System Restore Point - Definitive Definition?

[ChrisGreaves]

Win11, but possibly applicable to older versions.
For twenty years or so I have been creating System Restore Points and restoring my system with confidence. 80% of the time as a means of uninstalling 3rd party software that I wanted to trial.

This past week I have been caught out, because System Restore does NOT restore my system as I had expected. Why is this? Because I have not fully understood what to expect from System Restore.

I would appreciate a link to any page that fully defines Restore Point at the level that a Windows user might understand.

I did a bit of research, but wherever I look I meet with generalities. The hyperlinks are to the source pages; the underlined text is text that I find ambiguous.

(1) In most versions of Windows, this includes all important system files, the Windows Registry, program executables, supporting files, and much more
I don't expect a LIST of supporting files, that would imply that Windows knew every 3rd-party executable installed on my system, but I would expect a higher-level list of how Windows decides what defines a "supporting file". Does it include INI files? LOG files? Where does Windows look for these files - in the program executable's installation folder?
And what means "much more"? I feel that if you know of it, then tell me. Give examples.

(2) System Restore takes a "snapshot" of the some system files ...
Why is Snapshot in quotes? Why is the noun Copy not used?
Some system files? How does windows determine what system files are useful?

(3) A system restore point is primarily used for OS files and settings. It saves Windows system files and drivers. This will help in the event of a bad Windows update or system corruption. It also saves executable application data. This can be used in the event a program affects system performance or stability. The system registry and configurations are also saved.
How is "executable application data" defined?
What is meant by "configurations"?

I supply these three examples to indicate that I have not so far found a clear and unambiguous definition of a Restore Point. Every definition that I find contains ambiguity, yet Turing would surely say, "We have an algorithm - Create Restore Point - that clearly does its job. We should be able to translate that back into English".

My problem is caused by me confusing System Restore Point with System Backup. I should have pulled out my trusty 2TB USB drive and made a complete copy of my Boot Partition C: instead of taking the cheap way out.

That said, I would still love to have a clear description of just what Create System Restore Point is programmed to do.

Thanks, Chris