How exactly do I find the System Volume Information folder.
In XP Pro I have it set to show all files, including those that are hidden [Windows Explorer Tools menu -> Folder Options -> View] & XP Pro creates one for every drive, even USB sticks I plug in, e.g. C:\System Volume Information, D:\System Volume Information & so on. Booting into win7 [where I am now] I can see them but not access them since they come with or from XP, not even with the XP Mode VM, but if I boot into XP I can explore them like any other type of folder. The contents aren't like regular file copies though -- in fact they have caused McAfee virus scanning a bit of a headache [in XP I turn System Restore off before running a virus scan on a disk/partition].
In XP to get to the settings for System Restore you have to go to Control Panel & click the System icon -- System Restore is on one of the tabs in the window that pops up/opens. In Vista/7 you go to Control Panel -> System & then click System Protection. If I remember correctly in Vista you can't set limits on how much disk space is used, but you can in win7 & XP... in both cases you select the drive & click the button for configure. Windows will use up to that set limit & then start deleting old data to make room for new, so usually if Windows has been installed/running for a while whatever limit is set is what's actually used.
XP & Vista will create restore points on their own [I think they're called System Checkpoints], but I've never had much luck restoring one of those. I've read that win7 discontinued that practice, but I can't verify that since booting into XP automatically deletes all of win7's system restore data -- that's a downside of having a dual-boot system with XP & win7. In XP you can go to Start Menu -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore to create a new restore point, restore one that's been created, or undo the last restoration [though that doesn't always work]. Do the very same in win7 & you'll get a window for restoring a restore point, but to create one you have to go to Control Panel -> System -> System Protection [Note that you may have to configure win7 to show you Control Panel, or the full Control Panel listing etc. -- I set it so everything in Control Panel is accessible in Windows Explorer, but then I don't believe people are stupid & need protecting from themselves :-) ]. In XP, Vista, or win7 you can set a restore point as often & whenever you like -- I like to update anti-virus software 1st [so the system's up to date], then create a restore point manually. Also note that in win7 I've never had success using a restore point more than once -- say I set a restore point before trying to install an app, then restore that restore point because something didn't work, I'll create another baseline restore point before trying again, because I've found that using the one I created earlier will not work a 2nd time.
XP works differently so I've never had that problem -- as above the data's just backed up to that special folder. XP's system restore also has a feature that's either great or a big hassle depending on what you're doing... To protect you from deleting something you might want, new data is usually preserved. To completely preserve the registry as-is do a ERUNT backup before you create a restore point, then restore that registry backup after you restore the restore point. New docs, txt files, image files etc. will usually be preserved after restoring, so if you don't want any of those you'll have to delete them manually. If you have program files/folders that have changed, after restoring you'll usually have one version renamed with an added (n) where n = a number... the window that opens after a successful restore has the option to show you what files/folders were renamed, but I also usually search on "*(?).*" -- in XP especially I use the Find utility that comes with free versions of Powerdesk. If you try a program update that didn't work, before restoring in XP I like to uninstall that update &/or the program itself, making sure to delete any of that program's folders -- if you don't, you can find yourself with 2 versions of those program folders, & neither may work.
There's a free app called Shadow Explorer [shadowexplorer.com] that lets you look at and access that saved data in Vista/7, so you can sometimes restore only a file or files rather than everything. For Vista/7 these articles might be worth reading/skimming to learn more: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2342534,00.asp -- http://blog.szynalski.com/2009/11/23/volume-shadow-copy-system-restore/ -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Copy .
