System Restore doesn’t work (xp pro, service pack 2)

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System Restore is turned on but irregardless of the Restore Point that I select, System Restore cannot restore to that point.

The system begins to run. The box with the sliding blue scale appears but then quickly goes away. The scale is only on for about 15-30 seconds. The scale I’m refering to is the scale that appears while “gathering information” Once the scale disappears the computer reboots. After signing back in to Windows System Restore says that it can’t restore to the date that I selected, pick another date. I have 90 days of Restore Points to select from and none of them work.

I have run virus scans using McAfee and Windows Live Onecare Saftey Center. Defragmented C/Drive, Ran disc check several times. Re booted the computer numerous times. I’ve un installed McAfee and then ran System Restore. Reinstalled McAfee and ran System Restore. I have tried disconnecting my high speed internet cable and running System Restore; I’ll try almost anything at 2:00am. I’ve spent the morning lookiing for MS Knowledge Base articles to no avail. My dog has even tried to help by hitting the on/off switch on my surge protector with her tail. I guess she thought we should try a reboot one last time! Insert smile here. To many options to pick from.

I installed a replacement DVD/CD writer a couple of weeks ago. Pioneer-1910LS Could this be the problem? I also have been using Rhapsody, a music program by Real One and provided by Cox Communications. Cox is my internet provider.

Folks, I can’t think of any more info to include here at this time. It’s ok to laugh at me. I do have a sense of humor but it’s faded like a cheap suit in the sun right now.

plumber53

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First, Welcome to the Lounge.

It sounds like you have a corrupt SR file(s).

Have you tried to disable SR on all drives and then rebooted?
This will remove all old SR points. Then try to re-enable SR for the drives again, which will create a new SR point when you ask it to create one.
Try to restore things to your new Restore point.

I know this won’t help you with the old restore points but if they aren’t working anyway?
This is another good case for doing backups OR Disk Imaging using True Image or other imaging programs.

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What anti-virus / security software are you running?

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Bob and John

Thanks for the replies.

John, I’m using McAfee Security Suite which is provided thru Cox Communications, my IP.

Bob, If I follow your suggestion, how do I test SR afterwards? Do I wait a couple of days or what?
Plumbing, I understand. Computers are killing me.

Thanks, Kevin

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You can test it out right away.
Once you disable SR and reboot, all of your old SR files are gone. Then if you re-enable SR you can manually create a new restore point and then try to do a System Restore. IF that is successful ( even though it’s only a few minutes old ) it will show that you can indeed create a point and restore to it.
Now you should be able to have usable restore points to rely on.

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Hey Bob,
I follow what your saying. I’m going to re-read Woody’s article on System Restore one more time (Windows Secrets, Feb 08) and then I’ll give this a shot in the morning.

Computer and plumbing repairs are similar in one way. I don’t like to begin either one past 1500hrs unless it’s a 911 major emergency. If you begin anyway, be prepared for a nasty sleepless night and don’t cuss to loudly or the neighbors may call the cops.

Thanks, Kevin

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Bob and John,
Bob, you’re plan worked. Thank you very much.

John, McAfee has access to “System Restore” built into it. This I don’t quite understand but as we spoke about Symantec (Norton), I thought you should know about this feature. I will try this feature for test purpose if you want. Let me know.

Once again, Thank You both for your time and effort.

Kevin

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Kevin,

First let me add my “Welcome to the Lounge.” to Bob’s welcome. Second, thanks for posting back. That helps us to help others.

I think both McAfee and Norton (Symantec) access System Restore, it’s just that Norton causes some problems on certain systems in the way it accesses it while those same problems have not been noted with McAfee.

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Doc Watson,

Thanks for the welcome. You all make things seem so “elementary”

When Woody writes his books they are still several grade levels above me. This is all black magic voodoo stuff to me. Fixing even a simple problem is akin to the being on the moors at night while a great hound bears down on me. Fear of losing everthing is always in my thoughts.

Thanks,
Kevin

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>You all make things seem so “elementary”

Probably the same way we look at your wizardry with pipes and all things plumbing.

