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Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M


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Guest caroloyl
Posted

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Hi Mike

 

I finally decided I really need to have My Pictures living on my desktop,

but before TweakUI will do the deed it pops up this scary warning:

 

"Carelessly changing a special folder may render your system unusable.

For example, don't set two special folders equal to each other, or set a

special folder equal to a system folder like the Fonts folder.

Continue changing special folders?"

 

If I move the My Pictures folder to the desktop it will then reside: inside

the Desktop folder, which is inside the Windows folder, which is inside the

C: folder; instead of where it is now: inside the My Documents folder which

is inside the C: folder.

 

Will making my proposed move have the effect of setting it "equal" to any

other system folder?? I must admit I haven't a clue what this means!

 

Also (and I see now Dapper Dan is grappling with this issue too):

 

"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in message

news:Oc23hvP5HHA.1148@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> > --moving My Pictures to the desktop where it would be subject to

> > ravaging by System Restore

>

> Whilst storing files in a location other than My Documents (and a few

> other places including Temp and TIF) does mean that System Restore will

> monitor the contents of the folder remember that SR has no interest in any

> graphics or media files such as those with jpg, bmp, tif, gif or png

> extensions. If you want to know which file extensions are monitored by SR

> then have a look at the <EXTENSIONS> <Include> section of the file

> filelist.xml located at C:Windows\System\Restore (you can open it using

> notepad). You will find that SR has no interest is the vast majority of

> user data files and can, if necessary, be easily modified to exclude any

> specific file type that a user needs to exclude. Details available of how

> to so do if required.

 

During the one SysRes I've done since I reinstalled Me on 8/8 (to purge a

Powertoy I installed that messed up in spite of an assurance promising

Me compatibility), I watched shortcuts disappear off my desktop and some

I'd deleted reappear. After the reboot I opened the desktop folder where

I'd stashed freshly downloaded new versions of some favorite programs and

discovered them missing. So SR routed out some of my personal files, thus

my original concern about SR and moving My Pictures to the desktop. At the

bottom of SR's "filelist.xml" in the category named <include> I find two of

my image file extensions--PSP, TUB;--as well as EOT, TTF, and LNK. Can I

use Notepad to edit that file and remove these "includes"?

 

Even if so, I intend to schedule SmartSync Pro to backup certain folders at

my nightly shutdown--and My Pictures will definitely be one of them!

 

Thanks SO muchly for your help :-)

 

carol

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Posted

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Two objects being the same would be if, for example you chose to make the

My Documents object "C:\Data" and the My Pictures object also "C:\Data".

Having My Pictures point to C:\Windows\Desktop\Pictures is not a problem

if the Desktop is C:\Windows\Desktop. This is no different to the default

of My Pictures being within My Documents (C:\My Documents and C:\My

Documents\My Pictures). If you then wanted to exclude the Desktop and any

folders placed there from System Restore that would take another five

minutes and require a second to get the details of how to do this post

although this isn't really necessary since system restore has no interest

in your data files such as photographs and graphics..

> Also (and I see now Dapper Dan is grappling with this issue too):

 

Does he? I wasn't aware that you were having an issue let alone Dan. You

asked about moving My Pictures out of My Documents on 17 August and I

explained what you had to do. You then digressed and talked about the

limitations of your graphics software and its open dialogue.

--

Mike Maltby

mike.maltby@gmail.com

 

 

caroloyl <caroloyl@gmail-expungethis.com> wrote:

> Hi Mike

>

> I finally decided I really need to have My Pictures living on my

> desktop, but before TweakUI will do the deed it pops up this scary

> warning:

>

> "Carelessly changing a special folder may render your system unusable.

> For example, don't set two special folders equal to each other, or

> set a special folder equal to a system folder like the Fonts folder.

> Continue changing special folders?"

>

> If I move the My Pictures folder to the desktop it will then reside:

> inside the Desktop folder, which is inside the Windows folder, which

> is inside the C: folder; instead of where it is now: inside the My

> Documents folder which is inside the C: folder.

>

> Will making my proposed move have the effect of setting it "equal" to

> any other system folder?? I must admit I haven't a clue what this

> means!

>

> Also (and I see now Dapper Dan is grappling with this issue too):

Guest Dapper Dan
Posted

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

No issue with me. I think it was the explanation of what file associations

are protected by SR.

 

Dan

"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in message

news:%23CZQJc67HHA.5424@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Two objects being the same would be if, for example you chose to make the

> My Documents object "C:\Data" and the My Pictures object also "C:\Data".

