily basis then
restore points will not be automatically created on the days when the
computer is not used.You may therefore expect to see older restore
points on such a system.

If a system requires 8 times the typical spacial requirement then the
user needs to look for an explanation. Of course the user might be
trying out beta software and in this situation might need more restore
points than the average user. Otherwise I have recently seen in these
newsgroups a disk space problem created by a Zone Alarm bug.

Where a user has limited free disk space they should know why they are
forgoing free disk space because lack of free space impacts on system
performance. These type of issues need to be addressed.


~~~~


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.M.I.5¾ wrote:
> "Gerry" <gerry@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:e0vytid5IHA.2260@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Rey
>>
>> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB!!! Why?
>>
>> Normally 1,000 MB is all that is necessary. Holding restore points
>> beyond 10 / 14 days is pointless.
>
> Whilst generally true, there can be occassions where you wish you had
> an older one. Though usually when I get to that situation, it is
> sometimes easier just to restore a backup.

GallopingHairpin
Wed Jul 16 08:33:01 PDT 2008

The restore point I used was 5 weeks old which doesn't seem to me to be
unreasonable.

Actually none of the replies thus far has answered my original question.
Was it the Undo that used up so much disk space that I lost a months worth
(about 15) restore points?

The problem I have is with Outlook Express and has been aired on other
threads. I have tried a number of suggested fixes but nothing has worked. The
Restore back to 1st June fixed the problem but in the process I lost some
recent changes to my system, including my broadband, so pending a workaround
I decided to perform the Undo, thinking that I'd be able to do another
Restore later. That's when I found that all the Restore points that were
created prior to the Outlook problem had disappeared.

Now it looks like I'm going to have to set aside a day or more to do yet
another new install (this will be the third in as many years) which I am
extremely unhappy about.

I yearn for the relative simplicity of the Mac system where a new OS can be
installed without losing all the applications and applications can be easily
and cleanly removed or updated. I'm seriously considering a return to a Mac
in spite of the price differential.

"Gerry" wrote:

> Galloping Hairpin
>
> Restore points are "stale" by the time they are 14 days old.
>
> Please explain what makes necessary for you to need a restore point so
> old. We can then see if there is another way around your problem less
> dramatic than doing a clean install.
>
> --
>
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
>
> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> > My system drive currently has 7.19Gb free space. One would have
> > though that ought to be adequate.
> >
> > Because of the loss of the restore points it now looks like I will
> > have to reformat and perform a clean install, with all the
> > side-issues that's likely to throw up.
> >
> > In fact at the moment I feel like throwing up!
> >
> > "Rey Santos" wrote:
> >
> >> System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management
> >> feature that purges the oldest restore points to make room for new
> >> ones. System Restore requires a minimum of 200 MB of free disk space
> >> on the system drive at installation. When the amount of free disk
> >> space falls below 50 MB on ANY monitored drive, System Restore
> >> switches to standby mode and stops creating restore points. All
> >> restore points are deleted at that time. System Restore reactivates
> >> and resumes creating restore points as soon as 200 MB of disk space
> >> is free on the system drive.
> >> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB (Max) an I had only one restore
> >> point for the month os June. So, in your case I'd its normal.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Rey
> >>
> >>
> >> "Galloping Hairpin" wrote:
> >>
> >>> Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore to
> >>> a point on 1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that restore and
> >>> now I have no restore points beyond 1st July.
> >>>
> >>> Is this normal?
> >>>
> >>> Gallopinhairpin
>
>
>

Gerry
Wed Jul 16 11:23:24 PDT 2008

Using a restore point 5 weeks old means you are potentially undoing many
changes.

I have looked at your airing of your Outlook Express problem. I found
your use of Savefile unhelpful as I was not able to view the image
without registering, which like many, I am unwilling to do. Who changed
or branded your existing version of Outlook Express? I have not
encountered this before. You can get an ISP like AOL who provides a
branded version of Outlook Express but this does change existing
software.You just say no the offer.

Do you have a shortage of free disk space?

I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report. Open Disk
Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
is more informative. This will help us see how your disk space is being
used.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> The restore point I used was 5 weeks old which doesn't seem to me to
> be unreasonable.
>
> Actually none of the replies thus far has answered my original
> question.
> Was it the Undo that used up so much disk space that I lost a months
> worth (about 15) restore points?
