The Myths Surrounding System Restore
There are a whole bunch of myths and misconceptions which surround the Microsoft Windows system restore feature. This is unfortunate, as system restore itself is a fine concept and one which can be extremely useful. However, it should be noted that if you do not understand exactly what system restore is designed to do, then it is possible that you will come to rely upon it, thinking that it can safeguard you from a whole host of problems for which it was never designed to protect you from.
The most often misunderstood issue regarding Microsoft Windows system restore is that computer users believe it protects their data. This is entirely wrong, all saved documents, downloads and any personal information is not protected by system restore. System restore merely takes a snapshot of the state of your operating system and installed software whenever you install or uninstall an application or apply any operating system fixes or install new device drivers. This allows the user to step back in time and restore their PC to a previous state if they find that a new piece of software or device driver is incompatible with the current software suite, or causes some other form of problem.
Another myth regarding system restore is that people believe that it is completely hands-off, and requires no maintenance or administrative tasks at all. This is incorrect, every time system restore creates a restore point it will store a large quantity of data on your hard drive. This means that over time, it could end up filling an awful lot space. It is important that from time to time the PC owner removes outdated restore points. It is not unknown for system restore to take up 30 to 40 GB of space within just a few short weeks a fresh system install. To regain the space, simply delete the old restore points.
Although system restore is an extremely useful function, you can choose to turn it off altogether. This is especially useful for PC owners who have a limited amount of hard drive space available, and do not wish the PC to create restore points every time they install or uninstall an application.
So in summary, the Microsoft Windows system restore feature does not protect user specific data in any way, it simply ensures that the user has an easy way to roll back their PC to a previous state should they encounter problems after installing or uninstalling software, device drivers or operating system updates.