> Having My Pictures point to C:\Windows\Desktop\Pictures is not a problem

> if the Desktop is C:\Windows\Desktop. This is no different to the default

> of My Pictures being within My Documents (C:\My Documents and C:\My

> Documents\My Pictures). If you then wanted to exclude the Desktop and any

> folders placed there from System Restore that would take another five

> minutes and require a second to get the details of how to do this post

> although this isn't really necessary since system restore has no interest

> in your data files such as photographs and graphics..

>

>> Also (and I see now Dapper Dan is grappling with this issue too):

>

> Does he? I wasn't aware that you were having an issue let alone Dan. You

> asked about moving My Pictures out of My Documents on 17 August and I

> explained what you had to do. You then digressed and talked about the

> limitations of your graphics software and its open dialogue.

> --

> Mike Maltby

> mike.maltby@gmail.com

>

>

> caroloyl <caroloyl@gmail-expungethis.com> wrote:

>

>> Hi Mike

>>

>> I finally decided I really need to have My Pictures living on my

>> desktop, but before TweakUI will do the deed it pops up this scary

>> warning:

>>

>> "Carelessly changing a special folder may render your system unusable.

>> For example, don't set two special folders equal to each other, or

>> set a special folder equal to a system folder like the Fonts folder.

>> Continue changing special folders?"

>>

>> If I move the My Pictures folder to the desktop it will then reside:

>> inside the Desktop folder, which is inside the Windows folder, which

>> is inside the C: folder; instead of where it is now: inside the My

>> Documents folder which is inside the C: folder.

>>

>> Will making my proposed move have the effect of setting it "equal" to

>> any other system folder?? I must admit I haven't a clue what this

>> means!

>>

>> Also (and I see now Dapper Dan is grappling with this issue too):

>

Posted

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Thanks Dan,

 

I didn't recall seeing any post from you mentioning any problem with the

location of the My Pictures object. I hope you've now managed to sort out

your problems with SpyBot.

 

Cheers,

 

Mike M

 

 

Dapper Dan <dapperdan@home.com> wrote:

> No issue with me. I think it was the explanation of what file

> associations are protected by SR.

Guest caroloyl
Posted

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Hi Mike

 

Thanks for the folder "equality" clarification--I'm thinking the Tweak

writers just assumed the gal-on-the-street would understand.

 

From his recent post about troubles installing the Spybot update it seemed

Dapper Dan and I were both concerned with which file extensions

SystemRestore purges and/or replaces. The "also" part of my first post in

this thread was intended to point to the last paragraph I wrote in it

(quoted here--sorry that wasn't clear):

> During the one SysRes I've done since I reinstalled Me on 8/8 (to purge a

> Powertoy I installed that messed up in spite of an assurance promising

> Me compatibility), I watched shortcuts disappear off my desktop and some

> I'd deleted reappear. After the reboot I opened the desktop folder where

> I'd stashed freshly downloaded new versions of some favorite programs and

> discovered them missing. So SR routed out some of my personal files, thus

> my original concern about SR and moving My Pictures to the desktop. At

>the bottom of SR's "filelist.xml" in the category named <include> I find

> two of my image file extensions--PSP, TUB;--as well as EOT, TTF, and LNK.

>Can I use Notepad to edit that file and remove these "includes"?

 

In your reply to Dan (September 04, 2007 2:31 PM) you said:

 

Subject: Re: System Restore

> System restore does not archive and has no interest in data files wherever

> located unless one happens to have a file extension in the Extension

> Include list which is unusual if not extremely rare.

 

And in your post to me (August 22, 2007 3:34 PM) you mentioned:

> If you want to know which file extensions are monitored by SR

> then have a look at the <EXTENSIONS> <Include> section of the file

> filelist.xml located at C:Windows\System\Restore (you can open it using

> notepad). You will find that SR has no interest is the vast majority of

> user data files and can, if necessary, be easily modified to exclude any

> specific file type that a user needs to exclude. Details available of how

> to so do if required.

 

PSP and TUB are both Paint Shop Pro image file formats (which I transfer to

My Pictures after a short sojourn in my desktop Downloads folder), TTF and

EOT are font file extensions, and LNK--well it's a link. Why would SR

remove or replace any of these?--I certainly don't want it to.