>
> The problem I have is with Outlook Express and has been aired on other
> threads. I have tried a number of suggested fixes but nothing has
> worked. The Restore back to 1st June fixed the problem but in the
> process I lost some recent changes to my system, including my
> broadband, so pending a workaround I decided to perform the Undo,
> thinking that I'd be able to do another Restore later. That's when I
> found that all the Restore points that were created prior to the
> Outlook problem had disappeared.
>
> Now it looks like I'm going to have to set aside a day or more to do
> yet another new install (this will be the third in as many years)
> which I am extremely unhappy about.
>
> I yearn for the relative simplicity of the Mac system where a new OS
> can be installed without losing all the applications and applications
> can be easily and cleanly removed or updated. I'm seriously
> considering a return to a Mac in spite of the price differential.
>
> "Gerry" wrote:
>
>> Galloping Hairpin
>>
>> Restore points are "stale" by the time they are 14 days old.
>>
>> Please explain what makes necessary for you to need a restore point
>> so old. We can then see if there is another way around your problem
>> less dramatic than doing a clean install.
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> Hope this helps.
>>
>> Gerry
>> ~~~~
>> FCA
>> Stourport, England
>> Enquire, plan and execute
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
>>> My system drive currently has 7.19Gb free space. One would have
>>> though that ought to be adequate.
>>>
>>> Because of the loss of the restore points it now looks like I will
>>> have to reformat and perform a clean install, with all the
>>> side-issues that's likely to throw up.
>>>
>>> In fact at the moment I feel like throwing up!
>>>
>>> "Rey Santos" wrote:
>>>
>>>> System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management
>>>> feature that purges the oldest restore points to make room for new
>>>> ones. System Restore requires a minimum of 200 MB of free disk
>>>> space on the system drive at installation. When the amount of free
>>>> disk space falls below 50 MB on ANY monitored drive, System Restore
>>>> switches to standby mode and stops creating restore points. All
>>>> restore points are deleted at that time. System Restore reactivates
>>>> and resumes creating restore points as soon as 200 MB of disk space
>>>> is free on the system drive.
>>>> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB (Max) an I had only one
>>>> restore point for the month os June. So, in your case I'd its
>>>> normal.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Rey
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Galloping Hairpin" wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore to
>>>>> a point on 1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that restore and
>>>>> now I have no restore points beyond 1st July.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is this normal?
>>>>>
>>>>> Gallopinhairpin

GallopingHairpin
Wed Jul 16 13:49:01 PDT 2008

Gerry,

Sorry about Savefile. I don't think my image upload worked for some reason
anyway.

I knew I would be undoing many changes, most notably some new broadband
software from my ISP which, incidentally was the cause of the branding
problem. This branded both Internet Explorer and Outlook Express without ANY
interaction so I didn't get the option of saying no and didn't know about it
until it was too late. That is why I shall be ditching that ISP as soon as
the contract period has expired!

This is the Defrag analysis of my system partition :-
Volume XP System (D:)
Volume size = 19.53 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 12.45 GB
Free space = 7.08 GB
Percent free space = 36 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 5 %
File fragmentation = 8 %
Free space fragmentation = 2 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 64,961
Average file size = 273 KB
Total fragmented files = 3,169
Total excess fragments = 41,265
Average fragments per file = 1.63

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 1.50 GB
Total fragments = 1

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 3,938
Fragmented folders = 44
Excess folder fragments = 236

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 84 MB
MFT record count = 69,029
Percent MFT in use = 80 %
Total MFT fragments = 6

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
116 7 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0087393.exe
85 13 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0084710.dll
85 13 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089863.dll
61 14 MB \Documents and Settings\MJT\Local
Settings\Application
Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\9rtivace.default\Cache\084FE5D7d01
59 4 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0090129.DLL
59 10 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089864.dll
55 10 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0084712.dll
55 10 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089862.dll
46 4 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0082522.DLL
43 632 KB \WINDOWS\system32\dllcache
40 4 MB \Program Files\Alwil
Software\Avast4\DATA\log\Setup.log
38 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089947.dll
38 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089734.dll
36 4 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0090146.DLL
36 4 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0082473.DLL
31 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0087099.CAT
31 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0087158.CAT
30 4 MB \Documents and Settings\MJT\Application
Data\Mozilla\Profiles\default\dciiwmym.slt\Cache\_CACHE_001_
28 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089943.lex
27 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0087070.mfl
27 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0087197.mfl
27 3 MB \Program Files\Alwil
Software\Avast4\Setup\setup.log
26 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0085317.dll
25 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091229.RDB
25 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091200.RDB
25 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091219.RDB
25 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091134.RDB
25 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP395\A0091045.RDB
25 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP394\A0091042.RDB
25 2 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091195.RDB

Regards,
Galloping Hairpin

"Gerry" wrote:

> Using a restore point 5 weeks old means you are potentially undoing many
> changes.
