System Restore and js files

[Chuck Anderson]

Twice now I have been bitten by the Windows 7 system restore behavior of
deleting non-system .js (JavaScript files) - and .exe files. I do not
remember XP being this aggressive. I develop web applications so I have
lots of .js files I have written. If they are newer than the system
restore date, system restore deletes them. This last occurrence deleted
hundreds of man hours of my work - with the delightful message that "no
personal documents have been affected."

At this point, I believe my best strategy will be to quit using Windows
7 system restore and keep my own registry backups and disk images. I
have seen mention of ERUNT for the registry and I assume the built-in
backup features will do for making disk images.

System restore seemed so convenient, ... until now. I like using it
when I try new software so I can rollback to a state prior to install -
mostly so I can keep the registry clear of clutter.

I still want to ask; is there any way to prevent System Restore from
deleting files with certain extensions (.js)? And why does system
restore even care about JavaScript files?

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://cycletourist.com
Turn Off, Tune Out, Drop In
*****************************

 

[philo]

Twice now I have been bitten by the Windows 7 system restore behavior of
deleting non-system .js (JavaScript files) - and .exe files. I do not
remember XP being this aggressive. I develop web applications so I have
lots of .js files I have written. If they are newer than the system
restore date, system restore deletes them. This last occurrence deleted
hundreds of man hours of my work - with the delightful message that "no
personal documents have been affected."

At this point, I believe my best strategy will be to quit using Windows
7 system restore and keep my own registry backups and disk images. I
have seen mention of ERUNT for the registry and I assume the built-in
backup features will do for making disk images.

System restore seemed so convenient, ... until now. I like using it
when I try new software so I can rollback to a state prior to install -
mostly so I can keep the registry clear of clutter.

I still want to ask; is there any way to prevent System Restore from
deleting files with certain extensions (.js)? And why does system
restore even care about JavaScript files?

First off, I'd stop using System Restore. If you install and uninstall a
lot of software...I think the possible minor "cluttering" of your
registry would have no effect on your system. It would not be too hard
to manually check (and delete) remnants.


Probably your best strategy would be to image your entire drive.


At the very least back up all your critical stuff such as .js

 

[Nil]

System restore seemed so convenient, ... until now. I like using
it when I try new software so I can rollback to a state prior to
install - mostly so I can keep the registry clear of clutter.

That's not System Restore is for. It's intended to be an emergency
recovery system. You're using the wrong tool for the job.

I still want to ask; is there any way to prevent System Restore
from deleting files with certain extensions (.js)? And why does
system restore even care about JavaScript files?

It's your valuable, work - why don't you just back it up separately?
That's why God invented optical media burners, hard disks, tape, etc.

 

[Chuck Anderson]

That's not System Restore is for. It's intended to be an emergency
recovery system. You're using the wrong tool for the job.

I am going to give ERUNT a try (unless there is something better - or
should I just Export the whole registry?).

It's your valuable, work - why don't you just back it up separately?
That's why God invented optical media burners, hard disks, tape, etc.

I do back up. It is just so maddening to see system restore delete .js
files when I see no apparent reason. What affect could they have on the
system? Even with a backup, recovery is not simple as the js files are
scattered in varying levels of subfolders which I had to restore one at
a time.

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://cycletourist.com
Turn Off, Tune Out, Drop In
*****************************

 

[DennyCrane]

Twice now I have been bitten by the Windows 7 system restore behavior of
deleting non-system .js (JavaScript files) - and .exe files. I do not
remember XP being this aggressive. I develop web applications so I have
lots of .js files I have written. If they are newer than the system
restore date, system restore deletes them. This last occurrence deleted
hundreds of man hours of my work - with the delightful message that "no
personal documents have been affected."

At this point, I believe my best strategy will be to quit using Windows
7 system restore and keep my own registry backups and disk images. I
have seen mention of ERUNT for the registry and I assume the built-in
backup features will do for making disk images.

System restore seemed so convenient, ... until now. I like using it
when I try new software so I can rollback to a state prior to install -
mostly so I can keep the registry clear of clutter.

I still want to ask; is there any way to prevent System Restore from
deleting files with certain extensions (.js)? And why does system
restore even care about JavaScript files?

For partition images I highly recommend Macrium Reflect 5 Free
edition. Don't bother with Win 7 utility.

Find it here: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

DC

 

[Chuck Anderson]

First off, I'd stop using System Restore. If you install and uninstall
a lot of software...I think the possible minor "cluttering" of your
registry would have no effect on your system. It would not be too hard
to manually check (and delete) remnants.

Manually searching and deleting in the registry is tedious - at best.
I'm going to try something else (ERUNT? ... Export the entire Registry?).

Probably your best strategy would be to image your entire drive.