 

Can I edit these extensions out of SR's <EXTENSIONS><Include> list using

Notepad? Can I add My Pictures and my personal desktop Downloads folder

to SR's <DIRECTORIES><Exclude> list? ("Documents and Settings" is already

excluded--but My Pictures won't be if I move it to the desktop.) Will the

EXE files in my Downloads folder still be removed (EXE is in the

<EXTENSIONS><Include> list) if I put the Downloads folder in the

<DIRECTORIES><Exclude> list?

 

Guess I need those details ;-) TIA

 

carol

 

 

 

______________________________________________

 

 

"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in message

news:#CZQJc67HHA.5424@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Two objects being the same would be if, for example you chose to make the

> My Documents object "C:\Data" and the My Pictures object also "C:\Data".

> Having My Pictures point to C:\Windows\Desktop\Pictures is not a problem

> if the Desktop is C:\Windows\Desktop. This is no different to the default

> of My Pictures being within My Documents (C:\My Documents and C:\My

> Documents\My Pictures). If you then wanted to exclude the Desktop and any

> folders placed there from System Restore that would take another five

> minutes and require a second to get the details of how to do this post

> although this isn't really necessary since system restore has no interest

> in your data files such as photographs and graphics..

>

> > Also (and I see now Dapper Dan is grappling with this issue too):

>

> Does he? I wasn't aware that you were having an issue let alone Dan. You

> asked about moving My Pictures out of My Documents on 17 August and I

> explained what you had to do. You then digressed and talked about the

> limitations of your graphics software and its open dialogue.

> --

> Mike Maltby

> mike.maltby@gmail.com

>

>

> caroloyl <caroloyl@gmail-expungethis.com> wrote:

>

> > Hi Mike

> >

> > I finally decided I really need to have My Pictures living on my

> > desktop, but before TweakUI will do the deed it pops up this scary

> > warning:

> >

> > "Carelessly changing a special folder may render your system unusable.

> > For example, don't set two special folders equal to each other, or

> > set a special folder equal to a system folder like the Fonts folder.

> > Continue changing special folders?"

> >

> > If I move the My Pictures folder to the desktop it will then reside:

> > inside the Desktop folder, which is inside the Windows folder, which

> > is inside the C: folder; instead of where it is now: inside the My

> > Documents folder which is inside the C: folder.

> >

> > Will making my proposed move have the effect of setting it "equal" to

> > any other system folder?? I must admit I haven't a clue what this

> > means!

> >

> > Also (and I see now Dapper Dan is grappling with this issue too):

>

Posted

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

I'm pleased to read that you've taken the time to look at the contents of

the file filelist.xml.

 

LNK extensions are shortcuts and these are properly monitored by system

restore. as are TTF which are True Type Fonts and EOT which are Embedded

fonts since all these file types are part of the operating system and none

are "data" as such. If opening My Pictures to SR monitoring worries you

then don't move, use a shortcut. If you want to move the folder and don't

want SR to monitor the folder then either turn off system restore or ask

for details of how to modify the contents of filelist.xml which requires

more than just editing it with notepad.

 

It's unfortunate that both PSP and TUB are monitored file types, PSP is

used by many different applications, not just Paint Shop Pro and for some

SR protection is logical but I don't know why TUB files are being

monitored. I think that Paint Shop Pro was still a small freeware product

with a limited audience when Win Me and it's SR file types was developed

in 1999 although the same file list was then carried forward to XP in

2001. Nevertheless it is very easy to remove these file types from Win

Me's SR embrace as it is any other unwanted file type.

 

Post back starting a new thread and I'll try and explain what you need to

do to modify the state manager's behaviour.

--

Mike Maltby

mike.maltby@gmail.com

 

 

caroloyl <caroloyl@gmail-expungethis.com> wrote:

> Hi Mike

>

> Thanks for the folder "equality" clarification--I'm thinking the Tweak

> writers just assumed the gal-on-the-street would understand.

>

> From his recent post about troubles installing the Spybot update it

> seemed Dapper Dan and I were both concerned with which file extensions

> SystemRestore purges and/or replaces. The "also" part of my first

> post in this thread was intended to point to the last paragraph I

> wrote in it (quoted here--sorry that wasn't clear):

>

>> During the one SysRes I've done since I reinstalled Me on 8/8 (to

>> purge a Powertoy I installed that messed up in spite of an assurance

>> promising

>> Me compatibility), I watched shortcuts disappear off my desktop and

>> some I'd deleted reappear. After the reboot I opened the desktop

>> folder where I'd stashed freshly downloaded new versions of some

>> favorite programs and discovered them missing. So SR routed out

>> some of my personal files, thus my original concern about SR and

>> moving My Pictures to the desktop. At the bottom of SR's

>> "filelist.xml" in the category named <include> I find two of my

>> image file extensions--PSP, TUB;--as well as EOT, TTF, and LNK. Can

>> I use Notepad to edit that file and remove these "includes"?