>
> I have looked at your airing of your Outlook Express problem. I found
> your use of Savefile unhelpful as I was not able to view the image
> without registering, which like many, I am unwilling to do. Who changed
> or branded your existing version of Outlook Express? I have not
> encountered this before. You can get an ISP like AOL who provides a
> branded version of Outlook Express but this does change existing
> software.You just say no the offer.
>
> Do you have a shortage of free disk space?
>
> I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report. Open Disk
> Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
> click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
> Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
> is more informative. This will help us see how your disk space is being
> used.
>
> --
>
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> > The restore point I used was 5 weeks old which doesn't seem to me to
> > be unreasonable.
> >
> > Actually none of the replies thus far has answered my original
> > question.
> > Was it the Undo that used up so much disk space that I lost a months
> > worth (about 15) restore points?
> >
> > The problem I have is with Outlook Express and has been aired on other
> > threads. I have tried a number of suggested fixes but nothing has
> > worked. The Restore back to 1st June fixed the problem but in the
> > process I lost some recent changes to my system, including my
> > broadband, so pending a workaround I decided to perform the Undo,
> > thinking that I'd be able to do another Restore later. That's when I
> > found that all the Restore points that were created prior to the
> > Outlook problem had disappeared.
> >
> > Now it looks like I'm going to have to set aside a day or more to do
> > yet another new install (this will be the third in as many years)
> > which I am extremely unhappy about.
> >
> > I yearn for the relative simplicity of the Mac system where a new OS
> > can be installed without losing all the applications and applications
> > can be easily and cleanly removed or updated. I'm seriously
> > considering a return to a Mac in spite of the price differential.
> >
> > "Gerry" wrote:
> >
> >> Galloping Hairpin
> >>
> >> Restore points are "stale" by the time they are 14 days old.
> >>
> >> Please explain what makes necessary for you to need a restore point
> >> so old. We can then see if there is another way around your problem
> >> less dramatic than doing a clean install.
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Hope this helps.
> >>
> >> Gerry
> >> ~~~~
> >> FCA
> >> Stourport, England
> >> Enquire, plan and execute
> >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> >>> My system drive currently has 7.19Gb free space. One would have
> >>> though that ought to be adequate.
> >>>
> >>> Because of the loss of the restore points it now looks like I will
> >>> have to reformat and perform a clean install, with all the
> >>> side-issues that's likely to throw up.
> >>>
> >>> In fact at the moment I feel like throwing up!
> >>>
> >>> "Rey Santos" wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management
> >>>> feature that purges the oldest restore points to make room for new
> >>>> ones. System Restore requires a minimum of 200 MB of free disk
> >>>> space on the system drive at installation. When the amount of free
> >>>> disk space falls below 50 MB on ANY monitored drive, System Restore
> >>>> switches to standby mode and stops creating restore points. All
> >>>> restore points are deleted at that time. System Restore reactivates
> >>>> and resumes creating restore points as soon as 200 MB of disk space
> >>>> is free on the system drive.
> >>>> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB (Max) an I had only one
> >>>> restore point for the month os June. So, in your case I'd its
> >>>> normal.
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> Rey
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> "Galloping Hairpin" wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore to
> >>>>> a point on 1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that restore and
> >>>>> now I have no restore points beyond 1st July.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Is this normal?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Gallopinhairpin
>
>
>

Gerry
Wed Jul 16 14:42:29 PDT 2008

Well there's nothing obvious there. You have 5 restore points but they
are of modest size. You do need to run Disk Defragmenter.

Why is the drive letter D? What is on C? Is the computer dual booting?

Are there any remaining problems? Why do you think there is a need to
reinstall?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> Gerry,
>
> Sorry about Savefile. I don't think my image upload worked for some
> reason anyway.
>
> I knew I would be undoing many changes, most notably some new
> broadband software from my ISP which, incidentally was the cause of
> the branding problem. This branded both Internet Explorer and Outlook
> Express without ANY interaction so I didn't get the option of saying
> no and didn't know about it until it was too late. That is why I
> shall be ditching that ISP as soon as the contract period has expired!
