When you use XP's System Restore feature to move your computer "backwards," (ie: like after installing a huge program), will you regain the space lost in installing the program? Or will it just remove the program, and maintain the same disk space? Thanks.
The space will be regained, as the program will no longer occupy it. I'm not sure if you'll regain all of it though, because I think running the SysRes may eat away just a little bit of the space.
But since S.R. is reversable, I imagine that the space will not be regained, at least until the restore point is trashed, right? The reason I ask this is b/c I installed Microsoft.NET software unnecessarily, which has eaten up 1/2 a GB on my 20GB laptop. I want to do the restore so I can regain most of that space.
The program exists but only as a placeholder in a restore point, which means it won't take up its full space until you use that certain restore point. You should regain most of the space, unless your SysRes settings are different, which I've seen happen in some cases.
System Restore is by no means a perfect system, I personally hate it. If you used it and junked any prior restore points you'd probably still end up with some space still being taken up. Not too much but some. I would say to invest in some removable storage though, move some large files off the laptop and carry a memory stick round so you have what you need when you need it.
actually, system restore features take up space. if saves a "photograph" of your PC when you install something so you can restore it back before incase you messed up. since most pc users don't dictate how space system restore uses, it can take up many gigabytes. i once had a friend who had no space left and had 30 gigs of system restores dating back to the date she bought the computer.
Thanks feenix and pali, but you're not really answering the question lol. I want to know if using system restore will remove a program and the space it took up on my pc.
I did. But the space is still gone. I got an automatic update for the program even after I had removed it... Damn Microsoft.
if you system restore back to the time the program was installed, it shouldn't be there anymore. be warned, any programs you installed after that will be gone too and any system changes. so the space taken up by that program should be returned.