How do I do

[midnight]

a system restore on win 8.1?

[midnight]

Never mind.  I remember the last time I done a system restore.............it really messed up my computer.

[ehmen]

Never mind.  I remember the last time I done a system restore.............it really messed up my computer.

In what way?

[mchain]

If you are talking about avast not running properly or not at all after a system restore, you need to disable "Enable Avast self-defense module" before running system restore.

Avast>Settings>Troubleshooting   Untick the box, close Avast, and then run System Restore.

Why do you feel you need to run SR? 

[ehmen]

If you are talking about avast not running properly or not at all after a system restore, you need to disable "Enable Avast self-defense module" before running system restore.

Until I disabled the defense module, Avast acted weirdly after every system restore I did, necessitating me to restart the computer again for it to go back to normal (though not before sticking their shortcut icon on the desktop which I promptly delete every time).
Nonetheless aside from that the system restore seems to have worked fine otherwise.
Is there anything to be concerned about that something else in the system restore didn't go well or became corrupted because of Avast interfering with it due to the defense module being on, even though I see no evidence of that other than a black screen for a few minutes after the first post-restore login?

[DavidR]

You could help us a lot by completing the Signature section in your Profile settings. Give details about your system OS, CPU, RAM, avast version including build number, any other security based software. That way we don't have to ask questions to try to suggest a possible reason/solution.

You ask a lot of questions and that kind of information helps us to help you.

As I have mentioned in another topic you posted in System Restore and the avast self defence module used to have issues. This issue was meant to have been resolved  in later versions of avast and I believe may also be OS related.

So if you don't have the latest avast version then the issue with system restore and avast may not be resolved.

[ehmen]

I have the latest version of Avast.

My RAM is 2GB and CPU is always fluctuating (and the OS is my Avatar).

[ehmen]

So does the above help resolve my question at all?

[DavidR]

Well I can obviously see your OS in the avatar, but the idea is to have a full signature with details on your system, so we don't have to constantly ask. This isn't just for this particular question but for the future.

Despite my asking you didn't either give answers to the questions I asked nor create a forum signature.

You could help us a lot by completing the Signature section in your Profile settings. You could help us a lot by completing the Signature section in your Profile settings. Give details about your system OS, CPU, RAM, avast version including build number, any other security based software..

Your CPU isn't always fluctuating, the CPU is the chip on your motherboard that never changes (unless you manually replace it), what changes is its activity. As you can see from my signature my CPU is an Intel Core2Duo E8300.

If you read my previous response (Reply #5) again you should be able to see what is crucial to your question is the avast build that you are using (as that determines how effective system restore is likely to be).

[ehmen]

You could help us a lot by completing the Signature section in your Profile settings. Give details about your system OS, CPU, RAM, avast version including build number, any other security based software. That way we don't have to ask questions to try to suggest a possible reason/solution.
...
So if you don't have the latest avast version then the issue with system restore and avast may not be resolved.

I have the latest version. See the rest of your requested information below.

[DavidR]

OK as far as I'm aware the latest version of avast is meant to be more tolerant of system restore. If you are still having issues with system restore then disable the self-defence module before using it.

Personally I gave up on system restore many, many years ago (over 10 or 11 years) as it doesn't cover everything, it is a backup program that backs up 100% so using system restore can have unexpected consequences.

I prefer to use a hard disk imaging software as that makes an exact copy of your Hard Drive or Partition. It can quickly restore your last drive image in a matter of minutes (for me 20) and it does it outside of windows so no issue whatsoever with avast or other security bases software.

I take an image back-up of my primary hard disk partitions every week as part of my system maintenance. This is saved to my second HDD or it can also be written to a DVD. I also back-up volatile data files, .doc, .xls, etc. along with emails, bookmarks, address book, registration keys, etc. (anything you don't want to lose) every day sometimes several times a day.

So if I experience a problem, then I just restore my last back-up disk image (takes about 20 minutes) followed by the last daily data back-up (takes seconds rather than minutes) and I will have lost virtually nothing.

Compare that with your experience with system restore and the money I paid for my disk imaging software would have paid for itself if it had to be used just once if you valued your time at just £5 per hour (there are free options out there). I have had to use it several times (not virus related) where it has hauled my a** out of the fire, it is an absolute god send.

[ehmen]

OK as far as I'm aware the latest version of avast is meant to be more tolerant of system restore. If you are still having issues with system restore then disable the self-defence module before using it.

As I indicated above:

Until I disabled the defense module, Avast acted weirdly after every system restore I did...

Which was till a few weeks ago.

Personally I gave up on system restore many, many years ago (over 10 or 11 years) as it doesn't cover everything, it is a backup program that backs up 100% so using system restore can have unexpected consequences.

If it backs up %100, why should it have unexpected results?

I prefer to use a hard disk imaging software as that makes an exact copy of your Hard Drive or Partition. It can quickly restore your last drive image in a matter of minutes (for me 20)...

I wonder how much disk space is used on your computer if it only takes 20 minutes.[/quote]


Thanks DavidR!

[DavidR]

The avast acting weirdly was as a result of system restore braking some elements of avast.

The comment "Which was till a few weeks ago." this falls in line with recent avast updates, that are more tolerant/resilient of system restore.

I said system doesn't do a 100% backup, I said it is a backup program that backs up 100% so using system restore can have unexpected consequences.

I keep my system clean it isn't filled with stuff that I use only infrequently - it isn't the size or duration of the backup that matters it is its ability to make an exact copy of your disk/partition that matters.

If you don't have a robust backup and recovery strategy you are likely to continue experiencing system restore issues as it doesn't backup 100%.

[bob3160]

System Restore is  not designed to do a 100% backup.
It tells you that it does not effect your personal files.
That's why you should be doing both, system restore and Image backup.
If a system restore doesn't do what you expected, then you have the Image backup as a reliable alternative.
You might call this "layered" backup protection.

[ehmen]

it isn't the size or duration of the backup that matters it is its ability to make an exact copy of your disk/partition that matters.

But if the computer is full with tons of GB, it'll take many hours to make an exact copy of all of that every time.

The comment "Which was till a few weeks ago." this falls in line with recent avast updates, that are more tolerant/resilient of system restore.

"Till a few weeks ago" meaning till I unchecked the defense module and restored my system, not after Avast updated to a newer version.
If I were to do a system restore today while the defense module is checked, the same weird behavior from Avast would be repeated, just as it has with the current version before.