I even have Windows 7 Pro so I could send it to a hard drive over the
network. [Now I wish I had partitioned my hard drive.]

At the very least back up all your critical stuff such as .js

I do ... every day, and even throughout the day, I backup anything I've
worked on (files I've created and databases).

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://cycletourist.com
Turn Off, Tune Out, Drop In
*****************************

 

[Nil]

I am going to give ERUNT a try (unless there is something better -
or should I just Export the whole registry?).

ERUNT is also intended to be an emergency recovery tool, not a general
system state preserver. It has bailed me out of bad situations many
times, but I wouldn't depend on it to restore the whole system. If you
really want that, I think you need to look at disk imaging systems.

I do back up. It is just so maddening to see system restore delete
.js files when I see no apparent reason. What affect could they
have on the system? Even with a backup, recovery is not simple as
the js files are scattered in varying levels of subfolders which I
had to restore one at a time.

Most backup software has the ability to back up and restore only
certain specified files.

Maybe you should consider doing your development work in a virtual
machine, where you can go back to the base system anytime you like with
one click.

 

[philo]

Manually searching and deleting in the registry is tedious - at best.
I'm going to try something else (ERUNT? ... Export the entire Registry?).

Actually I do quite a bit of software testing myself
and I use one of the many free "registry cleaners"

(I think CCleaner)

Normally I advise against such utilities but if one knows exactly what
they are doing, it's a very easy way to delete unwanted (and numerous)
entries. I just let it run and ignore all suggestions *except* for the
ones specific to the program I want to "clean up".

I also have a *lot* of spare machines here, so if there is some software
I am not so sure about, I generally install it and test it on a totally
expendable machine.

 

[Sjouke Burry]

First off, I'd stop using System Restore. If you install and
uninstall a lot of software...I think the possible minor "cluttering"
of your registry would have no effect on your system. It would not be
too hard to manually check (and delete) remnants.

Manually searching and deleting in the registry is tedious - at best.
I'm going to try something else (ERUNT? ... Export the entire
Registry?).

Probably your best strategy would be to image your entire drive.

I even have Windows 7 Pro so I could send it to a hard drive over the
network. [Now I wish I had partitioned my hard drive.]

At the very least back up all your critical stuff such as .js

I do ... every day, and even throughout the day, I backup anything
I've worked on (files I've created and databases).

I use REVO uninstall, which quite nicely kills an application and
its trash in the registery.
Use its advanced option.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

ERUNT is also intended to be an emergency recovery tool, not a general
system state preserver. It has bailed me out of bad situations many
times, but I wouldn't depend on it to restore the whole system. If you
really want that, I think you need to look at disk imaging systems.


Most backup software has the ability to back up and restore only
certain specified files.

Maybe you should consider doing your development work in a virtual
machine, where you can go back to the base system anytime you like with
one click.

Probably the best idea so far in this thread.

 

[Fokke Nauta]

Twice now I have been bitten by the Windows 7 system restore behavior of
deleting non-system .js (JavaScript files) - and .exe files. I do not
remember XP being this aggressive. I develop web applications so I have
lots of .js files I have written. If they are newer than the system
restore date, system restore deletes them. This last occurrence deleted
hundreds of man hours of my work - with the delightful message that "no
personal documents have been affected."

At this point, I believe my best strategy will be to quit using Windows
7 system restore and keep my own registry backups and disk images. I
have seen mention of ERUNT for the registry and I assume the built-in
backup features will do for making disk images.

System restore seemed so convenient, ... until now. I like using it
when I try new software so I can rollback to a state prior to install -
mostly so I can keep the registry clear of clutter.

I still want to ask; is there any way to prevent System Restore from
deleting files with certain extensions (.js)? And why does system
restore even care about JavaScript files?

I never used Windows System restore. I simply don't trust these things.
I always make an image of my system partition. If something gets wrong
with Windows or if I want to set Windows back to a previous state, I put
an image back. To do that, I have a dual boot system. One is my
workstation, the other a back-up system which I use to write back the
image of the workstation.
Works perfectly and never had any problem.

Fokke

 

[Philip Herlihy]

Twice now I have been bitten by the Windows 7 system restore behavior of
deleting non-system .js (JavaScript files) - and .exe files. I do not
remember XP being this aggressive. I develop web applications so I have
lots of .js files I have written. If they are newer than the system
restore date, system restore deletes them. This last occurrence deleted
hundreds of man hours of my work - with the delightful message that "no
personal documents have been affected."

At this point, I believe my best strategy will be to quit using Windows
7 system restore and keep my own registry backups and disk images. I
have seen mention of ERUNT for the registry and I assume the built-in
backup features will do for making disk images.

System restore seemed so convenient, ... until now. I like using it
when I try new software so I can rollback to a state prior to install -
mostly so I can keep the registry clear of clutter.