There is much you can do to allay your fears “of losing everything” that we here in the Lounge will be happy to assist you with. As a starter… probably the best way to assure that you sleep well at night, secure in the fact that your data is safe and secure, is to use image backup software like True Image. It’s best to backup to a second hard drive so that if you experience a HD failure your backup image doesn’t get hosed too. That said, the cost of the software and a second HD could cost you $100, unless you know about this (well kept) little secret. If you are interested in learning more about Image Backups, post back and we’ll get you started.

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Doc, Bob, John and The Lounge in General,
Folks, I’ld like to give it a shot BUT in fairness to anyone that desires to become involved, you need to know who you’re dealing with.

I don’t speak computer. Example-Do you want this to be your “Default” printer, player….. Default means I win because the other team didn’t show up for the game. I won by Default. What the printer, etc is asking me is, Do you want this to be your “Primary” whatever.

Now I did mange to delete the partions in my old hard drive and reload Windows xp home by myself using only MS Knowledge Base articles. So if I can devote the time and marshall the patience, I can grasp some of this stuff.

I’ve added Ram to this thing to 1Gb and installed a new hard drive of 153Gb. I have 140Gb free space. I installed xp Pro also.

True Image and an external hard drive sounds like the way I should go. This is a Dell computer and my experience with Dell is very poor. OEM is not a direction that I can go in. My experience is that you are better of dealing with the original product and manufacturer than an OEM product that has been modified in some way.

Kevin

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Let me start by saying that if you can install XP and delete some partitions, you can install and run a progrm like True Image.

As far as the Dell / OEM issue…. Dell is an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) as are HP, Sony, etc.. So you can pickup any external Seagate or Maxtor HD (if you want the software I linked to) 100GB or larger (but not much), that will connect to your PC via a USB2 connection, download a copy of the matching software from the link in my previous post and if you have any trouble with the instructions, post your questions here and we’ll try and help you through them.

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Doc Watson,
Dell is OEM, I understand. Just wasn’t thrilled with having to become Rudyard Kipling with every phone call. Dell soured my badly on OEM’s. All right Coach, I’m ready to play.
My new hard drive is Hitachi Deskstar 160GB. Right now I’ve used 12.9GB so 100GB sounds more than sufficient.
Question- Hard Drive back ups only back up information and pictures etc. In the event of a crash I would still have to reload Windows, Office etc manually. Is this correct?

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Quick answer for Doc.

YES.

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Is the software creating some form of seperate partition within my hard drive that I somehow can access even after the drive crashes? I’m kinda lost on this point.
Re read my install instructions for my hard drive and it doesn’t mention this feature. There are more complete directions on the software that came with the drive, I think.

Thanks for jumping in Bob

Kevin

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You need Seagate or Maxtor to make the Free Ware work don’t you?

I need to run a virus scan. It’s taking forever to post. Maybe it’s just rush hour? Back around 7pm California Time.

Thanks guy’s for the help.

Kevin

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The delay in posting is caused by the daily backup of our server. This causes intermittent slowdowns between 0:00 and 2:00 UTC (i.e. between 2 PM and 4 PM Pacific Daylight Time). Sorry about the inconvenience (but on our previous server we had slowdowns all the time, at least this one is fast for 22 hours a day… )

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Hans,
You caught me as I was checking a couple of other sites for speed. No worries, Mate. I’m a Southern California boy. Gridlock is part of life.
I’ll stay logged in, fire the bbq, hit post and sip a beer. It’s all good.
Cheers to All,

Kevin

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Kevin,
Glad to hear you are back and running OK again.
I will add to Doc’s advise for using an Imager like Acronis True Image It is a true life saver of a program. Make an image, save it and then if things go haywire, just restore the image and you are back to EXACTLY the way things were at the time of imaging.

The way it sounds, you are well on your way to being a pro with computers. You deleted partitions, reinstalled XP and used the MS knowledge base articles as a great source of info. Add to that the expertise available from people like Doc, here in the Lounge and you will do fine. Takes a little time but you add something new every time.

Good luck and let us know if we can help in any other way.

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I need to buy a Seagate hard drive or Maxtor to use their download. I only have one computer, so I’m not a network-excludes Truevision from the equation. I think I can install a second Hard drive within the big box, modum, whatever. I’ll read the Dell book. Once I install Seagate, it will transfer everything from the existing hard drive to itself. Then the existing hard drive can remain installed and used as a second or back up hard drive. All of this is done through the Free Software download that you sent me to.
Seagate and Hitachi become compatible through the use of the Free Software as long as Seagate is the primary drive and Hitachi is the secondary drive.