>

> In your reply to Dan (September 04, 2007 2:31 PM) you said:

>

> Subject: Re: System Restore

>> System restore does not archive and has no interest in data files

>> wherever located unless one happens to have a file extension in the

>> Extension Include list which is unusual if not extremely rare.

>

> And in your post to me (August 22, 2007 3:34 PM) you mentioned:

>

>> If you want to know which file extensions are monitored by SR

>> then have a look at the <EXTENSIONS> <Include> section of the file

>> filelist.xml located at C:Windows\System\Restore (you can open it

>> using notepad). You will find that SR has no interest is the vast

>> majority of user data files and can, if necessary, be easily

>> modified to exclude any specific file type that a user needs to

>> exclude. Details available of how to so do if required.

>

> PSP and TUB are both Paint Shop Pro image file formats (which I

> transfer to My Pictures after a short sojourn in my desktop Downloads

> folder), TTF and EOT are font file extensions, and LNK--well it's a

> link. Why would SR remove or replace any of these?--I certainly

> don't want it to.

>

> Can I edit these extensions out of SR's <EXTENSIONS><Include> list

> using Notepad? Can I add My Pictures and my personal desktop

> Downloads folder to SR's <DIRECTORIES><Exclude> list? ("Documents and

> Settings" is already excluded--but My Pictures won't be if I move it

> to the desktop.) Will the EXE files in my Downloads folder still be

> removed (EXE is in the <EXTENSIONS><Include> list) if I put the

> Downloads folder in the <DIRECTORIES><Exclude> list?

>

> Guess I need those details ;-) TIA

Posted

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

I've now found a previous post I've made on editing filelist.xml and have

edited and posted it below. I thought I was going to have to write it

again.

 

Two points to note before we move on. 1) FileList.xml is protected from

amendment by Win Me's System File Protection mechanism, and, b) Win Me's

state manager doesn't actually use FileList.xml but rather the files

vxdmon.dat and vxdmon.cfg which are located in the _RESTORE folder on the

drive containing the windows folder. These two control files are rebuilt

each time that system restore is enabled.

 

1) Make a copy of filelist.xml, say filelist.new.

2) Remove the entry to filelist.xml from the new file filelist.new (Line:

829).

3) Edit Filelist.xml to exclude any file extensions you no longer want

monitored such as PSP and TUB in the section <EXTENSIONS> <Include>

4) Any folders that you specifically wish to exclude from SR's embrace to

the section <DIRECTORIES> <Exclude> noting that the contents of any

sub-folder of an excluded folder will also be excluded unless explicitly

added to the section <DIRECTORIES> <Include>.

Note that %personaldocuments% is the My Documents object wherever located.

The other %folder% names are hopefully self-explanatory. Note also that

you cannot use the wildcard * in a folder/directory or file name however

it can be used for the drive, for example *:\Temp which excludes the

contents of the Temp folder in the root of any drive.

5) Temporarily disable system restore

6) Boot to DOS with a floppy.

At the A:\> prompt type, all on the same line,

 

REN C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RESTORE\FILELIST.XML FILELIST.OLD

 

and then click Enter, now type, again all on the same line,

 

REN C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RESTORE\FILELIST.NEW FILELIST.XML

5) Remove floppy and boot back in to Win Me

6) Re-enable system restore and immediately reboot.

 

Your new edited copy of filelist.xml should now have been parsed and built

in to the newly created system restore control files. This is something

that happens each time that system restore is re-enabled.

 

Note that once you have removed the reference to itself in FileList.xml

this means that filelist.xml can later be edited as required without SFP

butting in and rearing its ugly head and changes to FileList.xml

incorporated into the control files simply by resetting SR without the

need to rename files from DOS. Also, if you get the syntax wrong in

FileList.xml, statemgr.exe (or is it stmgr.exe - I forget which) will balk

when building vxdmon.dat on booting the system and quit and sulk until you

correct the error in FileList.xml.

 

A final note. It is essential to reset system restore (disable and then

enable) following any change to the contents of filelist.xml otherwise the

changes will not be incorporated into the control files used by the state

manager.

