Windows 7: System Restore Not Working Error (0x81000203)

Thank For The Help ,
I Have searched the whole forum and did not find this error ,so decided to ask ,I tried many things like
I have tried:
- SFC /scannow ... no errors
- chkdsk .... no errors
- made sure 'Volume shadow copy service' is running
- turned off firewall/antivirus software ... no joy
- rebuilt Windows Management Instrumentation
- troubleshooting via the MS 'clean boot' procedure
... but nothing helps.

I Have Windows 7 home premium system with Intel i5 ,4 gigs of ram , 640 hard drive,
Hewlett Packard laptop.

have you looked here System Restore Error Code: 0x81000203


Ken J

I Have Windows 7 Home premium and in the search box ,it does not give the option for
gpedit.msc when I search ,So I have no option to turn it off or on .The system restore that is .
I was also searching and found that in home premium that is not an option in the search box ,only ultimate .thanks

Yes, there is no gpedit in Home Premium. What is the exact error, and what steps do you take up to when it occurs? You can try turning System Restore off and back on, but this will clear any current restore points.

Turn System Restore on or off

A Guy

In the absence of gpedit you may find that you can edit your registry using this Microsoft provided Group Policy Settings reference. It's an Excel spreadsheet so you'll need MS Office, OpenOffice, etc to view it. Or, you could use the free Microsoft Excel Viewer.

Download details: Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows and Windows Server

How to obtain the latest Microsoft Excel Viewer

With careful registry editing you can achieve the same results as with gpedit.msc (you'll want the 3rd download listed for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.)

Thank You ,I downloaded all the files From the group policy and the latest Microsoft excel viewer but I don`t know how to view the details .
Also When I start the system restore I notice that is searching for the drives where the files are stored but does not find them and that is when the error (0x81000203) appears .
If anyone can teach me how to take a picture of the screen on the desktop and maybe I can post it and every one can have an idea of the problem , thanks every one for the support

First thing you want to do is install the Excel viewer. Click on the download button and it will ask if you want to run or save. If you click on run it will start to download the viewer. After it's downloaded you should see another run command appear. Click on the second run and the viewer will be installed on your computer. Just follow the prompts until you get a confirmation that the install completed successfully.

Once the viewer is installed, you can click on the download button for the actual spreadsheet. You should be given a choice to run or save. If you click run, the spreadsheet will find the viewer and automatically open. If you click save, you can save it on your hard drive to a location you choose. The default would probably be the downloads folder in documents (from the start menu.) Keep in mind that the spreadsheet download will need some time to find the viewer and finally open.

An easy way to take a picture of your screen (sometimes called a screen shot or a snip) is to use the built in snipping tool. This tutorial for the Windows Vista operating system will also apply to Windows 7.

How to use the Snipping Tool in Vista - Vista Forums

And to learn how to attach that screen shot or snip here on the Forum, give this a look:

Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

BTW - welcome to the Forum!

Thank You All I am Learning so much from this .
I tried turning the system restore off but it`s not an option as soon as it comes on
the error follows . another questions is as I get group policies working should I post a copy of each administrative tools and security .thanks

You might check Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider service is running.