Could someone please tell me how to disable System Restore on Windows 98--specific instructions??

Thanks.

Click Here

Thanks Scarlette, but this is where my question came about--I knew how to do it on ME, but 98 says things differently so I'm not sure which one to click for 98. Here's what 98 has when you get to (control panel-->system icon-->performance-->file system-->troubleshooting) the same place where you would checkmark Disable System Restore on ME:

--Disable new file sharing and locking semantics.

--Disable long name preservation for old programs.

--Disable protected-mode hard disk interrupt handling.

--Disable synchronous buffer commits.

--Disable all 32-bit protected mode disk drivers.

--Disable write-behind caching for all drivers.


Does one of those options have anything to do with disabling System Restore on 98 or do you disable SR on 98 some other way or not at all?


Thanks.

--Disable new file sharing and locking semantics.

--Disable long name preservation for old programs.

--Disable protected-mode hard disk interrupt handling.

--Disable synchronous buffer commits.

--Disable all 32-bit protected mode disk drivers.

--Disable write-behind caching for all drivers.

You do not see as the next option ....

--DisableSystem Restore

That is the one you need.

No, the list I gave is in its entirety.........

There is no system restore in Windows 98 - it was introduced in Windows ME.

<blush> Okay, well, thanks and sorry to waste the time and space.


So there isn't anything LIKE System Restore on 98?

Not that I know of. The registry was automatically backed up and you can use sfc (system file checker) to check for corrupted/missing system files (just don't restore user.exe or your system may become unbootable!) but nothing was done with user settings, drivers etc.

Why do you ask?

There are third-party solutions for System Restore, but Rimmer's right - Win 98 does not have System Restore. When ME first came out, it was pointed out that there were only about 4 improvements over 98, and that they could all be gotten without changing operating systems, in most cases as free programs. For instance, Norton supplied Go Back with their Systemworks suite of programs.

Hi Gumdrop

System Restore in 98 is handled by scanregw.exe. If you go to Start>Run and type in msconfig and go to the Startup tab you can turn off that feature by removing the checkmark in front of Scan Registry. If you do this you will no longer be making new backups of your registry though, but you will be left with the five you have now. Windows may turn scanregw back on by itself periodically.

Is there a specific reason you want to do this?

Thanks, Rimmer, Herk, and Leurgy. I was asking because I've been using AVG forum's How to Clean an Infected Computer and wanted to try it out on my son's and on my mother's 98s but couldn't find how to shut off System Restore like I do on my ME.

I prefer to ask my questions here as this place is a lot more comfortable than their board.

Thank you all for your help.


PS: So, Leurgy, if I turn it off in Startup, will that be the same as turning it off the way that ME turns it OFF? Like, it will be off-off??

No, It won't be off-off, but it will be off.

Scanregw and scanreg are the "system restore" of 98. Scanregw monitors the registry, creates backups, and will automatically restore a previous registry when you boot if it detects a corrupt one trying to load. Scanreg is the tool you use to optimize, fix and restore a registry manually.

When you turn off Scan Registry in msconfig>startup you disable the automatic functions of scanregw, but you don't delete the "restore points" (they were simply called backups before) like you do when you turn off System Restore in newer operating systems. So what happens is you are left with the five backups that are rotated through when you boot. Periodically a new one is made and the oldest one deleted when scanregw is enabled.

Your "Restore Points" are located in C:\Windows\Sysbckup and are compressed files called rb000.cab, rb001.cab, rb002.cab and so on. Thats rbzerozerozero.cab and the higher the number the newer the backup. These cab files contain copies of user.dat, system.dat, win.ini and system.ini. You can navigate to these and delete them manually, but be sure to have scanregw.exe enabled at startup if you do and I wouldn't recommend deleting them all at the same time. Maybe delete four, reboot, make sure you got a new one and delete the oldest one.

To restore a registry in 98 you boot to a command prompt with F8, type in scanreg /restore and then you can pick from your backups and you can see which ones are good and which ones are bad. They will show either Started or Failed in front of them. You can also use scanreg /fix and /opt. Fix will remove entries that no longer apply and attempt to make a bad registry backup good, similiar to what registry cleaners do. Opt will compact your registry for quicker booting.

Todays anti-virus programs have the ability to scan within archives and I can't think of any instance in 98 where a virus was archived there that I've seen. So that isn't an issue unless you have a virus corrupted file like win.ini or system.ini. User.dat and system.dat are what are combined to make your actual registry, and the best way to deal with a virus corrupted registry in 98 is to use a program like HiJack This.

Hope thats not too much information.



We prefer you to ask your questions here too.

Precisely why I like this board! You all are so informative and you like to help--even with the little things. And there is a lot of paitience here.


Thank you for teaching me, Leurgy. I'm off to look at all that and see about getting some HJT logs.

Your very welcome Gumdrop and thanks for posting back. If you have any more questions about the above just post back into here and one of us will be along to help you out.

Good like with the HiJack logs. Our team will guide you through the process if any malware is found.