System Restore can't restore to restore point

  • Thread starter Thread starter TYSmitty
  • Start date Start date
T

TYSmitty

Every time I try to use System Restore it shows restore points but after
going through the process and rebooting it gives a message that it could not
restore and to try another restore point. That never works. I found a 2004
thread on the same problem. The answer was to turn off System Restore and
reboot. Then delete the files in the System Volume Folder. See quote below
from Alex Nichol:

"Turn it off in System Properties. OK Out. Then I would look in the
System Volume Information folder and delete everything in it - you will
need to have Folder Options - View set to show Hidden files, and *not*
Hide Protected mode ones, and on an NTFS drive will need to 'Take
Ownership' too."

I see but can't access the System Volume Folder even though I have checked
to "Show hidden files". My C drive is NTFS. How do take ownership? I am
the administrator on the computer.
 
TYSmitty said:
Every time I try to use System Restore it shows restore points but after
going through the process and rebooting it gives a message that it could not
restore and to try another restore point. That never works. I found a 2004
thread on the same problem. The answer was to turn off System Restore and
reboot. Then delete the files in the System Volume Folder. See quote below
from Alex Nichol:

"Turn it off in System Properties. OK Out. Then I would look in the
System Volume Information folder and delete everything in it - you will
need to have Folder Options - View set to show Hidden files, and *not*
Hide Protected mode ones, and on an NTFS drive will need to 'Take
Ownership' too."

I see but can't access the System Volume Folder even though I have checked
to "Show hidden files". My C drive is NTFS. How do take ownership? I am
the administrator on the computer.
Click to expand...
Turning off system restore, rebooting, and reinitializing it is enough. No
need to manually
enter the folder and delete files

In general, if you receive the message telling system restore has failed and
try another restore point,
it really means you should try a more *recent* restore point, only those
have a chance of working.
This is because, a given restore point depends on the integrity of it's own
and all newer restore points
for it to work.
 
DaveXnet

Thanks for your response. System Restore hasn't been working even with the
most recent restore point. There was another thread on this subject in 2004
that indicated that turning off system restore and rebooting and turning it
back on was not sufficient. You had to clean the System Volume Information
too. That is what I can't do. Somehow the NTFS drive has to take ownership
too. How do I do that?

Thank you,
T. Smith
 
DaveXnet

Thanks for your response.  System Restore hasn't been working even withthe
most recent restore point.  There was another thread on this subject in2004
that indicated that turning off system restore and rebooting and turning it
back on was not sufficient.  You had to clean the System Volume Information
too.  That is what I can't do.  Somehow the NTFS drive has to take ownership
too.  How do I do that?

Thank you,
T. Smith
Click to expand...

It is unlikely you have a problem with the SVI folder, but fixing your
problem will probably result in "cleaning" it a different (and safer
way).

We know Norton AV tools can interfere with SR (but this is easy to
remedy), so are you running any kind of Norton products?

Provide some basic system information:

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

msinfo32

Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
All, Copy and then paste

There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
Name), and whatever appears to
be private information to you, just delete from the pasted
information.
 
Every time I try to use System Restore it shows restore points but after
going through the process and rebooting it gives a message that it could
not restore and to try another restore point. That never works. I
found a 2004 thread on the same problem. The answer was to turn off
System Restore and reboot. Then delete the files in the System Volume
Folder. See quote below from Alex Nichol:
Click to expand...

Ran into this same problem on a friend's system. It turned out that the
virus checker and/or his anti-spyware/malware utilities were preventing
the restore. Turned them off. Restore worked. Turned them back on.


Stef
 
Jose,

Thanks for your post. I am running Norton 360 2009 with Antivirus and
Internet Firewall protection. The information you wanted is:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name
System Manufacturer INTEL_
System Model D945PSN_
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 7 GenuineIntel
~2666 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Intel Corp. SN94510J.86A.0072.2006.0426.1535, 4/26/2006
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
User Name
Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 1.01 GB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 2.34 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
 
Thanks, I'll try that.
--
Thank you,
T. Smith


Stefan Patric said:
Ran into this same problem on a friend's system. It turned out that the
virus checker and/or his anti-spyware/malware utilities were preventing
the restore. Turned them off. Restore worked. Turned them back on.


Stef
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, I'll try that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the good information - all in one question!

I would not tinker manually directly with the SVI folder.

It is fine to change it's properties to look into it out of curiosity,
but then you should untinker with it. On healthy systems, SVI is the
way it is to prevent accidental changes, maintains itself quite well,
and generally doesn't need any help. Unfortunately it sometimes the
first target when SR "doesn't work". It should be close to the last -
the very last.

Changing permissions, taking ownership, etc. is very, very, very
unlikely to resolve your SR. It will however resolve your curiosity
issue, if that is your goal. Curious is good!

Understanding Norton and why SR doesn't seem to work right with Norton
installed will very likely resolve your issue:

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/pfdocs/2005113009323013

If that doesn't get you going, come back. This is not a new problem
with SR & Norton.
 
Jose,

Thanks. That link you provided should do it. I will restart Restore and
will try turning off Norton the next time I try to use it.

--
Thank you,
T. Smith


Jose said:
Thanks, I'll try that.
--
Thank you,
T. Smith



Bob said:
How to take ownership of a file or a folder in Windows XP

Every time I try to use System Restore it shows restore points but after
going through the process and rebooting it gives a message that it could
not
restore and to try another restore point. That never works. I found a
2004
thread on the same problem. The answer was to turn off System Restore and
reboot. Then delete the files in the System Volume Folder. See quote
below
from Alex Nichol:
Click to expand...
"Turn it off in System Properties. OK Out. Then I would look in the
System Volume Information folder and delete everything in it - you will
need to have Folder Options - View set to show Hidden files, and *not*
Hide Protected mode ones, and on an NTFS drive will need to 'Take
Ownership' too."
Click to expand...
I see but can't access the System Volume Folder even though I have checked
to "Show hidden files". My C drive is NTFS. How do take ownership? I am
the administrator on the computer.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the good information - all in one question!

I would not tinker manually directly with the SVI folder.

It is fine to change it's properties to look into it out of curiosity,
but then you should untinker with it. On healthy systems, SVI is the
way it is to prevent accidental changes, maintains itself quite well,
and generally doesn't need any help. Unfortunately it sometimes the
first target when SR "doesn't work". It should be close to the last -
the very last.

Changing permissions, taking ownership, etc. is very, very, very
unlikely to resolve your SR. It will however resolve your curiosity
issue, if that is your goal. Curious is good!

Understanding Norton and why SR doesn't seem to work right with Norton
installed will very likely resolve your issue:

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/pfdocs/2005113009323013

If that doesn't get you going, come back. This is not a new problem
with SR & Norton.
Click to expand...
 
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