>
> This is the Defrag analysis of my system partition :-
> Volume XP System (D:)
> Volume size = 19.53 GB
> Cluster size = 4 KB
> Used space = 12.45 GB
> Free space = 7.08 GB
> Percent free space = 36 %
>
> Volume fragmentation
> Total fragmentation = 5 %
> File fragmentation = 8 %
> Free space fragmentation = 2 %
>
> File fragmentation
> Total files = 64,961
> Average file size = 273 KB
> Total fragmented files = 3,169
> Total excess fragments = 41,265
> Average fragments per file = 1.63
>
> Pagefile fragmentation
> Pagefile size = 1.50 GB
> Total fragments = 1
>
> Folder fragmentation
> Total folders = 3,938
> Fragmented folders = 44
> Excess folder fragments = 236
>
> Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
> Total MFT size = 84 MB
> MFT record count = 69,029
> Percent MFT in use = 80 %
> Total MFT fragments = 6
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
> 116 7 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0087393.exe
> 85 13 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0084710.dll
> 85 13 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089863.dll
> 61 14 MB \Documents and Settings\MJT\Local
> Settings\Application
> Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\9rtivace.default\Cache\084FE5D7d01
> 59 4 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0090129.DLL
> 59 10 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089864.dll
> 55 10 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0084712.dll
> 55 10 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089862.dll
> 46 4 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0082522.DLL
> 43 632 KB \WINDOWS\system32\dllcache
> 40 4 MB \Program Files\Alwil
> Software\Avast4\DATA\log\Setup.log
> 38 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089947.dll
> 38 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089734.dll
> 36 4 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0090146.DLL
> 36 4 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0082473.DLL
> 31 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0087099.CAT
> 31 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0087158.CAT
> 30 4 MB \Documents and
> Settings\MJT\Application
> Data\Mozilla\Profiles\default\dciiwmym.slt\Cache\_CACHE_001_ 28
> 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089943.lex
> 27 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0087070.mfl
> 27 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0087197.mfl
> 27 3 MB \Program Files\Alwil
> Software\Avast4\Setup\setup.log 26 2 MB
> \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0085317.dll
> 25 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091229.RDB
> 25 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091200.RDB
> 25 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091219.RDB
> 25 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091134.RDB
> 25 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP395\A0091045.RDB
> 25 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP394\A0091042.RDB
> 25 2 MB \System Volume
> Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091195.RDB
>
> Regards,
> Galloping Hairpin
>
> "Gerry" wrote:
>
>> Using a restore point 5 weeks old means you are potentially undoing
>> many changes.
>>
>> I have looked at your airing of your Outlook Express problem. I found
>> your use of Savefile unhelpful as I was not able to view the image
>> without registering, which like many, I am unwilling to do. Who
>> changed or branded your existing version of Outlook Express? I have
>> not encountered this before. You can get an ISP like AOL who
>> provides a branded version of Outlook Express but this does change
>> existing software.You just say no the offer.
>>
>> Do you have a shortage of free disk space?
>>
>> I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report. Open
>> Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
>> click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
>> Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as
>> it is more informative. This will help us see how your disk space is
>> being used.
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> Hope this helps.
>>
>> Gerry
>> ~~~~
>> FCA
>> Stourport, England
>> Enquire, plan and execute
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
>>> The restore point I used was 5 weeks old which doesn't seem to me to
>>> be unreasonable.
>>>
>>> Actually none of the replies thus far has answered my original
>>> question.
>>> Was it the Undo that used up so much disk space that I lost a months
>>> worth (about 15) restore points?
>>>
>>> The problem I have is with Outlook Express and has been aired on
>>> other threads. I have tried a number of suggested fixes but nothing
>>> has worked. The Restore back to 1st June fixed the problem but in
>>> the process I lost some recent changes to my system, including my
>>> broadband, so pending a workaround I decided to perform the Undo,
>>> thinking that I'd be able to do another Restore later. That's when I
>>> found that all the Restore points that were created prior to the
>>> Outlook problem had disappeared.
>>>
>>> Now it looks like I'm going to have to set aside a day or more to do
>>> yet another new install (this will be the third in as many years)
>>> which I am extremely unhappy about.
