I'm trying to decide whether using the ERUNT/ERDNT system provides better operational results than the System Restore system. From the reading I have done, the opinion seems to be that there is a better overall functional troublefree result when using the ERUNT/ERDNT programs to back up and restore the registry on Windows XP.
Questoin 1.
Do most people agree with this?
Arguments against using the System Restore system are the following:
1) Inability to restore some of the restore points
2) System Restore is not actually restoring a complete registry when it functions but the ERUNt/ERDNT system does that.
3) The System Restore system consumes quite a bit of memory
Question 2.
Are these points all valid as reasons to reject System Restore?
Question 3.
Assuming I started using the ERUNT/ERDNT system, would it be best to completely disable the System Restore system and if so, what are the steps to do this?
Question 4.
If I disabled the System Restore system, how would I eliminate all the stored restore points?
Question 5.
Are there any arguments against using the ERUNT/ERDNT system?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310405
How to Turn On and Turn Off System Restore in Windows XP
You can adjust the amount of memory used by System Restore, as follows:
Right click My Computer, choose Properties from the context menu that scrolls out. Click the System Restore tab. Click a drive in the Available drives list and then click the Settings button to display the Disk Space Usage slider for that drive. Move the slider to specify how much of your hard disk may be used to store restore points.
And this article explains more about System Restore disk usage:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;300044
How the System Restore Tool Handles Hard-Disk Space Usage
I don't know of any reasons for NOT using ERUNT/ERDNT; it seems like a good idea. I did it on my old computer with Windows XP on it. (I now have XP running on my new Vista computer as a virtual OS, and I don't need to log into it very often, so I'm not particularly concerned about using those tools.)