--

Mike Maltby

mike.maltby@gmail.com

 

 

Mike M <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote:

> I'm pleased to read that you've taken the time to look at the

> contents of the file filelist.xml.

>

> LNK extensions are shortcuts and these are properly monitored by

> system restore. as are TTF which are True Type Fonts and EOT which

> are Embedded fonts since all these file types are part of the

> operating system and none are "data" as such. If opening My Pictures

> to SR monitoring worries you then don't move, use a shortcut. If you

> want to move the folder and don't want SR to monitor the folder then

> either turn off system restore or ask for details of how to modify

> the contents of filelist.xml which requires more than just editing it

> with notepad.

> It's unfortunate that both PSP and TUB are monitored file types, PSP

> is used by many different applications, not just Paint Shop Pro and

> for some SR protection is logical but I don't know why TUB files are

> being monitored. I think that Paint Shop Pro was still a small

> freeware product with a limited audience when Win Me and it's SR file

> types was developed in 1999 although the same file list was then

> carried forward to XP in 2001. Nevertheless it is very easy to remove

> these file types from Win Me's SR embrace as it is any other unwanted

> file type.

> Post back starting a new thread and I'll try and explain what you

> need to do to modify the state manager's behaviour.

Guest caroloyl
Posted

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Hi Mike

 

Thank you SO much for providing me with this information. Your instructions

are saved in my "Windows Help" folder and I'm very glad my need didn't cause

you to have to rewrite them :-))) Sounds like a fun challenge--and you can

bet I'll be extremely careful making my changes.

 

I have one more quick question about SysRes: does using it remove or

replace files on other internal drives in addition to C: ? I find a

"_Restore" folder on my D: backup drive too and I sure don't want it messing

around in there =:-o

 

carol

 

 

 

 

"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in message

news:#jBy7JB8HHA.5752@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> I've now found a previous post I've made on editing filelist.xml and have

> edited and posted it below. I thought I was going to have to write it

> again.

>

> Two points to note before we move on. 1) FileList.xml is protected from

> amendment by Win Me's System File Protection mechanism, and, b) Win Me's

> state manager doesn't actually use FileList.xml but rather the files

> vxdmon.dat and vxdmon.cfg which are located in the _RESTORE folder on the

> drive containing the windows folder. These two control files are rebuilt

> each time that system restore is enabled.

>

> 1) Make a copy of filelist.xml, say filelist.new.

> 2) Remove the entry to filelist.xml from the new file filelist.new (Line:

> 829).

> 3) Edit Filelist.xml to exclude any file extensions you no longer want

> monitored such as PSP and TUB in the section <EXTENSIONS> <Include>

> 4) Any folders that you specifically wish to exclude from SR's embrace to

> the section <DIRECTORIES> <Exclude> noting that the contents of any

> sub-folder of an excluded folder will also be excluded unless explicitly

> added to the section <DIRECTORIES> <Include>.

> Note that %personaldocuments% is the My Documents object wherever located.

> The other %folder% names are hopefully self-explanatory. Note also that

> you cannot use the wildcard * in a folder/directory or file name however

> it can be used for the drive, for example *:\Temp which excludes the

> contents of the Temp folder in the root of any drive.

> 5) Temporarily disable system restore

> 6) Boot to DOS with a floppy.

> At the A:\> prompt type, all on the same line,

>

> REN C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RESTORE\FILELIST.XML FILELIST.OLD

>

> and then click Enter, now type, again all on the same line,

>

> REN C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RESTORE\FILELIST.NEW FILELIST.XML

> 5) Remove floppy and boot back in to Win Me

> 6) Re-enable system restore and immediately reboot.

>

> Your new edited copy of filelist.xml should now have been parsed and built

> in to the newly created system restore control files. This is something

> that happens each time that system restore is re-enabled.

>

> Note that once you have removed the reference to itself in FileList.xml

> this means that filelist.xml can later be edited as required without SFP

> butting in and rearing its ugly head and changes to FileList.xml

> incorporated into the control files simply by resetting SR without the

> need to rename files from DOS. Also, if you get the syntax wrong in

> FileList.xml, statemgr.exe (or is it stmgr.exe - I forget which) will balk

> when building vxdmon.dat on booting the system and quit and sulk until you

> correct the error in FileList.xml.