>>>
>>> I yearn for the relative simplicity of the Mac system where a new OS
>>> can be installed without losing all the applications and
>>> applications can be easily and cleanly removed or updated. I'm
>>> seriously considering a return to a Mac in spite of the price
>>> differential.
>>>
>>> "Gerry" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Galloping Hairpin
>>>>
>>>> Restore points are "stale" by the time they are 14 days old.
>>>>
>>>> Please explain what makes necessary for you to need a restore point
>>>> so old. We can then see if there is another way around your problem
>>>> less dramatic than doing a clean install.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hope this helps.
>>>>
>>>> Gerry
>>>> ~~~~
>>>> FCA
>>>> Stourport, England
>>>> Enquire, plan and execute
>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
>>>>> My system drive currently has 7.19Gb free space. One would have
>>>>> though that ought to be adequate.
>>>>>
>>>>> Because of the loss of the restore points it now looks like I will
>>>>> have to reformat and perform a clean install, with all the
>>>>> side-issues that's likely to throw up.
>>>>>
>>>>> In fact at the moment I feel like throwing up!
>>>>>
>>>>> "Rey Santos" wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management
>>>>>> feature that purges the oldest restore points to make room for
>>>>>> new ones. System Restore requires a minimum of 200 MB of free
>>>>>> disk space on the system drive at installation. When the amount
>>>>>> of free disk space falls below 50 MB on ANY monitored drive,
>>>>>> System Restore switches to standby mode and stops creating
>>>>>> restore points. All restore points are deleted at that time.
>>>>>> System Restore reactivates and resumes creating restore points
>>>>>> as soon as 200 MB of disk space is free on the system drive.
>>>>>> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB (Max) an I had only one
>>>>>> restore point for the month os June. So, in your case I'd its
>>>>>> normal.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Rey
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Galloping Hairpin" wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore
>>>>>>> to a point on 1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that
>>>>>>> restore and now I have no restore points beyond 1st July.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Is this normal?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Gallopinhairpin

Bill
Thu Jul 17 10:45:32 PDT 2008

Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> The restore point I used was 5 weeks old which doesn't seem to me to be
> unreasonable.
>
> Actually none of the replies thus far has answered my original question.
> Was it the Undo that used up so much disk space that I lost a months worth
> (about 15) restore points?
>
System Restore tends to have problems as the number of restore points
increases. Personally I have never gone back more than a week to a
restore point.

I cannot answer your question about undo.

Bill
Thu Jul 17 12:04:40 PDT 2008

Bill Sharpe wrote:
> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
>> The restore point I used was 5 weeks old which doesn't seem to me to be
>> unreasonable.
>>
>> Actually none of the replies thus far has answered my original question.
>> Was it the Undo that used up so much disk space that I lost a months
>> worth
>> (about 15) restore points?

That is a distinct possibility, yes.

> System Restore tends to have problems as the number of restore points
> increases. Personally I have never gone back more than a week to a
> restore point.
>
> I cannot answer your question about undo.

GallopingHairpin
Thu Jul 17 13:33:02 PDT 2008

I have two drives on IDE channel 0. For reasons I don't understand the XP
installer assigned D to the system drive, which is jumpered as master and C
to the other drive jumpered as slave. This doesn't appear to have caused any
problems. I had been experiencing a strange problem with OE whereby the first
attempt to open a file or folder after logging in was taking up to 30 seconds
unless I temporarily disabled one of the Avast anti-virus services but
otherwise OE was working fine until the ISP software branded it. I don't know
how much of the other threads you have read but, briefly, the branding added
a search pane to the bottom of the OE main window. This didn't initially
affect the operation of OE but a few days later this pane suddenly expanded
to fill the window. I can't get rid of it and can no longer see any of the
mail folders or preview panes. Nor can I access them via the menus so that OE
is now totally unusable.

I am not having any other problems with the system (unless you count the
loss of the System Restore points).

As I mentioned I have tried a number of suggested approaches for
re-installing Outlook Express but nothing has worked so it seems the only
recourse is to re-install XP from scratch. I admit that I haven't tried a
repair of XP but to be honest I don't have much confidence that it would be
successful.

"Gerry" wrote:

> Well there's nothing obvious there. You have 5 restore points but they
> are of modest size. You do need to run Disk Defragmenter.
>
> Why is the drive letter D? What is on C? Is the computer dual booting?
>
> Are there any remaining problems? Why do you think there is a need to
> reinstall?
