Re: System Restore Saved Me Today

On Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:59:36 -0700, Islander <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Rumpelstiltskin wrote:
<snip>


If I download a program to try it out, then decide I don't like
it, I habitually run System Restore rather than uninstalling it.
Uninstalling it might leave bits around, including nosyware,
but System Restore will take you back to where you were
before. I have my computer set to create a restore point
every day. It doesn't take up much space, it's just two files.

See the following on the Micro$oft instructions for System Restore:

"Note System Restore does not replace the process of uninstalling a
program. To completely remove the files installed by a program, you must
remove the program using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel or the
program's own uninstall program. To open Add or Remove Programs, click
Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs."

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/systemrestore.mspx


That statement doesn't look false, but the sin of omission
in it seems to me so monstrous as to arouse paranoid
question in me about the motive. It is likely that doing a
system restore to remove a recently-installed program would
leave some orphaned files lying about in strange corners,
but they wouldn't ever get executed so all they'd do is take
up a tiny amount of space. That tiny amount of space is no
risk, but there is a huge risk that running "uninstall" would
deliberately leave spyware or other nasty stuff in effect that
had been installed along with the program. Any such
problem that wouldn't be cured by "uninstall" *would* be
taken care of by a system restore back to a time before the
program had been installed.

The uninstall process doesn't remove everything anyway.
I'm always running into folders that contain residual crap
from programs I've uninstalled. Sometimes you're told of
the junk that will remain after the uninstall process, but
sometimes not, and god only knows what crap is left lying
around that isn't in places so readily identifiable when
you run across it.

Given the risk/advantage ratio, doing a system restore
rather than just uninstalling a program that had just been
installed seems to me a no-brainer.

If Microsoft objects so strongly to crap lying around, they
shouldn't have designed an operating system that seems
deliberately contrived to scatter crap all over the place,
often in inscrutable places with inscrutable names, to boot.
That contrivance is for copyright control, and to prevent
people from repeatedly loading trial programs rather than
paying, and such, of course, but the result is of course
a system that repeatedly shows indication of doing things
out of sight of the user, that people can't easily decipher.
Quite expectedly and quite justifiably, the operating system
is therefore viewed with distrust. If Microsoft doesn't like
those peaches, it shouldn't have shaken that tree. If it
wants those peaches, it's silly for it not to anticipate the
distrust that will inevitably ensue.

I have more than once, after a trial installation of a
program that expired before I'd really looked at the
program, done a "system restore" so that I could install
the trial program again without being blocked from doing
so by the hidden signals in the registry that would stop
me from doing that, which would of course *not* be
removed by "uninstall". I can imagine a reinstallation
block in the registry being based on looking for a file
that had been installed by the first installation, and
refusing to reinstall the trial program if that file was
found. Since the dummy file wouldn't be removed by
uninstall or by system restore, that would block the trial
program from being successfully reinstalled even after
a system restore. I haven't run into that, but it might
be common for all I know, because I've only a couple
of times run a system restore for the purpose of
reinstalling a trial program.





.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: SP2 issues
    ... Different installs should not add a new uninstall folder. ... But System Restore may take a Restore Point after each installation. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: printer installation error
    ... Disconnect the printer, uninstall the software, run system restore to a point before the installation began. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup)
  • Re: Using System Restore to ensure proper Uninstall of programs
    ... >uninstall software does not always remove all ... >traces of a program's installation. ... >perhaps one can leverage XP's System Restore facility to more thoroughly ... System Restore back to the point immediately prior to the ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain)
  • Re: Use system restore
    ... Aslo, i want uninstall Adobe ... I want do a system restore then, ... Can I use system restore just to get rid of registry entries left these programs? ... application installation the you would want to uninstall before restoring. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: System restore Gone?
    ... Also regarding System Restore still not working: how did you uninstall ... Registry cleaning programs are *all* snake oil. ... Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003 ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)