Tranquil have just posted a short article on their blog about adding System Restore functionality to Windows Home Server.
Here is what Tranquil posted:
WHS has one issue that dogs users, especially if using Add Ins, that then cause problems – HOW do you ‘go back’.
There is no ‘System Restore’ on the WHS desk | Accessories | System tools.
But help is at hand.
Although you should use the following guide ‘very carefully’ it may save your bacon, should you install a ‘bad’ Add In which wrecks your WHS.
Note:- Take a complete backup of your registry before making any changes
In this procedure you need to download files – from here.
Extract the files into a folder, in this you will see two files – AddSystemRestoreEntries.reg and sr.inf along with other required files.
Double click on AddSystemRestoreEntries.reg and click on Yes when prompted.
Then right click on sr.inf and select install, be sure you can browse to those ‘other’ files.
Reboot your WHS that’s it now you are ready for your WHS feature – System restore.
System restore screen
System restore tab in System Properties
I haven’t tried this myself yet, but I will do.
Has anyone used this yet? Tell us what you think and how it helped you.
For this and other articles, check out the Tranquil blog here: http://green-pcs.co.uk/2010/07/24/system-restore-in-whs/
Yes, I have this installed for over 1 year. I was told by Drashna that this was posible by extracting file off a XP disk.
It has helped me many times for a quick step back. I also have Acronis Server backup installed for the major screwups, but that's like taking a shotgun to kill a fly.
aw, that 2 for Drashna 0 for diehard 🙁
Cool – thanks for the confirmation John.
You will just have to try harder 🙂 and you have had stuff in the past, so Im sure the score isnt as bad as that!
lol. Sorry john, but you totally know you're not the only one breaking their server. 🙂
And FYI, I would recommend not using this. They use the reg entry that completely replaces the "network services" allowed list for svchost, which can break any number of services. It is a problem GaMeR and I had when we were hacking together the package.
Not to mention that they fail to include any entries that exclude DE stuff, including the storage pool and client info. Which means using "their" package may break your server. Badly.
Oh, and System Restore is offered in most of the recent versions of XFiles Edition, though it's turned off by default for "safety" reasons. 🙂
Thanks Drashna, that is very useful information indeed!
The irony, is that most of the good info is on the wiki on WGS.
http://wiki.wegotserved.com/index.php?title=Syste…
Which does include the registry entries to exclude the WHS specific stuff, and instructions on how to properly add system restore to the "allowed" list for network services/svchost.
Hmm, interesting, Thanks Drashna for learning this the hard way, so I don't have too.