I was wondering if there is a program in Windows that can do a total snapshot of a system (if it's even possible) much like how VMWare's snapshot feature is/Virtual Box. With this feature, you can go back to the exact state of how your PC was (inclusive of all files) unlike system restore.
With system restore as i understand it, it only affects system files and nothing else. I somehow find it counter intuitive because you can sometimes still have problems after you roll back to a previous restore point in case you mess up with something (i.e. cases where System restore does not help fix your problem).
I also found that you can include certain files and file types to be included in the system restore "The list of file types and directories to be included or excluded from monitoring by System Restore can be customized on Windows Me and Windows XP by editing %windir%\system32\restore\Filelist.xml." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Restore)
However the problem with that is - What if you installed a new program but do not know what files it adds to the system (moreover if it adds a file that is not included within the scope of system restore - then rolling back to a previous system restore point will retain that file and it will become leftover junk/clutter/artifact)
If there is no other program or feature available yet, then i guess my only choice is to test stuff in a virtual machine first before installing it in my real system
With system restore as i understand it, it only affects system files and nothing else. I somehow find it counter intuitive because you can sometimes still have problems after you roll back to a previous restore point in case you mess up with something (i.e. cases where System restore does not help fix your problem).
I also found that you can include certain files and file types to be included in the system restore "The list of file types and directories to be included or excluded from monitoring by System Restore can be customized on Windows Me and Windows XP by editing %windir%\system32\restore\Filelist.xml." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Restore)
However the problem with that is - What if you installed a new program but do not know what files it adds to the system (moreover if it adds a file that is not included within the scope of system restore - then rolling back to a previous system restore point will retain that file and it will become leftover junk/clutter/artifact)
If there is no other program or feature available yet, then i guess my only choice is to test stuff in a virtual machine first before installing it in my real system