I’m beginning to talk to myself. I need to print all the Read Me’s out to do this. Printers out of ink. I’ll buy ink tommorrow and a new highlighter. This will take me some time.

Is the Microsoft Certified Gold Registry fixer any good? Click your “this” button to see what I’m talking about. Don’t want top back up trash to a new drive.

See you in a couple of days.

Kevin

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Kevin,

How many beers did you have ???

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Doc,
4 heinekens, porterhouse&spud, chocolate ice cream

I have to read out loud when working on something that is foreign to me. I read faster than I assimilate. If I speak gibberish than I know I haven’t fully grasped the info. I begin as the student and won’t proceed until I can talk it through as a teacher. My college math professor said, ” You can use all the calculators you want in my class and on tests. If you don’t know when to add, subtract, multiply and divide….you’ll never get the right answer.”

Kevin

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> ” You can use all the calculators you want in my class and on tests. If you don’t know when to add, subtract, multiply and divide….you’ll never get the right answer.”

Sage advice – I like it and hope your maths prof won’t be too upset if I steal his little truism. With minor adjustments, it’s apt in many other areas (esp. software!).

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Tim,
It was over 20yrs ago but I’m sure he would be pleased.

Kevin

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OK… I don’t use the MaxBlast or Segate OEM software to do my disk management tasks like imaging and partitioning because I have seperate programs to do both (TrueImage & Partition Magic), but TrueImage is part of these OEM utilities and if you buy a Maxtor or Seagate drive you will get a copy of the software with the drive and will NOT need to download anything.

All you are required to use the software is to have a Seagate or Maxtor drive as part of the mix. You should not have to use the Seagate or Maxtor as your primary drive and transfer all your data over. You should be able to simply install the new HD (external or internal slave) and then install the MaxBlast or Seagate software to create an image backup and then create an image of your existing drive on the new drive.

If you wanted to get fancy, you could create seperate partitions on the new drive and allow the software to “migrate” all the information, programs & OS to one partition, in effect creating a bootable OS on the new HD on one partition, and then creating an image backup of your existing system on the second partition that you could then restore to any primary HD installed on that machine and have a working system that is a mirror image of the one you imaged. I’d keep it simple and just create the image file on the new drive. Hope this clears things up some.

Here’s the link to the Maxtor MaxBlast 5 User’s Guide.

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Doc,
I read page 8, Chapter 1.1 in the Seagate manual last night. It’s about the same as the Maxtor manual. I was three beers into “rush hour gridlock”. I’m a light weight. I don’t drink and drive and I can’t drink and install anything. You don’t need to be fancy, Seagate and Maxtor will do the partions for you.

Partion Hard Drive- All I did was plug in a new hard drive and let windows do what was best for windows. I know I can create other partitions. I don’t know why I need one.

Command Prompt or entry- I don’t have a clue how to manually tell a computer what to do. I do tell it where to go.

Ran Uniblue Registry Booster, Free Version-457 problems/errors, Windows Safety Scanner-7registry errors.

Read the ATI article that Hans gave me. Vince has only been fighting ATI for 2yrs, I’ve been at it 4yrs with no satisfaction. See the DAO thread.

Truth, I fear adding a back up drive because I think I’ll be backing up junk that doesn’t work already. I print copies of all my billing invoices on real paper.

I was using System Restore in a futile effort to repair Windows Safety Scanner and a display problem on My MSN Home page. Home page is repaired thru MSN support, Scanner is still not right.

I’m going to buy a pre paid credit card and run the Uniblue Registry program. I don’t trust computers enough to use a real credit card.

Kevin

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Fred,
———————————–
I’m going to buy a pre paid credit card and run the Uniblue Registry program
————————————

Did you base this decision on the results of the free Uniblue scan?
I tried this program a while back and it also came up with some terrifically high numbers of “errors”.
I didn’t trust it, particularly when it said you had to buy the full version in order to fix the “errors”. ( otherwise known as crippleware) So got rid of it.

I DL and tried it again when you mentioned it in your post. It said I had 157 “errors” all of which were empty reg entries. And of course, I could only fix 15 unless I buy it.