>

> A final note. It is essential to reset system restore (disable and then

> enable) following any change to the contents of filelist.xml otherwise the

> changes will not be incorporated into the control files used by the state

> manager.

> --

> Mike Maltby

> mike.maltby@gmail.com

>

>

> Mike M <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote:

>

> > I'm pleased to read that you've taken the time to look at the

> > contents of the file filelist.xml.

> >

> > LNK extensions are shortcuts and these are properly monitored by

> > system restore. as are TTF which are True Type Fonts and EOT which

> > are Embedded fonts since all these file types are part of the

> > operating system and none are "data" as such. If opening My Pictures

> > to SR monitoring worries you then don't move, use a shortcut. If you

> > want to move the folder and don't want SR to monitor the folder then

> > either turn off system restore or ask for details of how to modify

> > the contents of filelist.xml which requires more than just editing it

> > with notepad.

> > It's unfortunate that both PSP and TUB are monitored file types, PSP

> > is used by many different applications, not just Paint Shop Pro and

> > for some SR protection is logical but I don't know why TUB files are

> > being monitored. I think that Paint Shop Pro was still a small

> > freeware product with a limited audience when Win Me and it's SR file

> > types was developed in 1999 although the same file list was then

> > carried forward to XP in 2001. Nevertheless it is very easy to remove

> > these file types from Win Me's SR embrace as it is any other unwanted

> > file type.

> > Post back starting a new thread and I'll try and explain what you

> > need to do to modify the state manager's behaviour.

>

Posted

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Re: Moving My Pictures - Mike M

 

Carol,

 

Win Me's system restore unfortunately monitors all fixed (permanent)

drives and the only configuration is on or off and the amount of space

that can be allocated to the store. The instructions contained in my

previous post on how to add or exclude monitored folders and file types

(and also remove system file protection monitoring from certain files if

required) was the result of a fair bit of research and work following Win

Me's launch at which time little was known or documented about SR since at

the time it was a brand new feature. Since then XP (and now Vista) have

launched and SR has developed. For example in XP, SR can be

enabled/disabled on a drive by drive basis although it has to be running

on the drive containing Windows (usually C:\) to be able to run on another

drive. In other words, if you have 3 drives, C, D & E you can have SR

enabled on all 3, or C+D, C+E or C alone but not D+E of just D or E.

 

Another weakness of SR as implemented on Win Me is that whilst each drive

has a _RESTORE folder, only that on C:\ has the five sub-folders used by

the archive meaning that monitored files on say drive D get copied to the

archive on C. With XP each drive has its own archive which means that

files don't get moved between drives which can potentially slow down the

system if large files are being archived. Note, don't try to move or

delete the _RESTORE folder on other drives. It contains an important

file, srdiskid.dat, which contains just a single character which is the

allocated drive letter for the drive. If on booting the state manager

detects that the actual drive letter differs from that stored in

srdiskid.dat it resets system restore with the loss of all checkpoints

because it "thinks" the drive layout has altered in someway and the

archive is as a result compromised.

 

Win Me's SR should not monitor external or removable drives although this

has been known to happen occasionally but this is normally due to an odd

driver and isn't the norm.

 

One way to stop SR being interested for the most part in drives other than

C is to be organised and methodical and store all data on those drives in

an ordered way under say just a few top level folders. For example have

all of the files on your backup drive contained in a top level folder

called, for example, D:\Backups and then add D:\Backups to the directories

exclusion list in filelist.xml. This is how I ran Win Me when I was

running it on a system with multiple drives. You don't have to limit

yourself to just one excluded top level folder but I would suggest using a

few only rather than adding a long list of exclusions but now you know how

to do this how you use that information has to be up to you. <vbg>

 

Once again note that it is ESSENTIAL whenever you change filelist.xml to

cycle SR off and then back on again so as to rebuild the control files and

thus put in to effect the changes.

 

Very best of luck,

--

Mike Maltby

mike.maltby@gmail.com

 

 

caroloyl <caroloyl@gmail-expungethis.com> wrote:

> Hi Mike

>

> Thank you SO much for providing me with this information. Your

> instructions are saved in my "Windows Help" folder and I'm very glad

> my need didn't cause you to have to rewrite them :-))) Sounds like a

> fun challenge--and you can bet I'll be extremely careful making my

> changes.

>

> I have one more quick question about SysRes: does using it remove or

> replace files on other internal drives in addition to C: ? I find a

> "_Restore" folder on my D: backup drive too and I sure don't want it

> messing around in there =:-o


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