Windows 7: windows 7 System Restore fails

hi there

since i formated my pc (something like 4 months ago) i happend to try to restore my system to some point i create.
however the restore fail and i thought that i at least ganaa try to cancel it... and it fail too.

well i thought it probabaly was pure coincidence because the system failed to restore and not had some to restore after that because it failed.

but today.. after i install the last VIA sound driver for my mobo i happend to get BSOD on the start up... i try to do a restore (i create restore point before i install that driver) and then it end up failed again ... i found a way to fix my BSOD issue that was caused by this curse driver.. but System Restore dosn't seem to work :\ it let me create restore point, claim that "create the restore point successfully" but in real time it Not working.... i don't want to do system repair because it probably make my system to be out of balance... and i want to keep it as last resort.


any suggestions what should i do ? :| before i formated (something like 4 months ago) i was able to restore my system many many times, after i formated i don't try to restore alot but when i had a good reason to this thing not working...

ok i just tried to turn OFF system restore on all of my HDDs (i have 3),
restart,
change it to ON again,
tried to create a test point,
restored,

and again i got this message


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

my system is in Hebrew btw so don't worry, it not some gibberishs.

"the message say: System Restore failed to restore. Your files and settings have not been changed."

"information:
System Restore failed to restored the entry, (not sure if "entry" is the right word here..)
the restore point was defective or was deleted in the restore process". (and btw.. it not true.. the restore points still there and the restore process said that it was complieted before it restart my pc and show this message ...)

"You might want to try System Restore again and choose a different restore point.
For more information, see System Restore: frequently asked questions."

also i not dual booting ...

heellp how can i fix Only the system restore "tool" without to repair the whole system?? : O

Welcome to the club. I've tried to use system restore six or eight times over the past 8 years. It worked once. It failed on all other attempts. Lame, Mr. Gates. Lame.

since when u have this pc? O_o
Windows 7 not even was made 8 years ago.... and XP and 7 never give me this kind of messages before in my life...

Hello Egoz,

It sounds like your restore point has been corrupted, and you will not be able to restore with it. Personally, I think system restores are a good way to try and fix issues to avoid reinstalling Windows 7, but they should not be your only available solution as you have found out that restore points seem to be very susceptible to failure or corruption. Unless there's something in that restore point that you would like to extract from it, then you might consider deleting it since it's corrupted.

Instead I would recommend to keep good system image backups made to a separate HDD, and to not modify the image backup in any way to avoid corrupting it. This way in case of total failure, you could always do a system image recovery to a dated image backup of your choice.

i never try that before (i not sure even how to do it xD) = \ though i really want to find a way to fix my system restore before try something else.. i 90% sure that something is corrupted in the tool itself instead of the point i created... i done it many times before with the same progrems installed and the same pc... i wonder what want worng this time? : \

Well, one way to test system restore is to manually create a new restore point now, then do a system restore selecting this new restore point to see if it will work or not.

If it works, then it was just the other restore point that was corrupted.

If it doesn't work, then run a sfc /scannow command to see if it finds any corrupted system files that may be a cause and is able to fix them.

thanks Brink
i just tried that not long ago and still had the same error...
there aren't any other ways like some special tool that fix only the system restore progrem? : \ i don't want to start back up stuff and change stuff in my system because of that...

Well, the sfc /scannow command is a good tool for that. However, if you modified any system files (ex: with "Resource Hacker"), it will restore them back to default as well.

well i don't really change the system files however i installed alot of progrems and codecs and what not, i don't really like these kind of tools because they end up ruin alot of stuff and turn everything to defalut : \


i heard there where some "sr.inf " file in the system that can be replace and reinstall the system restore... is that true? : o

If the sr.inf file was corrupt or damaged, and if you ran the sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt (Option Two in the link given to you earlier by Brink), then that scan should have fixed the file by extracting a clean copy contained within the Windows 7 operating system files. As Brink posted in another thread, if the SFC cannot repair or replace a bad system file, then you can use the tutorial below to manually replace the sr.inf file with a copy from your installation disc. If you don't have an installation disc you could try to borrow one as long as it's the same version operating system on your machine. (Don't use a 64-bit disc if your computer has the 32-bit version, don't use a Home Premium disc if your machine has Ultimate, etc.)

Extract Files from Windows 7 Installation DVD

If still no luck you might have a different problem involving Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) components. Follow the steps exactly as given in this tutorial.

System Restore General Troubleshooting to Fix Issues

As suggested in the tutorial, if you've tried everything to repair System Restore and it's still broken, you might have no other option but a Repair Install.

NOTE: I know a few people who have used the paid, commercial services of a company called Reimage<dot>com. They were all very satisfied with the results.

DISCLAIMER: I have no financial interest in Reimage and receive no personal gain whatsoever. This is just another alternative to fix a broken computer.