Restore going a little too far?

Why would the system restore operation go so far as too delete a folder that
I made in my download folder? Shouldn't it be leaving user created folders
alone?

I paid for and downloaded a piece of software, but had to restore to a point
just before that. I was shocked to see that the system restore saw fit to
delete my folder and download.

Thankfully I was able to get the download again and not have to pay twice.

I thought Restore is supposed to leave these things alone?

Bart

Did you leave the download in a temp folder?


--
AO3

No, it was in a sub-folder I created under the main "downloads" folder. This
isn't actually the first time it has done this now that I think about it. It
also deleted a folder I made on a "d" drive partition one other time. I
thought I had deleted it myself and figured that was odd I had done that, but
after this I know the restore operation did it.

Bart

"AO3" wrote:

>
> Did you leave the download in a temp folder?
>
>
> --
> AO3
>

bartman wrote:
> Why would the system restore operation go so far as too delete a folder that
> I made in my download folder? Shouldn't it be leaving user created folders
> alone?
>
> I paid for and downloaded a piece of software, but had to restore to a point
> just before that. I was shocked to see that the system restore saw fit to
> delete my folder and download.
>
> Thankfully I was able to get the download again and not have to pay twice.
>
> I thought Restore is supposed to leave these things alone?
>
> Bart

Probably for the same reason it will get rid of user created shortcuts
that point to a system file on the desktop. That is, the software you
downloaded is yours, but the folder you created within downloads would
be part of a system folder. The restore rightly eliminated the folder,
and unfortunately your software had to go too.

--
Dave T.

In the 60's, people took LSD to make the world weird. Now
the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

Any downloaded programs I save in a folder I created under Documents.
Just redirect where you want your download to be saved; don't let it have
it's own way!


"bartman" wrote:

> Why would the system restore operation go so far as too delete a folder that
> I made in my download folder? Shouldn't it be leaving user created folders
> alone?
>
> I paid for and downloaded a piece of software, but had to restore to a point
> just before that. I was shocked to see that the system restore saw fit to
> delete my folder and download.
>
> Thankfully I was able to get the download again and not have to pay twice.
>
> I thought Restore is supposed to leave these things alone?
>
> Bart

So in otherwords, don't use the "Downloads" folder because what you download
into any subfoler there may not be safe if you need to restore?

That makes perfect sense. Not. Why even make a downloads folder? I might
as well just create them myself somewhere else.

I just have to shake my head at the wonder that is Vista.

Bart

"Mick Murphy" wrote:

> Any downloaded programs I save in a folder I created under Documents.
> Just redirect where you want your download to be saved; don't let it have
> it's own way!
>
>
> "bartman" wrote:
>
> > Why would the system restore operation go so far as too delete a folder that
> > I made in my download folder? Shouldn't it be leaving user created folders
> > alone?
> >
> > I paid for and downloaded a piece of software, but had to restore to a point
> > just before that. I was shocked to see that the system restore saw fit to
> > delete my folder and download.
> >
> > Thankfully I was able to get the download again and not have to pay twice.
> >
> > I thought Restore is supposed to leave these things alone?
> >
> > Bart

"Dave T." wrote:

> bartman wrote:
> > Why would the system restore operation go so far as too delete a folder that
> > I made in my download folder? Shouldn't it be leaving user created folders
> > alone?
> >
> > I paid for and downloaded a piece of software, but had to restore to a point
> > just before that. I was shocked to see that the system restore saw fit to
> > delete my folder and download.
> >
> > Thankfully I was able to get the download again and not have to pay twice.
> >
> > I thought Restore is supposed to leave these things alone?
> >
> > Bart
>
> Probably for the same reason it will get rid of user created shortcuts
> that point to a system file on the desktop. That is, the software you
> downloaded is yours, but the folder you created within downloads would
> be part of a system folder. The restore rightly eliminated the folder,
> and unfortunately your software had to go too.
>
> --
> Dave T.

It may be "rightly" in someone's mind, but to me it isn't. It shouldn't
touch any folder I create regardless of where it is and when it is made. In
this case no harm was done, but it could have cost hours of work if it had
happened in another folder. Why didn't it wipe out the new Excel document I
had created in the documents folder as well then? Should I move those so
Vista can't decide to touch those at a later date? What is safe?

Bart

bartman wrote:
> So in otherwords, don't use the "Downloads" folder because what you download
> into any subfoler there may not be safe if you need to restore?
>
> That makes perfect sense. Not. Why even make a downloads folder? I might
> as well just create them myself somewhere else.
>
> I just have to shake my head at the wonder that is Vista.
>
> Bart

So, in other words, Windows has created a place for you to keep things
that you don't want to lose. "Documents" is that place. "Downloads would
be a system folder so that you can find your downloads when complete,
but then if you want to save that download forever, you must employ your
own sense of organization and move it to a safe place.

--
Dave T.

In the 60's, people took LSD to make the world weird. Now
the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

bartman wrote:

>
> It may be "rightly" in someone's mind, but to me it isn't. It shouldn't
> touch any folder I create regardless of where it is and when it is made. In
> this case no harm was done, but it could have cost hours of work if it had
> happened in another folder. Why didn't it wipe out the new Excel document I
> had created in the documents folder as well then? Should I move those so
> Vista can't decide to touch those at a later date? What is safe?
>
> Bart

The new Excel document was in the Documents folder, that is why it was
not wiped out.

I understand what you're saying, but if system restore is to do what
it's name implies, then there is no choice. It's difficult to know what
is safe, but I have known since Win 95 that the only thing on the
computer that belongs to you is "(My)Documents". All else belongs to the
system.
--
Dave T.

In the 60's, people took LSD to make the world weird. Now
the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

"Dave T." wrote:

> bartman wrote:
> > So in otherwords, don't use the "Downloads" folder because what you download
> > into any subfoler there may not be safe if you need to restore?
> >
> > That makes perfect sense. Not. Why even make a downloads folder? I might
> > as well just create them myself somewhere else.
> >
> > I just have to shake my head at the wonder that is Vista.
> >
> > Bart
>
> So, in other words, Windows has created a place for you to keep things
> that you don't want to lose. "Documents" is that place. "Downloads would
> be a system folder so that you can find your downloads when complete,
> but then if you want to save that download forever, you must employ your
> own sense of organization and move it to a safe place.
>
> --
> Dave T.

I think if I make a sub-folder in the downloads folder the folders should be
safe because they are user-created, not system created. If I just dump
things into the main folder they are fair game for deleting.

That is organizing to me. I made the sub-folder, put the download in that
sub-folder so I know what it is and where so Vista should leave it alone.

In any case. I won't be keeping anything there anymore. I will just save
it somewhere else from the beginning so I don't forget to move it later when
it may be gone and too late.

If Vista could actually run stable for more than one day it might not have
mattered, but it seems like everytime I try to fix one problem with it
another three are created and I have to use restore far too often to try
another way.

Thanks.

Bart