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> > Gerry,
> >
> > Sorry about Savefile. I don't think my image upload worked for some
> > reason anyway.
> >
> > I knew I would be undoing many changes, most notably some new
> > broadband software from my ISP which, incidentally was the cause of
> > the branding problem. This branded both Internet Explorer and Outlook
> > Express without ANY interaction so I didn't get the option of saying
> > no and didn't know about it until it was too late. That is why I
> > shall be ditching that ISP as soon as the contract period has expired!
> >
> > This is the Defrag analysis of my system partition :-
> > Volume XP System (D:)
> > Volume size = 19.53 GB
> > Cluster size = 4 KB
> > Used space = 12.45 GB
> > Free space = 7.08 GB
> > Percent free space = 36 %
> >
> > Volume fragmentation
> > Total fragmentation = 5 %
> > File fragmentation = 8 %
> > Free space fragmentation = 2 %
> >
> > File fragmentation
> > Total files = 64,961
> > Average file size = 273 KB
> > Total fragmented files = 3,169
> > Total excess fragments = 41,265
> > Average fragments per file = 1.63
> >
> > Pagefile fragmentation
> > Pagefile size = 1.50 GB
> > Total fragments = 1
> >
> > Folder fragmentation
> > Total folders = 3,938
> > Fragmented folders = 44
> > Excess folder fragments = 236
> >
> > Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
> > Total MFT size = 84 MB
> > MFT record count = 69,029
> > Percent MFT in use = 80 %
> > Total MFT fragments = 6
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
> > 116 7 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0087393.exe
> > 85 13 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0084710.dll
> > 85 13 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089863.dll
> > 61 14 MB \Documents and Settings\MJT\Local
> > Settings\Application
> > Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\9rtivace.default\Cache\084FE5D7d01
> > 59 4 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0090129.DLL
> > 59 10 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089864.dll
> > 55 10 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0084712.dll
> > 55 10 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089862.dll
> > 46 4 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0082522.DLL
> > 43 632 KB \WINDOWS\system32\dllcache
> > 40 4 MB \Program Files\Alwil
> > Software\Avast4\DATA\log\Setup.log
> > 38 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089947.dll
> > 38 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089734.dll
> > 36 4 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0090146.DLL
> > 36 4 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0082473.DLL
> > 31 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0087099.CAT
> > 31 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0087158.CAT
> > 30 4 MB \Documents and
> > Settings\MJT\Application
> > Data\Mozilla\Profiles\default\dciiwmym.slt\Cache\_CACHE_001_ 28
> > 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0089943.lex
> > 27 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0087070.mfl
> > 27 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP393\A0087197.mfl
> > 27 3 MB \Program Files\Alwil
> > Software\Avast4\Setup\setup.log 26 2 MB
> > \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP392\A0085317.dll
> > 25 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091229.RDB
> > 25 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091200.RDB
> > 25 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091219.RDB
> > 25 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091134.RDB
> > 25 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP395\A0091045.RDB
> > 25 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP394\A0091042.RDB
> > 25 2 MB \System Volume
> > Information\_restore{589996D3-44A2-4985-B202-0543BD71C528}\RP396\A0091195.RDB
> >
> > Regards,
> > Galloping Hairpin
> >
> > "Gerry" wrote:
> >
> >> Using a restore point 5 weeks old means you are potentially undoing
> >> many changes.
> >>
> >> I have looked at your airing of your Outlook Express problem. I found
> >> your use of Savefile unhelpful as I was not able to view the image
> >> without registering, which like many, I am unwilling to do. Who
> >> changed or branded your existing version of Outlook Express? I have
> >> not encountered this before. You can get an ISP like AOL who
> >> provides a branded version of Outlook Express but this does change
> >> existing software.You just say no the offer.
> >>
> >> Do you have a shortage of free disk space?
> >>
> >> I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report. Open
> >> Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
> >> click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
> >> Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as
> >> it is more informative. This will help us see how your disk space is
> >> being used.
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Hope this helps.
> >>
> >> Gerry
> >> ~~~~
> >> FCA
> >> Stourport, England
> >> Enquire, plan and execute
> >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >>
> >> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> >>> The restore point I used was 5 weeks old which doesn't seem to me to
> >>> be unreasonable.
> >>>
> >>> Actually none of the replies thus far has answered my original
> >>> question.
> >>> Was it the Undo that used up so much disk space that I lost a months
> >>> worth (about 15) restore points?
