Deletion of Windows system restore points

[SeaTac]

All system restore points are deleted automatically except the newest one. What - for crying out loud -  can be the purpose of that ?

Restore points are there for a very distinct purpose and  shouldn't be deleted at all. If somebody wants it, it should be by individual selection and then done manually. Why can this not be considered ??

[Nergal]

Uncheck wipe free space and this won't occur. WFS fills the drive, Windows deletes system restore points to make room, ccleaner wipes that now freespace, etc until there are no more restore points.

 

[clayto]

I am new to this Forum and to taking CCleaner seriously.  I too was alarmed to see only one RESTORE POINT left.  I immediatly created another.   Restore  Points have saved me from disaster several times  ---  they are one of the few advanced features which a timid non-expert like me can activate with some understanding and without fear.  To rely on just one Restore Point is the height of folly  ----  I must see if I can put into effect the measures to stop them being removed  --- I (knowing almost nothing) am not convinced that unchecking Wipe free space as claimed above, as I have never checked Wipe free space and yet I had only one Restore Point left.  What is the explanation of that?

 

A short while ago I discovered by pure chance that my new Tablet had no Restore Points at all, after about three months of use.  The supplier had not activated automatic Restore Points.  I wonder how common this is and whether new owners of computers, especially novices, are being lulled into a false sense of security assuming Restore Points are turned on automatically?  I know I will check frequently in future.

 

clayto

[mta]

Admittedly I don't use the Wipe Free Space in CC and I always turn off Windows System Restore Points as they are only one notch above being useless.

But my understanding is that CC does not effect restore points, at least not directly.

It appears if you use the WFS option in CC then Windows takes control and starts mucking around with them.

 

As to Restore Points, I can see their attraction and in some rare cases they will get you out of trouble.

But plenty of people believe they are a sort of backup or use them as a false sense of recovery if things go pear-shaped.

They are no substitute for a proper backup software or imaging process.

Restore Points do not 'snapshot' any personal info like emails, docs, pics and the like, and only cover system files and only a very small subset of those.

It covers just enough to revert some latest updates and hopefully get the PC going again, and even on those occasions, its success rate is not guaranteed. So Yes, then can help, but I wouldn't be betting the house on them!

 

I guess my point is, don't have them in your toolbox and hope they will always get you out of trouble, have a solid and tried backup regime.

(sorry for the rant - backups (or lack of) are a bit of a personal bug-bear of mine)

 

But with Restore Points in CC, why not have an entry in the Windows tab, Advanced section called Restore Points and an option of how many to keep?

Over the years they can certain rack up and span many GiB's.

[Andavari]

It would be so much simpler if CCleaner would just Stop the System Restore service when Wipe Free Space was used, and when it's finished Start the System Restore service. It would end all matter of these posts (which has been going on for several years) about Restore Points being nuked.

[Willy2]

@SeaTac:

 

"All system restore points are deleted automatically except the newest one." I am curious because, as far as I know, that's impossible. I know one can do that manually, but "Automatically" ?What option in CCleaner did you use to achieve that ? How did you do that ?

 

If one uses the option "Wipe Free Space" then ALL those points will be deleted.

[spiritsoul]

SOLVED:  Just setting up new computer and was freaking out that all the system restore points (after each software install) were gone in Ccleaner.  Never happened before on old computer - so I played with the settings and added restore points and now it is keeping them.   

 

Here's how:

 

1) Go to Options > Settings > Wipe Free Space drives > UNCHECK - (C:) (or the name for your drive) AND 

UNCHECK - Wipe MFT Free Space

 

You can always manually wipe free space by going to Tools > Drive Wiper > Wipe (Free Space Only) >

Choose the Security (# of passes) you want > Check - C: (or the name for your drive).

 

Not sure if these one time manual wipe wipes the MFT as well though.  If not, go to #1 and reCheck items and

then do a manual wipe and then go back and uncheck those items if you want to keep restore points until you

choose to delete them or windows automatically does.

[fivish]

I have noticed for some years of using CCleaner that it sometimes deletes all system restore points.

I had this with windows 7 and its still doing it on windows 10.

I know that some time ago the developers insisted that CCleaner cannot delete system restore points, but it definitely does.

 

I am a Senior Systems Analyst in a well known telco.

[Andavari]

It's not actually CCleaner deleting the restore points. It's caused by Wipe Free Space filling up the hard disk which in turn causes Windows to automatically try to free up some available disk space which it does by deleting old restore points. I still think my solution in post 5 would work, but I seriously doubt they'll ever add in that functionality.