Solved System Restore not working

[Gozoman]

I'm having problems and wanted to restore to an earlier date but it won't work. I have tried three different dates and every time I get a message saying that system restore has failed. I have ran a virus check with Microsoft Security Essentials and also ran Spybot Search & Destroy but found nothing. I have also ran System File Checker and found nothing there either. Any idea what I should try next?

 

[bigmck]

Do you know if System Restore is turn on or not? Check out this tutorial and it will tell you how to make sure it is turned on. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/81500-system-restore-enable-disable.html

 

[Gozoman]

Hi bigmck. Yeah I just checked and it is on and the configure button is not greyed out. Everything appears to be working except it isn't as it just won't restore. I read somewhere else that Microsoft had really screwed up with System Restore in Windows 7 as it has never worked properly.

 

[bigmck]

Hi bigmck. Yeah I just checked and it is on and the configure button is not greyed out. Everything appears to be working except it isn't as it just won't restore. I read somewhere else that Microsoft had really screwed up with System Restore in Windows 7 as it has never worked properly.

As far is I know, the System Restore does work OK. I have used mine and have never heard any complaints on them. I make a restore point every Wednesday just to be sure they are being made. You might try that in the future.== Back to your problem now. I am not sure what to tell you. Were the restore dates you saw recent or fairly old?

 

[Gozoman]

I have about 16 restore points at the moment from yesterday back to 14th, so just about a week of restore points, and I have allocated roughly 37Gb to System Restore.

 

[bigmck]

I have about 16 restore points at the moment from yesterday back to 14th, so just about a week of restore points, and I have allocated roughly 37Gb to System Restore.

I wish I could help you more, but I am out of ideas. Maybe someone else can help.

 

[Gozoman]

I might have to bite the bullet and accept that its not going to work perhaps because its corrupted in some way. I have to say I never had a problem with System Restore in Windows 98. Is there a way of deleting System Restore in Windows 7 and forcing Windows to replace it with a fresh uncorrupted copy?

 

[Layback Bear]

This will help getting rid of old restore points.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/336-system-protection-restore-points-delete.html

This will show you how to create a new restore point.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/697-system-restore-point-create.html

 

[Dallas 7]

Hey Goz just a shot in the dark here, but do you have Norton? Norton has a setting that produces exactly the problem you described......
If so, look under Product Security > General tab > Norton Product Tamper Protection.

Turn that Tamper Protection setting OFF, and the System Restore will work just fine.
That setting is designed to prevent an outside source from messing with your antivirus, so it's trying to protect itself.

 

[Gozoman]

Hi Layback Bear. What I'm going to try first is to create a new restore point and then see if it works. If that doesn't work then I'll see if I can get rid of System Restore completly and do a fresh install.

@Dallas 7. No I don't have Norton. I discover many years ago that Norton SystemWorks which I had on my computer at the time was nothing more than a system hog which slowed everything down. For that reason as soon as I get a new computer if I find Norton on it I delet it immediately. At the moment I'm using Microsoft Security Essentials.

 

[Brds7t7]

Hi Gozoman,

Couple of questions for you. Have you ever changed the partitions on your system? Resized or moved the C drive for example?
What's the error number you're getting? Could you take a screenshot of the on screen error message?

 

[Britton30]

Gozoman I have found Spybot can wreak havoc in w7. I would try removing it and try the Restore.
I have Norton with Tamper Protection enabled and Restore work fine.

 

[Gozoman]

Hi Burdus77. No I haven't made any changes to the partitions on my system. Truth is I have never had the occasion to use System Restore so for all I know it has never worked which would tie in with what others have been saying elsewhere on the web regarding System Restore and Windows 7. I don't think there was any error number as such, I just got a message up saying that Windows was unable to restore to the chosen date and then the computer would restart as it had been before. That happened for all the dates I choose to try. At the moment I have managed to get the system stabilised and working okay without using restore but obviously I would still like to get it working if possible.

 

[Gozoman]

Hi Britton30. I'll certainly bear that in mind and if I have to use restore at any point in the future and it doesn't work I'll try taking Spybot off.

 

[Brds7t7]

Ah ok, sometimes when you move the windows partition it can muck up the restore points. So that's ruled that out.

Have you tried booting your system into safe mode and then trying a system restore?
Do you have a system image you could restore from?

 

[Britton30]

Maybe you should start a thread to fix the issue you were trying to fix with restore. There are no inherent issues with System Restore.
Spybot will continue corrupting thing as long as it's installed. It was fine with XP, Vista and w7, not so much.

 

[Gozoman]

@Burdis77. Yes I tried restoring from Safe mode but it didn't work either I'm afraid. I do have a system image on an external back-up drive but I didn't want to go down that road unless it was really necessary as it's about 6 months old.

 

[Gozoman]

I'm guessing you know a lot more about this than I do so I will take Spybot off and delete all my restore points and start from scratch. Hopefully the next time I need to use restore it will work.

 

[boohbah]

i create a system restore point each morning when i boot the computer, there is a tutorial here for a tool to help .

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/67114-system-restore-point-create-system-startup.html

 

[Layback Bear]

I'm another believer in removing Spybot. In my opinion Spybot is a use to be good program.