> >>>
> >>> The problem I have is with Outlook Express and has been aired on
> >>> other threads. I have tried a number of suggested fixes but nothing
> >>> has worked. The Restore back to 1st June fixed the problem but in
> >>> the process I lost some recent changes to my system, including my
> >>> broadband, so pending a workaround I decided to perform the Undo,
> >>> thinking that I'd be able to do another Restore later. That's when I
> >>> found that all the Restore points that were created prior to the
> >>> Outlook problem had disappeared.
> >>>
> >>> Now it looks like I'm going to have to set aside a day or more to do
> >>> yet another new install (this will be the third in as many years)
> >>> which I am extremely unhappy about.
> >>>
> >>> I yearn for the relative simplicity of the Mac system where a new OS
> >>> can be installed without losing all the applications and
> >>> applications can be easily and cleanly removed or updated. I'm
> >>> seriously considering a return to a Mac in spite of the price
> >>> differential.
> >>>
> >>> "Gerry" wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Galloping Hairpin
> >>>>
> >>>> Restore points are "stale" by the time they are 14 days old.
> >>>>
> >>>> Please explain what makes necessary for you to need a restore point
> >>>> so old. We can then see if there is another way around your problem
> >>>> less dramatic than doing a clean install.
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Hope this helps.
> >>>>
> >>>> Gerry
> >>>> ~~~~
> >>>> FCA
> >>>> Stourport, England
> >>>> Enquire, plan and execute
> >>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> >>>>> My system drive currently has 7.19Gb free space. One would have
> >>>>> though that ought to be adequate.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Because of the loss of the restore points it now looks like I will
> >>>>> have to reformat and perform a clean install, with all the
> >>>>> side-issues that's likely to throw up.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> In fact at the moment I feel like throwing up!
> >>>>>
> >>>>> "Rey Santos" wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> System Restore has an automatic restore point space-management
> >>>>>> feature that purges the oldest restore points to make room for
> >>>>>> new ones. System Restore requires a minimum of 200 MB of free
> >>>>>> disk space on the system drive at installation. When the amount
> >>>>>> of free disk space falls below 50 MB on ANY monitored drive,
> >>>>>> System Restore switches to standby mode and stops creating
> >>>>>> restore points. All restore points are deleted at that time.
> >>>>>> System Restore reactivates and resumes creating restore points
> >>>>>> as soon as 200 MB of disk space is free on the system drive.
> >>>>>> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB (Max) an I had only one
> >>>>>> restore point for the month os June. So, in your case I'd its
> >>>>>> normal.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> --
> >>>>>> Rey
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> "Galloping Hairpin" wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Whilst trying to resolve a problem I performed a System Restore
> >>>>>>> to a point on 1st June. I subsequently chose to undo that
> >>>>>>> restore and now I have no restore points beyond 1st July.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Is this normal?
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Gallopinhairpin
>
>
>

GallopingHairpin
Mon Jul 21 14:32:05 PDT 2008

Well, now that you know what my problem is there has been a deafening silence
:)

"Galloping Hairpin" wrote:

> I have two drives on IDE channel 0. For reasons I don't understand the XP
> installer assigned D to the system drive, which is jumpered as master and C
> to the other drive jumpered as slave. This doesn't appear to have caused any
> problems. I had been experiencing a strange problem with OE whereby the first
> attempt to open a file or folder after logging in was taking up to 30 seconds
> unless I temporarily disabled one of the Avast anti-virus services but
> otherwise OE was working fine until the ISP software branded it. I don't know
> how much of the other threads you have read but, briefly, the branding added
> a search pane to the bottom of the OE main window. This didn't initially
> affect the operation of OE but a few days later this pane suddenly expanded
> to fill the window. I can't get rid of it and can no longer see any of the
> mail folders or preview panes. Nor can I access them via the menus so that OE
> is now totally unusable.
>
> I am not having any other problems with the system (unless you count the
> loss of the System Restore points).
>
> As I mentioned I have tried a number of suggested approaches for
> re-installing Outlook Express but nothing has worked so it seems the only
> recourse is to re-install XP from scratch. I admit that I haven't tried a
> repair of XP but to be honest I don't have much confidence that it would be
> successful.
>
> "Gerry" wrote:
>
> > Well there's nothing obvious there. You have 5 restore points but they
> > are of modest size. You do need to run Disk Defragmenter.
> >
> > Why is the drive letter D? What is on C? Is the computer dual booting?