I still want to ask; is there any way to prevent System Restore from
deleting files with certain extensions (.js)? And why does system
restore even care about JavaScript files?

I was annoyed to find that Windows Backup (Vista) ignored .CMD files,
which meant I had to re-write a couple of complex scripts. I found that
putting them in a Zip archive (possibly works for a compressed folder
too) got them picked up. Might be worth testing out whether compressing
the folder in which the .js scripts live does the trick.

 

[Ken Blake]

Actually I do quite a bit of software testing myself
and I use one of the many free "registry cleaners"

(I think CCleaner)

Normally I advise against such utilities but if one knows exactly what
they are doing, it's a very easy way to delete unwanted (and numerous)
entries. I just let it run and ignore all suggestions *except* for the
ones specific to the program I want to "clean up".

I am one of those who always recommends against using a registry
cleaner. However if you only use it in that way, and you know what you
are doing, it should be safe.

 

[Seth]

Maybe you should consider doing your development work in a virtual
machine, where you can go back to the base system anytime you like with
one click.

Best answer yet. Something like VMware Workstation lets you set multiple
snapshot points.

And developers shouldn't test on their primary machine anyhow. Should be a
machine more indicative of the user experience\environment. Using a VM
system would allow one to have multiple types of "user like" systems in
different forms. Like if a large corporation where you may have many varied
softwares installed based on department (like accounting loadset vs. support
loadset).

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Best answer yet. Something like VMware Workstation lets you set multiple
snapshot points.

I have only the free VMware Reader, which lacks the snapshot facility,
but there's still a way to accomplish that. Copy the virtual machine
files to a backup drive before messing around...

Maybe it's enough to back up only MyMachine.vmdk, but to me, it seems
safer to save the entire MyMachine directory. (here, "MyMachine" is a
placeholder for the name of the virtual machine.)

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I never used Windows System restore. I simply don't trust these things.
I always make an image of my system partition. If something gets wrong
with Windows or if I want to set Windows back to a previous state, I put
an image back. To do that, I have a dual boot system. One is my
workstation, the other a back-up system which I use to write back the
image of the workstation.
Works perfectly and never had any problem.

Fokke

Your last sentence covers my experiences with Windows System Restore.

I often use it because I haven't done a real back up recently enough, so
maybe I'm just more lucky than smart.

 

[gufus]

For partition images I highly recommend Macrium Reflect 5 Free
edition. Don't bother with Win 7 utility.

Find it here: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

Thanks for the tip. (works pretty good)

 

[Chuck Anderson]

Twice now I have been bitten by the Windows 7 system restore behavior
of deleting non-system .js (JavaScript files) - and .exe files. I do
not remember XP being this aggressive. I develop web applications so
I have lots of .js files I have written. If they are newer than the
system restore date, system restore deletes them. This last
occurrence deleted hundreds of man hours of my work - with the
delightful message that "no personal documents have been affected."

.... snip ...

Sorry for the delay. I appreciate all of the replies and good
suggestions. I already do keep my work backed up. But I have never
made a disk image. I'm going to get in the habit of making a disk image
now and then. I hate cleaning the registry manually, so I may try a
program to create backups - and schedule it to run regularly.

It would seem that there is no way to customize the scope of the Windows
7 Restore.

I still think it's wrong for Windows to delete .js files I created. It
replaces .ini files, too, causing me to lose current program
configurations. It is too extreme. I have never used the "My
Documents" structure in Windows, preferring to create my own folder
structure on the C drive, but from what I've read, My Documents is the
protected zone for "personal documents" in Windows 7. ... I still don't
want to go there.

Thank you for your advice and suggestions.

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://cycletourist.com
Turn Off, Tune Out, Drop In
*****************************

 

[Rob]

... snip ...

Sorry for the delay. I appreciate all of the replies and good
suggestions. I already do keep my work backed up. But I have never
made a disk image. I'm going to get in the habit of making a disk image
now and then. I hate cleaning the registry manually, so I may try a
program to create backups - and schedule it to run regularly.

It would seem that there is no way to customize the scope of the Windows
7 Restore.

I still think it's wrong for Windows to delete .js files I created. It
replaces .ini files, too, causing me to lose current program
configurations. It is too extreme. I have never used the "My
Documents" structure in Windows, preferring to create my own folder
structure on the C drive, but from what I've read, My Documents is the
protected zone for "personal documents" in Windows 7. ... I still don't
want to go there.

Thank you for your advice and suggestions.

Yes, System Restore is best only used in a situation that you can't fix
in any other way and should never used as a backup strategy.
MS should have named it "The Very Last Resort"! ;o)
Virtual machines are now de-facto for developers, but system images are
fine and may be better in a few cases (particularly for those
developing hardware drivers.)