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Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

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Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#31

Post by Bartweiss »

docker_up wrote: post #6

I'm still on Windows 7 on a 2012 desktop. There's no reason for me to change. I've yet to run into any situation that has required me to upgrade. Since the world is generally web-first, the only thing that matters is Chrome and Firefox. Even running 4K video just required a codec upgrade as opposed to CPU upgrade. Yes there are security concerns but I'm pretty vigilant. I haven't run a virus scanner in 15 years, I'm…

> I'm still on Windows 7 on a 2012 desktop... I haven't run a virus scanner in 15 years, I'm just extremely paranoid over what I click on and which sites I visit. I run an ad-blocker and pi-hole to decrease any attack vectors.

To be blunt, this is a bad idea.

I'm sympathetic to the general motivation. I think the value and effectiveness of antivirus is generally overstated; it's often a replacement for vigilant browsing, and usually not an adequate replacement. If you keep to trusted sites, don't click email links, and don't ever unblock ads, you can do remarkably well for yourself. (Of course, if you've ever clicked some link and regretted it, it's time to start scanning or wiping.)

But you don't have to fall for spear-phishing or click shady ads to get into trouble. Since 2012, much less 2004, we've seen zero-days compromising servers and numerous other threats that could affect you indirectly. If your machine was Lenovo, it quite possibly came with malware. If you've used Sennheiser's setup app, your root certificate store may be poisoned. Further back, if you put Sony BMG music CDs into your machine, they may have given you a rootkit.

I don't worry about antivirus much for on-the-web protection; the threats most likely to reach me are the ones it doesn't protect against. But I think it's valuable to have something that keeps up with the history of other known screwups to help protect me against other, stranger threat vectors.

Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#32

Post by cm2187 »

chris_wot wrote: post #26
pjc50 wrote: post #22

Really if you need a registry backup it has to be on a different system, backing it up to a folder on the same system seems inadequate.

Not really. If the update you apply trashes your registry, having the backup on disk is actually very helpful.

And if the current OS is completely borked, a clean re-install is probably a better route than trying to restore the registry.

Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#33

Post by chris_wot »

cm2187 wrote: post #32
chris_wot wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. If the update you apply trashes your registry, having the backup on disk is actually very helpful.

And if the current OS is completely borked, a clean re-install is probably a better route than trying to restore the registry.

Getting the last known good state of the registry can often tell you what install caused issues.

Reinstalling is fine, but IMO should be a last option in many cases. Especially if you are trying to quickly recover from an incident - reinstalls take time!

Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#34

Post by antisthenes »

gaze wrote: post #29

Disable backups, fine. Ok. But don't _lie to the user_

Actually no, why is disabling backups in the name of saving 100MB of disk space ever OK?

Did we go back to 1995 when disk space was expensive?

I'd like to look the manager/developer who approved that change in the eye and ask them what the hell were they thinking.

As far lying to the user goes...hasn't that been MS's motto for at least since W10 came out? That's the least surprising part. A poor technical decision is much more worrying.

Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#35

Post by jamklda »

close04 wrote: post #9
rando444 wrote: post #5

50-100MB seems like a miniscule amount of space to warrant something like this. My WinSxS folder alone is almost 10GB. If they wanted to save space, even a modest improvement in managing updates would yield space saving results orders of magnitude greater than this.

Between the traditional Disk Cleanup and a quick DISM cleanup (which should already be running as a scheduled task) you can get pretty good results on any Windows 8.1/2012R2 and above: Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

I'm using Dism++ (GUI) for this job https://www.chuyu.me/en/index.html

Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#36

Post by pjc50 »

chris_wot wrote: post #26
pjc50 wrote: post #22

Really if you need a registry backup it has to be on a different system, backing it up to a folder on the same system seems inadequate.

Not really. If the update you apply trashes your registry, having the backup on disk is actually very helpful.

As Microsoft point out, this can be achieved with System Restore points.

Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#37

Post by Waterluvian »

I just booted up a windows 10 machine earlier today for the first time in many months.

