Re: Really LONG System Restore Times on Two Computers

JS, is the D: partition being monitored by System Restore?

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

JS wrote:
Remember that I mentioned (at least I think I did) that Zone Alarm on my PC is installed on my D: partition. I just checked the Zone Alarm files on D: and find that none have changed since I installed the latest version a few days back.

The question may be what file or files (if any) that is part of the backup file set created by System Restore that is directly or indirectly touched or modified by ZA. Could be the ZA log files which are on the C: partition even when the product is installed on the D: partition as in my case?

JS

"Alan" <somewhere@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:evfRtA0GIHA.4112@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yes, since I took Zone Alarm of my machine the end of last week, MY RPs have been normal.

Yet, JS has installed the same version of Z/A that I had, and HIS RPs are normal too.

In my case -- unless now that WD is turned back on and I start getting huge RPs again -- it appears that Zone Alarm Version 7.0.408.000 is somehow the cause.

But why isn't Z/A v 7.0.408.000 causing any problems for JS?

Alan

"Bert Kinney" <bert@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:OmVH9RyGIHA.4476@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ok, there's no ZA installed at this point. Good.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org


Alan wrote:
Hi JS and Bert,

I was going to report MY findings today, and I see you have already posted yours. :>

After Bert and I discussed using JUST the SP2 firewall rather than Zone Alarm 7.0.408.000 the other day, I have done that.

Without Z/A, the 6 RPs that have been created on my machine are between 53 MB and 57 MB.

If you'll recall I also had previously turned off my Windows Defender. I'm going to turn that back on now to see if my RPs start climbing in size with WD turned on.

What version of Z/A are you using, JS?

Alan

"Bert Kinney" <bert@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:u05Qn8oGIHA.2100@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks for the update. What version of ZA is installed?

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org


JS wrote:
I'm still monitoring the size of the RP files now that I've installed the free version of Zone Alarm, so far nothing out of the ordinary as far as RP folder/file sizes but I want to wait at least one or two more days to be absolutely certain ZA is not the cause of your problem.

JS

"Alan" <somewhere@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:e2rNQVDGIHA.5160@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
JS and Bert,

Is there a later version of Z/A Free than the one I'm using?

In the meantime while YOU try things out, ( :> ) I think I'm going to take Bert's advice and turn off/uninstall Z/A for now and just use the native SP2 firewall.

I'll let you both know what's happening to my RP sizes, and please let me know what you find, JS.

Alan

"JS" <@> wrote in message news:Oup$EJDGIHA.4956@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bert, Alan
Well I guess it can't hurt to try the latest version of Zone Alarm (free) available on their web site. I'll report back any findings.

JS

"Bert Kinney" <bert@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:u%23wYfDDGIHA.3980@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That's good to know JS. I believe some newer versions are responsible for the bloat of the SVI folder also.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org


JS wrote:
The version of Zone Alarm (free) that I am using (6.5.737.000 installed in Oct. of last year) which is two updates past the initial release of version 6.5 has caused me no problems with system restore. What version are you using Alan?

JS

"Bert Kinney" <bert@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:e8CoCvCGIHA.3376@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Alan,

Zone Alarm has has a bug that creates very large .rdb files within the system. These .rdb files are monitored by System Restore and thus end up in the restore points located in the System Volume Information folder, along with other locations on the system. The best advise is to revert to an earlier version of Zone Alarm. Then disable System Restore which will purge all existing restore points, then turn it back on. For more information on this subject please visit the Zone Labs User Forum.

ZA Free bloats System Restore - Beware - General - ZoneAlarm User Forum
http://forum.zonelabs.org/zonelabs/board/message?board.id=gen&message.id=34871

Now the question arises, is ZA really necessary. How does this machine connect to the internet, DSL/Cable or Dial-up, and is there a router involved?

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org


Alan wrote:
Hi Bert,

Yes, I have ZA Free installed.

Alan

"Bert Kinney" wrote
Hi Alan,

Is Zone Alarm installed on this system?

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org


Alan wrote:
Hi Bert and JS,

When I adjusted my SR size to 3 Gig, I ended up with RPs going back only three days -- including the one that was made on 10/24/07 and was 1.15 GB.

So, I just turned off SR, restarted it, and manually created an RP in addition to the one that was automatically created.

I then ran SR to go back to one of the two RPs. This time System Restore took less than 5 minutes (probably only two minutes) to gather the files and return to the RP.

After I cleaned out all previous RPs, I set the maximum size once again to its maximum 12 percent of the available HD space.

Since then, there have been 4 RPs made with the following statistics:

- 54.9 MB (34 Files, 3 Folders) October 25, 2007, 8:17:02 PM -- Auto-created

- 61.1 MB (259 Files, 3 Folders) October 25, 2007, 8:18:20 PM -- Manually created

- 389 MB (218 Files, 3 Folders) on October 25, 2007, 8:23:12 PM -- System Checkpoint

- 513 MB (259 Files, 3 Folders) Today, October 26, 2007, 1:48:33 AM -- Software Distribution Service 3.0. According to my Windows Defender log, this is the time that WD ran overnight.

As you can see, the RP size is very quickly increasing in size within 4 RPs and an elapsed time of 12 hours.

Is this 'normal?'

Alan

"Bert Kinney" wrote
Hi Alan,

Set System Restore to only monitor the drive/partition Windows is installed on.
How to disable a monitored drive:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/drivedisable.html

Set System Restore to use 1 - 2 GB's of disk space to hold restore points.
How to Adjust the amount of disk space System Restore uses to hold restore points:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html

Then test System Restore.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/tips.html#3

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org


Alan wrote:
Hi all,

I have a question regarding the time for a System Restore on my PC -- a Dell DM061/Dimension E520 with 2 GB RAM-- and my son's machine -- a Dell XPS 410 also with 2 GB RAM.

My PC has a 250 GB hard drive, while my son's is 325 GB.

I notice that on both machines, which are running XP Home with SP2 and all updates, System Restore takes what I think is a really long time to complete. Each take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to complete.

On my older Dell Dimension 2400, also running XP Home with SP2 and all updates and which has a 40 GB hard drive, System Restore never has taken more than 10 minutes and usually less time.

Is the length of time for System Restore related to the size of the Hard Drive, and is 45 minutes or so an excessive amount of time for SR to complete?

Thanks.

Alan



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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Really LONG System Restore Times on Two Computers
    ... Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User ... Member: http://dts-l.org ... I'm willing to un-install Zone Alarm from my D: partition and re-install it to the install's default location on my hard drive if you are interested. ... partition being monitored by System Restore? ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: System Restor Not Working
    ... Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User ... Member: http://dts-l.org ... this is found point the reinstall of System Restore to it. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain)
  • Re: System Restore
    ... Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User ... "daveg" wrote ... I suspect you used a restore process other than System Restore ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
  • Re: Really LONG System Restore Times on Two Computers
    ... Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User ... Member: http://dts-l.org ... "Alan" wrote in message ... These .rdb files are monitored by System Restore and thus end up in the restore points located in the System Volume Information folder, along with other locations on the system. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Really LONG System Restore Times on Two Computers
    ... Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User ... Member: http://dts-l.org ... "Alan" wrote in message ... These .rdb files are monitored by System Restore and thus end up in the restore points located in the System Volume Information folder, along with other locations on the system. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)