Windows XP - System Restore

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hlewton
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Windows XP - System Restore

Post by hlewton »

I just read Big Al's thread about System Restore but I believe my question is better posted in a new thread.

Anyway it seems the more I use computers the more I don't seem to understand what I thought I knew. I had thought that running a system restore would restore the system to the state it was before installing a software update such as new printer drivers and its software. I believed it would only reverse that kind of action and leave any data files alone during the restore process.

The other day Kodak had me update my Kodak printer's software by automatically periodically checking for new updates. Once that update was done it said if I had other computers in my network I also needed to update them as well. After 3 days I decided to manually check for updates to the Kodak printer on my other computers. The check showed I had the latest software installed. After checking the version number of the software I saw that the one that Kodak had me update had a newer version number than on the machine I had just manually checked for an update. I then called Kodak tech support to see why a new update did not show up when manually checking for it. I was told they had stopped the roll out of that update because in some systems it was causing problems so my machine that showed the older version was now again the current version.

I was told if I wanted to go back I had to uninstall the newer version and then go to their WEB site and reinstall the older version but only needed to do this if I had any problems with the new, now canceled update. I decided not to wait and figured that running a system restore would take my computer back to the previous software version. Well it did not even though it said the system restore was successful. So my questions are should that system restore have worked by taking me back to the previous software version and if so any ideas why it did not work?
Regards,
hlewton

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HansV
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Re: Windows XP - System Restore

Post by HansV »

A system restore to a time before you installed the update should have restored the older version, but I would leave it alone. Or follow Kodak's advice: uninstall the current version and download the older version.
Best wishes,
Hans

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hlewton
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Re: Windows XP - System Restore

Post by hlewton »

Yeah I thought so too but it didn't. I tested the 3 things I use this all in one printer for and it seems to be working fine so for the time being I am going to leave it alone. Still I feel disappointed with system restore. I have used it in the past and always had confidence it would remove faulty installations but it just didn't do that this time.
Regards,
hlewton

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Argus
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Re: Windows XP - System Restore

Post by Argus »

hlewton wrote:So my questions are should that system restore have worked by taking me back to the previous software version and if so any ideas why it did not work?
First of all it depends on if the software update uses a process supported by System Restore (SR). Secondly, but I think you know this, a system restore is system wide, so in many cases it is far better to just work with the software, but if no big changes has been made since the installation it is usually no problem.

However, in any case SR is not an uninstall/install tool; I have mentioned that several times here and at the old Lounge. If one wants to revert to an older state, a Restore Point (RP), for some reason, uninstall software that has been installed after the RP was created, and then use SR.

All kinds of "unforeseen" things can happen otherwise; going back to an old RP, but all software related files are not removed, and then perhaps one can't run the uninstall, and could perhaps even be problem with installing the software again etc. But most software behaves nowadays, however it could become a mess.

I agree with Hans' conclusion, leave it if you don't have any problems, or uninstall and install.

Take a look at this short FAQ (at Bert Kinney's, MVP, site):
When To Use System Restore
There are several, but one quote:
bertk.mvps.org wrote:Can I use System Restore to uninstall applications?
NO! System Restore does not completely uninstall applications when restoring to a point prior to the applications installation. What happens is, System Restore only removes the monitored files for the installed applications and the remaining non-monitored files are left behind. Any registry entries made by the installation of the application will also be gone. This will cause the application not to function. And in some cases, cause the uninstall and reinstall process of the partially removed application to fail. This is why it is recommended to uninstall any applications installed after the restore point you will be restoring to. If the uninstall and reinstall fail, try to undo the restore point, uninstall the application in question, then perform the restore again. The only other option would be to manually remove (for advanced users) leftover files, folders, shortcuts, and registry entries.
Or from the horse's mouth, Microsoft:
Microsoft Windows XP - Understanding System Restore
Microsoft wrote: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.
Some more links are also found in this old post.
Byelingual    When you speak two languages but start losing vocabulary in both of them.

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hlewton
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Re: Windows XP - System Restore

Post by hlewton »

Argus thank you very much for all this information. It seems what you quoted does, in fact, deal exactly what I have experienced.
Regards,
hlewton