Now I have and use three utilities, one a freebie ( CCleaner ) and RegCure ( paid ) and System Mechanic ( paid ) that has a reg cleaner as part of it’s suite of tools.

I ran but did not fix anything, so that I could compare the results.
RegCure found 31
System Mechanic found 30
CCleaner found 4

Now I ran and fixed anything that these progs found, until they all showed Zero errors. Rebooted.
Now I ran Uniblue and son of a gun, the “error” count went to 142!!!!
The plea was please buy me and fix these things!
Thank you but I’ll pass.

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Bob,

I bought and ran the Uniblue program based mainly on the MS Goldseal. I don’t know as it made any difference good or bad. I used to run System Mechanic in the past. Nothing ever jives. System Mechanic, Uniblue, Windows Safety Scanner, whoever…none of them will ever match up. With computers 2+2 never equals 4.

I figure now that I must just accept the fact that there is always going to be something wrong with my computer. Up dates, patches, virus scans, anti spyware, new hard drives, new upgraded operating systems, new software, it’s all bogus. It’s a scam and a ripoff. It’s all built and designed to fail intentionally. The failures keep the cash rolling into the coffers. If I billed out my time spent just running virus scans it would pay for 3 computers. If this computer was an employee, it would have been fired long ago. As a tool it is a failure. Tool production 5% Tool Maintenence 95%

Kevin

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Kevin,
I seem to detect some bit of frustration here?

It’s really not all that bad!

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Bob,
When you click on Tools in IE the first thing that shoud come up is the comedien named Gallagher and his Sledge-O-Matic. A mule skinner had just hit his mule that refused to move between the eye’s with a fence rail. A man ran up asking, “What did you do that for?” The mule skinner replied,”You have to get their attention first!”

Me, frustrated……What would possibly give you that idea?

Kevin

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Bob,
I ran Detect/Repair in MS Word xp pro, then ran Window Safety Scanner-104 Reg errors, then ran Uniblue Reg repair-34errors. My windows xp pro is store bought. Office xp pro came oem from Dell. Why are there Registry errors when these software programs are installed? I don’t think there is an answer that will make sense to me. They should be compatible without making modifications. It’s like breaking the ground prong off of a new plug so that it will fit into an old style plug socket.

No matter what maintenence program you run wether it’s MS or someone else will ever give you the same diagnosis. I paid $43.00 bucks for Uniblue.

I tried to burn an audio cd in Media player 11. It doesn’t recognize the blank music cd. Rolled the player back to version 10 and everything works great. Same cd, checked for all the updates etc. Now version 10 and version 11 are both for xp sp2. Why does one version burn a disc and the other doesn’t? I thought the problem was similar to my Roxio/DAO war but it isn’t. No DAO error boxes ever came up in media player 11. I only figured this one out by trying to uninstall player 11. It would only roll back to version 10 but not uninstall completely. I tried version 10 for the heck of it. I almost used add/delete windows programs and may never have figured it out if I had.
I was also able to burn a disc in Real player and no DAO error box came up. So I now tend to think the problem is more Roxio than ATI.

Roxio can go away, no problem. If I can download music to Windows player or real player and make a cd I’ll be happy.

Roxio, DAO, ATI and Backup- It may sound stupid but I really don’t want to back files because I don’t want to reinstall a problem. I don’t know where my DAO is but I’m sure it shouldn’t be in a Temp folder. Data Access Object, give me a test in say Excel. Tell me how to do something that requires the use of DAO. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, then I’ll have to probably re load this whole computer.

Yes, I’m frustrated. I don’t know enough about computers and how they work to be able to apply solid trouble shooting logic to problems. I’m an apprentice trying to do a journeymans job. It’s not only frustrating but mentally exhausting too.

Thanks
Kevin

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Kevin,
Lets take some of these things one at a time.

1. If MP 10 works OK for you, leave MP 10 in and enjoy it.

2.Why are you sweating DAO? Especially, if it’s Roxio that’s saying you have a DAO problem. If MP10 is working OK, forget Roxio. Delete it. ( addRemove programs )

3. Registry errors. A lot depends on what some of these cleaners consider “errors”. I’ve already voiced my opinion of UniBlue, but that’s just my opinion. I DO use others, as I’ve mentioned but my use of their findings are made rather carefully and only if the program will back up some of the more doubtful errors so that I can revert back. At this point, I don’t think it’s the registry that is giving you the shakes. More like a corrupt program or clash of programs.

