Backup Restore Points

[ArchAngle]

Firstly I'll have to admit that it is a very long time since I've had to use a restore point to fix a problem on my PC but, in the past, they have been an absolutely vital safety net when nothing else has worked.

CCleaner has always had a built in tool allowing users to delete specific restore points but what I have always wanted was the ability to actually back them up ie. do something it is actually quite difficult to do yourself. Even if you know how to find and access the, by default hidden, System Volume Information (SVI) folder where the restore point information is located you can not, easily, back them up. You may have full admin rights and permissions shown but the seemingly simple act of backing up a restore point is not allowed.

It is also not always easy to work out which of the files within the SVI folder are the restore points as they are not identified by the name given when you or the PC create them. There is just a long ID and date shown, a pretty poor clue as to which of that important system folder's contents are the restore points let alone specific ones. 

The only way I have found to do it is a crude solution: backup the whole SVI folder using a cloning/backup tool like Easeus Todo Backup. I've never had the guts even to test whether that backup even works for fear it might crash the PC.

But it has always occurred to me if CCleaner can identify restore points and has permission to delete them why can't it made even more useful and allow you additional restore point management functions, primarily to back them up instead of just deletion?

AFAIK know no other tool can do this. There might good reason for that but I just thought if it is possible this would add extra useful functionality to CCleaner.

 

[Andavari]

Using that disk imaging tool you mentioned (or others) is likely the only way you'll be able to backup restore points, along with everything else on the drive too.

[ArchAngle]

So you're saying there is no way for CCleaner to be able to what I've suggested even though it can erase restore points?