> >
> > Are there any remaining problems? Why do you think there is a need to
> > reinstall?
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> >
> > Hope this helps.
> >
> > Gerry
> > ~~~~
> > FCA
> > Stourport, England
> > Enquire, plan and execute
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >
> > Galloping Hairpin wrote:
> > > Gerry,
> > >
> > > Sorry about Savefile. I don't think my image upload worked for some
> > > reason anyway.
> > >
> > > I knew I would be undoing many changes, most notably some new
> > > broadband software from my ISP which, incidentally was the cause of
> > > the branding problem. This branded both Internet Explorer and Outlook
> > > Express without ANY interaction so I didn't get the option of saying
> > > no and didn't know about it until it was too late. That is why I
> > > shall be ditching that ISP as soon as the contract period has expired!
> > >
> > > This is the Defrag analysis of my system partition :-
> > > Volume XP System (D:)
> > > Volume size = 19.53 GB
> > > Cluster size = 4 KB
> > > Used space = 12.45 GB
> > > Free space = 7.08 GB
> > > Percent free space = 36 %
> > >
> > > Volume fragmentation
> > > Total fragmentation = 5 %
> > > File fragmentation = 8 %
> > > Free space fragmentation = 2 %
> > >
> > > File fragmentation
> > > Total files = 64,961
> > > Average file size = 273 KB
> > > Total fragmented files = 3,169
> > > Total excess fragments = 41,265
> > > Average fragments per file = 1.63
> > >
> > > Pagefile fragmentation
> > > Pagefile size = 1.50 GB
> > > Total fragments = 1
> > >
> > > Folder fragmentation
> > > Total folders = 3,938
> > > Fragmented folders = 44
> > > Excess folder fragments = 236
> > >
> > > Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
> > > Total MFT size = 84 MB
> > > MFT record count = 69,029
> > > Percent MFT in use = 80 %
> > > Total MFT fragments = 6

GallopingHairpin
Wed Jul 30 01:25:01 PDT 2008

Well, as Gerry seems to have lost interest in my OE problem I decided to have
another go at it. I first booted up in safe mode then deleted everyting from
the Internet Explorer and Outlook Express folders. I then went into the
registry and set the IsInstalled keys for both of them to 0. Then I ran
Ie6setup.exe. After the installation had completed and the computer restarted
I found I couldn't log in because it complained that msgina.dll was missing.
Since I could no longer log in I booted up from the XP CD and performed a
repair. I then had to sit at the machine for 40 minutes because it prompted
for information (including the product key - why does it need that for a
repair???) at various points during the process. On completion I had a
working system again but - you've guessed it - Outlook Express still had the
same problem!!
I'm at my wits end with this. I feel like heaving the whole thing out the
window. It looks like a reformat and clean install may be the only answer.
The trouble is that reinstalling the ISP broadband software might land me
straight back in the same situation.
I thought Microsoft had been hauled over the coals about the way they
integrated IE and OE into the OS, but the level of integration in XP seems
tighter than with earlier versions. When I tried to delete files from their
folders during a normal login seesion the files magically reappeared after a
few seconds.
I've definitely decided to move away from Microsoft at the earliest
opportunity.

"Gerry" wrote:

> An active user using the computer daily will be more likely to create
> more changes to use up the allocated space for restore points more
> quickly. If a user does not use the computer on a daily basis then
> restore points will not be automatically created on the days when the
> computer is not used.You may therefore expect to see older restore
> points on such a system.
>
> If a system requires 8 times the typical spacial requirement then the
> user needs to look for an explanation. Of course the user might be
> trying out beta software and in this situation might need more restore
> points than the average user. Otherwise I have recently seen in these
> newsgroups a disk space problem created by a Zone Alarm bug.
>
> Where a user has limited free disk space they should know why they are
> forgoing free disk space because lack of free space impacts on system
> performance. These type of issues need to be addressed.
>
>
> ~~~~
>
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> ..M.I.5¾ wrote:
> > "Gerry" <gerry@nospam.com> wrote in message
> > news:e0vytid5IHA.2260@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> >> Rey
> >>
> >> My system restore is set at 8,512 MB!!! Why?
> >>
> >> Normally 1,000 MB is all that is necessary. Holding restore points
> >> beyond 10 / 14 days is pointless.
> >
> > Whilst generally true, there can be occassions where you wish you had
> > an older one. Though usually when I g