# Is there a way to turn off System restore without... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-turn-off-system-restore-without/325526 "2005-10-10T07:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-turn-off-system-restore-without/325526/1 "2005-10-10T07:31:33Z")
Is there a way to turn off System restore without deleting restore points in XP? When I go to turn it off it says it will delete all restore points. WTF! Why is that needed? Anyway, is there a way to get around this? I want to keep it off because it is not recommended to have it on in a computer that you do recording with. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-turn-off-system-restore-without/325526/2 "2005-10-10T07:40:29Z")
I don’t think there is a way. The help file says: > [@](#): > > When System Restore is turned off on a partition or drive, all restore points stored on that partition or drive are deleted. Changes that are made on an excluded partition or drive are not reverted during a System Restore. which makes it appear that there’s no option - turn it off and delete the restore points, or leave it on. I’m not sure why this would be, though. ---
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-turn-off-system-restore-without/325526/3 "2005-10-10T14:18:39Z")
Hmm, I wonder if some computer expert out there can think of a way around it? Where are the restore points saved? Could I just move them to a different folder and then move them back later? ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-turn-off-system-restore-without/325526/4 "2005-10-10T14:52:29Z")
I used to work as a computer technician and all I have to say is that sytem restore doesn’t work in 95% of the cases. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-turn-off-system-restore-without/325526/5 "2005-10-10T14:59:02Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > I used to work as a computer technician and all I have to say is that sytem restore doesn’t work in 95% of the cases. Under what OS? My experience of System Restore under XP is the complete opposite of this; if the problem is badly installed/uninstalled, missing, corrupted, or overwritten software or drivers, it works pretty well. Of course if the problem is some random undiagnosed problem outside the scope of software/driver/registry restoration, then it’s not going to work. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-turn-off-system-restore-without/325526/6 "2005-10-10T15:00:40Z")
The Restore version used in Windows ME sucked hard (but, then again, so did WinME!). I use XP Pro and haven’t had any problems with Restore. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-turn-off-system-restore-without/325526/7 "2005-10-10T15:02:03Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > My experience of System Restore under XP is the complete opposite of this; if the problem is badly installed/uninstalled, missing, corrupted, or overwritten software or drivers, it works pretty well. Agreed. System Restore has saved my ass more times than I can count. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-turn-off-system-restore-without/325526/8 "2005-10-10T15:48:56Z")
> [@Satasha](#): > > Hmm, I wonder if some computer expert out there can think of a way around it? Where are the restore points saved? Could I just move them to a different folder and then move them back later? The restore points are saved in a folder (one for each system volume) named something like: C:\System Volume Information\_restore{\}\ with each restore point being a subdirectory of that called RP01 (for example) with the numbers distinguishing the different restore points. You could certainly _try_ backing up these folders and replacing them at a later date but **this is highly likely not to work** , in my opinion, and could completely screw up your computer were you to try and restore to one of the backed-up points at a later date. If I were trying it myself, I’d view it purely as an exercise in academic interest, and would put no reliance on it whatsoever. Someone with a better understanding of exactly how System Restore works should be able to give a better indication of whether it’d be safe, but I haven’t been able to find that sort of detailed info just knocking around the web. Maybe try it out on a computer you don’t care about first, if you can find one?