A screenshot of the things that RegCure checks is shown just for your information.

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Hi Kevin

I will admit that I am fairly adequate about fixing and restoring computers but there have been times when I finally have tossed in the towel and sought “local” repair help. Fortunately for me, the place where I purchased my PC has a really talented and understanding person taking care of repairs. The last time I had to get help, my cost was $50 and it was money well spent. I was completely baffled by my problems. Hopefully with Bob’s help, you’ll get to the bottom of your headache – but if you can’t then sometimes spending some money is well worth it just to get rid of the headache! Just my

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Thank You,
Bob, Doc, Hans, Skitterbug and anyone I mave have forgotton.

I have already deleted Roxio, ATI and MP11. I left MP10 installed. Should have mentioned that earlier.

Things leak or they don’t leak in my line of work. I tend to obsess over perfection. Please accept my apologies for my perfectionist tendencies.

Kevin

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Please accept my apologies for my perfectionist tendencies.

Hey – nothing wrong with being a perfectionist! Keep at the problem until you have it solved to your satisfaction! IMHO that’s what computing is all about really. And the more you ask questions and try things the more you learn how to go about fixing problems! I only ever resort to paid repair when I finally reach a point where I cannot go one step further. Until I reach that point in my problem solving, I keep at it myself – and I’ve asked lots and lots of questions too! Keep at it and BTW, it’s nice that you are part of the Lounge! Welcome!

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Kevin,
>>>Plumbing, I understand. Computers are killing me.

BTW, what’s your opinion on these one piece drop-in bathtub replacements with the complete tile wall, etc.?
Nothing to do with SR but that’s my question for the day.

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Bob,
I have not seen one of these units installed. The TV ads are all I know about them. The concept sounds ok but I have some questions also.
1) Will the unit fit through the doors of the house? A standard tub is 30in wide, 60in long and 14-16in tall. The turning radius of a pre-fabricated one piece unit could be a concern in hallways also.
2) If the unit comes in several pieces and then is assembled in the bathroom; How good are the seams or joints? What’s the warranty for both the product and the installation?
3) Are there any existing mold, mildew or other types of existing water damage in the walls and/or floor. How are these problems resolved prior to installation? It’s called “an extra” Can you say, Cha Ching?
4) This would also be the time to install a new shower valve. Also consider raising the shower head to 6ft6in min height. I hate a shower head that is to low. Probably another extra. Do it anyway but buy a quality valve. DO NOT pinch pennies on plumbing valves that get covered by walls, tile or this enclosure. Costs way to much to go back in a second time.
5) Permits- Get your permits and inspections. Permits and inspections protect your home owners insurance along with making sure the work is performed correctly. If something should go South on you down the road and you didn’t get permits for the work, your home owners insurance may not cover the problem. Companies do go out of business in this economy. CYA
6) I have seen tub inserts only and prefer them to having a tub resurfaced. Re surfacing is just an epoxy paint job that is done in place. The epoxy paint almost always has visible runs in it and the paint tends to fail around the drain and overflow. It’s almost impossible to remove any rust around the drain and overflow. The rust will bleed thru later.

Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.

Kevin

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Hi Kevin.
I thought that it might be a problem with one of the Symantec (Norton) products. There is a known “problem” with these applications and System Restore, but that wouldn’t apply to you if you are using McAfee.

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Hey John,
I did run into the problem you’re speaking of when I had Norton Internet Security 2006 or 2007. I had to uninstall Norton or perhaps I just had to turn it off, don’t recall exactly, but SR would not run with Norton. That is why I tried SR with McAfee installed and uninstalled. I thought McAfee might be having the same problem as Norton.

The other problem I had with Norton was when I would run Windows Live One Care Safety Scanner I would always have 6-8 unrepairable Registry Errors. That has not happened with McAfee.

I just wish I could recall wether I tried System Restore after I installed McAfee. It’s in my nature to believe that I would have tried as McAfee was my “repair” for Norton but I can’t swear to it. Maybe 95% sure that I did.

Kevin

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