It absolutely bewilders me how terribad the UI is. You have this fancy UI but if you ever click one or two options deep you end up getting these alternately styled legacy interfaces. It's so incoherent.

It really makes windows 10 feel like a skin on top of windows xp.

So when the article says Microsoft wants to push users into windows 10 all I can think of is that it's for the good of Microsoft. But they had to add a little window dressing to make the users happy.

Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#38

Post by wrs »

Waterluvian wrote: post #37

I just booted up a windows 10 machine earlier today for the first time in many months. It absolutely bewilders me how terribad the UI is. You have this fancy UI but if you ever click one or two options deep you end up getting these alternately styled legacy interfaces. It's so incoherent. It really makes windows 10 feel like a skin on top of windows xp. So when the article says Microsoft wants to push users into wind…

It’s a skin on a skin on a skin on a skin. Its always been this way. By clicking on “advanced” buttons you can easily end up with four different eras of UI on the screen, including different system fonts and different font rendering algorithms!

I can tell you first-hand from trying to get some of that fixed years ago, there’s just so much STUFF in Windows that is hardly ever seen, or should only be seen by “IT professionals” who supposedly don’t care, that there will never be enough resources or time to fix it all.

Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#39

Post by docker_up »

Bartweiss wrote: post #31
docker_up wrote: post #6

I'm still on Windows 7 on a 2012 desktop. There's no reason for me to change. I've yet to run into any situation that has required me to upgrade. Since the world is generally web-first, the only thing that matters is Chrome and Firefox. Even running 4K video just required a codec upgrade as opposed to CPU upgrade. Yes there are security concerns but I'm pretty vigilant. I haven't run a virus scanner in 15 years, I'm…

> I'm still on Windows 7 on a 2012 desktop... I haven't run a virus scanner in 15 years, I'm just extremely paranoid over what I click on and which sites I visit. I run an ad-blocker and pi-hole to decrease any attack vectors. To be blunt, this is a bad idea. I'm sympathetic to the general motivation. I think the value and effectiveness of antivirus is generally overstated; it's often a replacement for vigilant brows…

Yes, I forgot to mention I don't visit any questionable sites whatsoever. I've extremely vigilant, more vigilant than 99% of the population I would think, and I take it very seriously. If I need to test a link, I'll use my phone. I built my own desktop so no worries there, I don't have a CD player and I only install trusted apps these days, the only ones in the last few years have been Chrome and Firefox.

It's not the most secure method, obviously, but it works for me. And if the environment gets more dangerous than the status quo, I'm flexible enough to know I'll probably be forced to upgrade.

I'm not security-ignorant btw. I used to subscribe to both BugTraq and NTBugtraq back in the day and kept up over the decades. I just haven't seen anything in the last several years that can't be solved via not clicking on random links or installing new software. As said, spear-phishing/breaking out of the sandbox or serving malware via ads is my biggest concern these days and if it gets more prevalent then it will warrant a change in my views.

Re: Microsoft explains the lack of Registry backups in Windows 10

#40

Post by Waterluvian »

wrs wrote: post #38
Waterluvian wrote: post #37

I just booted up a windows 10 machine earlier today for the first time in many months. It absolutely bewilders me how terribad the UI is. You have this fancy UI but if you ever click one or two options deep you end up getting these alternately styled legacy interfaces. It's so incoherent. It really makes windows 10 feel like a skin on top of windows xp. So when the article says Microsoft wants to push users into wind…

It’s a skin on a skin on a skin on a skin. Its always been this way. By clicking on “advanced” buttons you can easily end up with four different eras of UI on the screen, including different system fonts and different font rendering algorithms! I can tell you first-hand from trying to get some of that fixed years ago, there’s just so much STUFF in Windows that is hardly ever seen, or should only be seen by “IT profes…

That sounds like it was the intent. But I got into old menus simply by trying to change the clock time. Definitely not an IT professionals who don't care kind of action.
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