Restore points not saving shadow copies of files

Frank15 · 09 Jul 2020

I read that restore points do also save files on the user's profile that you may restore later if you delete or edit them (please check the post below among other sources.
I've been testing this and couldn't see it working. Am I missing something?

Example:
- I created a restore point then edited a file in my c:/users/username/documents
- I edited the file then right-clicked it > restore previous versions, shouldn't it show the previous version of the file before the restore point?

Restore Previous Versions of Files, Folders, and Drives in Windows 10

Am I misunderstanding how this works?
Any help much welcome

OldNavyGuy · 09 Jul 2020

System Restore wouldn't show the change until the next restore point was created.

File History would need to be turned on to see it immediately.

Try3 · 09 Jul 2020

Antonio,

Restore points save system configurations not your own files [but are not reliable - system images,on the other hand, are reliable].
Create a System Restore Point - TenForumsTutorials

As the tutorial you linked to says, you can use [for example] File history to backup your own files.

System images and file backups are discussed in my ditty about backing up [images, file backups] - TenForums and in lots of other TenForums threads.

Denis

Frank15 · 10 Jul 2020

Try3 said:

Antonio,

Restore points save system configurations not your own files [but are not reliable - system images,on the other hand, are reliable].
Create a System Restore Point - TenForumsTutorials

As the tutorial you linked to says, you can use [for example] File history to backup your own files.

System images and file backups are discussed in my ditty about backing up [images, file backups] - TenForums and in lots of other TenForums threads.

Denis

Thanks for your answers, however, what I asked is if restore points save shadow copies of documents and other files.
I've been googling about this and apparently this was removed from Windows at some point, before this, restore points did also save copies of user files, even if no other volume than the system volume existed.

Try3 · 10 Jul 2020

No
and they never have

Frank15 · 13 Jul 2020

Try3 said:

No
and they never have

This was the case in Windows 7 then it was removed in Windows 8 if I'm right.

Bree · 13 Jul 2020

antonio3535 said:

This was the case in Windows 7 then it was removed in Windows 8 if I'm right.

No, you are thinking of Backup & Restore's 'create a system image'. That was removed in Windows 8 (or at least, so well hidden that only a Guru could find it). It made a comeback in W10, but there are far better and more reliable ways to make system images, such as Macrium Reflect Free.

Windows 7's System Restore never restored documents. I have just tested and confirmed that, in fact it explicitly tells you that "Your documents have not been affected".